Hard Wired Trilogy DeAnna Pearce (if you give a mouse a cookie read aloud txt) 📖

it only a couple steps into the cafeteria before Garrett found her. She smiled, relieved. He lightly brushed her arm as he approached, and, just like that, the anger dissipated. Reed worried like an older brother, or like an older brother who actually was around, nothing to be taken seriously. She wouldn’t have been able to make as far as she had without Garrett, and she still had a way to go.

“Ready for tonight?” he whispered in her ear.

“Depends.” Ari’s phobia of VR hadn’t died after one night.

“Depends? A date with me isn’t something to look forward to?” Garrett smiled with mock sincerity.

“You do make virtuals bearable.”

“I have to run a couple errands, but I’ll try to be more than bearable tonight.” He squeezed her hand and headed off.

Ari’s face warmed, and she hoped her tanned skin hid any blush.

She grabbed food and headed back to her room. Over lunch she scanned a message from her mom, checking up on her. Ari took it as a reminder that as bad as school was, things could be worse, like working in a warehouse for the rest of her life.

Ari kept her return message brief, not wanting to say much when the threat of coming home still hung in the air.

A message flashed from her advisor, Dr. Williams.

Your VR teacher, Dr. Coleman, has reported your recent behavior, and I decided it would be best to place you on academic probation. We have high standards and expect all students to follow the school’s code of conduct. I will be periodically sitting in on your classes to see if any further action is needed.

Ari let her breath escape in one big rush, and she leaned back in her chair. Probation. What did that entail? She had until Friday. She felt sick.

Tessa entered in a bustle of energy, tossing an empty coffee cup in the trash.

“Thanks again for this morning.” Ari closed her screen and spun in her chair.

“No worries. You going to Coleman’s class today?”

“Not sure.” Ari bit her lip, not sure if going today would help or hurt. Freaking out might make her situation worse. Maybe she should get her fear under control before returning, and she had until Friday to do it. Would Coleman buy the excuse that she was sick? “I’m not feeling great. I’ll probably skip Coleman’s class today.”

Tessa kicked off her shoes. “Not to pry, but I don’t get your problem with virtuals. You do great in all of your other classes.”

Ari shrugged. “Not sure. I just prefer to read pages than live them.” She didn’t feel like going into the problem with her dad. That would take a therapist to truly understand.

“Then why did you come here?”

“Beats the alternative.” The memory of her advisor’s message tightened her gut as she considered that alternative.

Thick clouds promised rain and blocked out any chance of moonlight. The campus’s emergency lights lit the path a pale orange as she left her dorm to meet Garrett. The perfected landscape took on an eerie frozen appearance in the shadows.

Despite the quiet, she couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t alone. With all the technology and cameras on campus, how could they be getting away with this? Yet, they were.

“Ari.” Garrett’s shadowed figure stepped onto the path and continued walking by her side.

“Where to tonight?”

“If I told you, then you wouldn’t be surprised.”

“I’ll fake it. I swear.” Ari smiled. Her mind traveled the globe of possibilities. If she was going to risk her mind and body to these contraptions, it might as well be worth it.

“Sorry, still not telling you.” Garrett opened the door and led her through the empty building.

The quiet darkness curdled the fear lurking in her stomach, and she focused on her breath. In and out, nice and even. She took the same seat as the previous night and gripped the arm rest.

Leaning back, Garrett helped her plug into the device, and then leaned over. “You ready?”

“No, but since when does that matter?” She smiled and nodded for him to continue.

She tried to remember the glint in his eyes when she turned to face the ceiling and shut her eyes tightly. This time he didn’t have to pry her eyes open. Water roared in the distance as the air turned hot and heavy with humidity. Her eyes flew open to find a waterfall. It fell over a rocky cliff face into a small pool of water. In this tropical forest, greenery grew everywhere while flowers of every color dotted the landscape, so wild and beautiful in its own unique way. Turning in a circle, she found green jungle surrounding them.

Her breath picked up, nerves fighting their way out. This place seemed so real, so visceral. “Where are we?”

“Another island.” He pointed to the mountain in the distance. “This one even has a volcano.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but we’ll save that for another time. Come on.” Garrett took her hand and pulled her towards the waterfall.

“One minute.” She held up a finger. Like in the previous VR, she searched for the errors, digging past the surface. She bit the inside of her cheek. There had to be something. A new pair of hiking shoes hugged her feet. She scratched a shoe along the rocky path she was on, but nothing moved. Not the rocks, not even the dirt moved. This isn’t real. Above, the sun shone bright in a clear sky, but as she looked at it, it didn’t burn her eyes, it just stayed a fuzzy yellow color with no true warmth. There was more still off about the world, she could feel it. Before she could investigate the deep vegetation, Garrett pulled on her hand.

“Are we gonna stand here all day, or are you ready for an adventure?”

At the word, ‘adventure’, she cringed internally. I can do this, she reminded herself. “Okay. What is this adventure?”

Garrett’s mouth lifted into a mischievous smile. “Race you.” He disappeared on the narrow trail through the trees. Was he purposely being flippant or maybe he was