Chapter 4
One week had passed since Jan and Marcia had fought over the computer, but at last, Jan's punishment was over. In the interim, she tried her best to keep the computer out of her mind and to focus on things that she liked in the past. She was glad that her parents hadn't actually grounded her or prevented her from watching TV. Jan had to admit that she was beginning to adjust to life without the computer. Nonetheless, when her punishment was over, she was looking forward to using the computer again.
That afternoon, Jan entered the family room and sat in front of the computer – glad that nobody was using it. While waiting for Windows to finish loading, Jan started looking through the Warcraft II booklet that came along with the CD-ROM. She became interested when she learned that she could play with other real people over the internet. However, she forgot how to access the internet, so she left the family room momentarily to get Oliver. She eventually found him outside – throwing a baseball to Greg.
"Hey, Oliver, can you help me with something real quick?" Jan asked.
"Sure," Oliver said. He looked at Greg and said, "I'll be right back." Greg gave a nod.
Jan and Oliver entered the family room through the sliding glass doors. "I forgot how you get on the internet."
"You'll have to load America Online," Oliver said – taking a seat in front of the computer. "It's easy – let me show you again. Just double-click this blue triangle here." He double-clicked the blue AOL icon, which opened the AOL window. "Then, make sure that you choose 'Guest' for your screen name, and click the bottom-right button to sign on." Oliver did so himself to demonstrate. The screen changed – revealing a window with three boxes. The computer suddenly made a lot of loud beeping and screeching noises. After a few more seconds, the screen changed again – revealing a large window with a bunch of news headlines. "Welcome!" a muffled male voice greeted through the speakers.
Jan looked at the screen in amazement. It seemed to have everything: the news, the weather, and even the mail! There was also a small window with a long list of categories. "Wow…is this really the internet?" Jan gasped. "It has everything!"
"You can find even more if you type things into the search bar," Oliver said. He clicked a button to open an e-mail composition window. "And you can also send messages to people if you know their e-mail addresses."
"Wow," Jan smiled. "I think I've got it from here," Jan said. "Thanks, Oliver." Jan had become so fascinated with the internet that she forgot to ask Oliver how to connect with Warcraft II players online. Out of curiosity, she opened links to several news articles. It was so amazing that she could actually read the news on the computer – and that she had access to hundreds if not thousands of articles at her fingertips. Before she knew it, Jan had opened dozens of windows for online games, message boards, and movies. She had begun immersing herself in endless amounts of information.
Several days had passed since Jan discovered the internet, and it was now apparent that Jan was obsessed with not only the internet – but the computer in general. Despite her parents' rule about computer usage, it seemed that Jan was now spending several hours a day either using the internet or playing games – usually Warcraft II or Solitaire. While the other Bradys would admit to spending more than an hour each day on the computer, they weren't so captivated by it that they couldn't focus on anything else. Jan's behavior proved to be particularly problematic for her siblings. Sometimes, their calls were disconnected as a result of Jan trying to get on the internet. Sometimes, Jan would pressure her siblings to get off the computer so that she could use it. Other times, Jan would harass her siblings for watching TV while she was using the computer. One day in late June, Greg, Marcia, Peter, Bobby, Cindy, and Oliver met to discuss what to do about Jan.
"We have got to get her away from that computer! She keeps messing up my calls with Rachel!" Greg fumed – referring to his girlfriend.
"And she still won't share it," Cindy said. "If I ask her for a turn on the computer, it's always 'one more minute' – and then another minute – and then another minute! She'll only get off if I say I'll tattle on her."
"But if she wants a turn on the computer, she can't get us off fast enough," Peter complained, "especially if she wants to play that Witchcraft game."
"Warcraft," corrected Oliver.
"Right," Peter said.
"And when I was watching a movie, she told me to go watch it on the dinky portable TV upstairs. She said that the TV was too loud – as if she's not loud herself when she's shouting at those stupid Oxes or whatever."
"So, how do we get her to stop using the computer so much? Should we just tell Mom and Dad?" Marcia asked.
"No, I've got a better idea…" Greg said with a sneaky grin.
