Chapter 8

Giovanna pulled Fiona through the maze of towering wooden bookshelves in the main library. They bypassed the crowded study halls and slipped into an abandoned archives corner on the third floor.

Thick dust coated the floor. Massive oak shelves completely blocked them from the main aisle. It was a perfect blind spot.

Fiona was hyperventilating. She grabbed Giovanna's arm. "Gio, you can't just say that to Skylar! She's going to text Elara right now!"

Giovanna pushed Fiona down into a dusty wooden chair. She offered a calm, chilling smile. "I know. That's exactly what I want her to do."

Giovanna unzipped her Hermes bag. She pulled out her standard-issue laptop, opening the lid with practiced ease. She popped a cherry lollipop into her mouth to spike her blood sugar. Her long fingers hovered over the keyboard, then began to move in a blur of motion. The black screen flared to life. Lines of glowing green code cascaded down the glass. A hidden, encrypted login portal popped up. Giovanna typed a 32-character alphanumeric password without looking down. She hit enter. The screen flashed. In the top right corner, a completely untraceable, blank terminal interface loaded, masking her digital footprint entirely.

Fiona stared at the screen, her jaw practically hitting the floor. "Gio... what the hell are you doing?"

Giovanna didn't look up. Her fingers slammed against the digital keyboard. "Taking back what's mine. And giving you a graduation present early."

It took her exactly two minutes and forty seconds to shred Oakhaven's military-grade firewall.

She bypassed the security protocols and slipped directly into the Dean's Office central database.

She pulled up the master schedule for the freshman assembly. She scrolled down to the time slot labeled: Freshman Valedictory Address.

Next to it, typed in bold letters, was the name: Elara Vang.

Giovanna's teeth crushed the lollipop. She hit the backspace key, deleting Elara's name until the box was completely empty.

Then, her fingers flew across the keys, typing a new name into the master file.

Fiona Daly.

Fiona leaned closer to the screen. When she read the name, she shrieked and jumped out of the chair. "Are you insane?! I can't give a speech!"

Giovanna locked the database. She ran a scrubbing protocol, wiping her IP address and erasing any trace of the intrusion.

She snapped the laptop shut. She stood up, grabbed Fiona by both shoulders, and forced the panicked girl to look her in the eye.

"Fiona," Giovanna said, her voice hard and absolute. "Your entrance exam score was forty points higher than Elara's. You earned that spot. She bought it."

Fiona shook her head violently, tears welling in her eyes. "But I don't have a speech! And I'm terrified of crowds!"

Giovanna reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone. She tapped the screen twice and sent a file to Fiona's email.

"Check your phone," Giovanna commanded. "I drafted an outline for you on the car ride over. The core ideas are all there; just use your own words. It is powerful enough to make the entire faculty give you a standing ovation."

Fiona's hands shook as she pulled out her phone and opened the email. She read the first two paragraphs. The words were sharp, profound, and deeply moving. It was a masterpiece.

Giovanna stared into Fiona's terrified eyes. She poured every ounce of her own confidence into her friend.

"Stop hiding in the shadows, Fiona," Giovanna said, her voice a low, hypnotic hum. "Today, you are going to shine so bright it blinds them."

Fiona took a deep, ragged breath. She looked at the speech, then looked at the fierce, unyielding fire in Giovanna's eyes. The fear in Fiona's chest slowly morphed into a burning spark of ambition.

Fiona gripped her phone tight. She nodded once. "Okay. Let's do it."