The next morning, after Jan logged on to AOL, she was startled a bit when she heard the muffled male voice say, "You've got mail!" Jan clicked on the mailbox, and her eyes opened when she saw that she had received a message from someone with "georglas" as part of the e-mail address. That name seemed oddly familiar. Stranger yet, the subject of the e-mail was "Hello, Jan!" How did this person know her name? Jan opened the e-mail and was further shocked by the message.
"Hello, Jan! You may not know me, but my name is George Glass," Jan read aloud. "I am thirteen like you, and while I don't go to your school, I have friends that go there. I think I saw you at the park once, and I thought that you were really pretty. I would love to get to meet you sometime. Please e-mail me back if you're interested."
Jan's jaw dropped at the e-mail. No way this was real – George Glass was just someone she made up! This couldn't be real…could it? Jan started to grin – thinking about the possibility that there really was a George Glass that loved her. "Oh my gosh!" she squealed. "If George is real, then I'll finally have a boyfriend!" Jan finally decided to reply to the e-mail.
"Dear George," Jan said as she typed the e-mail, "I am very flattered that you think that I am pretty. I would love to meet you, too! Please send me another message so we can decide when and where to meet." Jan sent the e-mail and then abruptly closed all open windows and shut down the computer. She then pranced out of the family room and into the kitchen – where Carol and Alice were working. They both looked surprised by Jan's behavior.
"What made you so happy?" Carol asked.
"It turns out there might actually be a George Glass after all!" Jan smiled.
"Oh, honey, that's wonderful!" Carol said.
"Bye!" Jan said suddenly – prancing out of the kitchen – leaving Carol and Alice to look at each other in shock.
The next afternoon, Jan logged on to AOL and was delighted that she received another e-mail from georglas. Excitedly, she opened the e-mail and read it aloud.
"Dear Jan," she read, "That's fantastic! My parents and I are about to go on a cruise to Hawaii, and I was thinking of inviting you to come. It might help keep you away from – " Jan abruptly stopped – and then continued reading aloud. "It might help keep you away from that computer for a while." Jan raised an eyebrow but continued reading. "My parents are monks and live in a monastery hundreds of miles away, which you will have to go to in order to meet them for the cruise, which will also take you hundreds of miles away from the computer. Love, George."
Jan began to scowl. This e-mail was really fishy. She stood up and yelled, "Greg! Marcia! Peter! Bobby! Cindy! Oliver! I want to talk to you!" About a minute later, her siblings and cousin entered the family room from the kitchen. Some of them stared at Jan quite nervously.
"What's up, Jan?" Greg asked casually.
"I just got an e-mail from a supposed George Glass, but it says things that sound really strange!" Jan said. "I think one or all of you are behind this!"
"What did it say?" Greg asked – sounding genuinely curious. He sat in front of the computer and read the e-mail. "Keep you away from the computer…? Monastery hundreds of miles away…?" Greg said – reading excerpts from the e-mail in disbelief. He turned his head to the other Bradys. "Who wrote this stuff?"
"I did," Peter unexpectedly said – causing everyone around him to stare at him in shock. He then realized his mistake and covered his mouth in horror.
"You dummy!" Greg snorted – standing up and stomping on Peter's foot.
"I should have known that you guys were behind this!" Jan shouted – hurt evident in her voice.
"We were, I'm afraid," Oliver said. "We went to a friend's house where I created the fake e-mail address. I let Peter type the last message."
"That was a very cruel thing to do!" Jan snarled. "All because you wanted me to get off the computer? Come on, I don't use the computer that much!"
"Actually, you do," Marcia said.
"You're online so much that we keep getting disconnected when making phone calls!" Greg said.
"And whenever Cindy and I want to use the computer to play in the haunted mansion, you're always playing your game on the computer – and you keep yelling at us just for watching TV!" Bobby said.
Jan sighed. "Okay, maybe I do use the computer a little too much. I'll try to be better about it, okay?"
"Okay, Jan," Marcia said, "and we're sorry we tried to trick you."
Jan proceeded to shut down the computer while the other Brady kids exited the family room. As they were leaving, Greg stared at Peter in disbelief. "Monks in a monastery going on a cruise? Where do you get this stuff?"
"From the same guy whose idea it was to trick Jan with fake e-mails!" said Peter with a grin. Greg responded only by hitting Peter in the face with a throw pillow.