Chapter 11: Shaky Faith
[refresher: Chas and boy are upstairs in her room. The rest of them are downstairs watching a movie.]
"Hey. Just because we didn't meet Saturday doesn't mean you have to try to finish this tonight," Vic drawled as he positioned himself next to Chastity. He picked up a few of the papers she had scattered around her and glanced them over.
"I know but I'm almost done with this part. You'll look over it for me when we compile right?" Chastity tried to stifle a yawn then stretched her arms out above her head. Saving the finishing touches on her paper, she shut the laptop and set it aside. With her hands folded in her lap, she started twisting a small silver ring she always wore on her thumb. Noticing this nervous habit of hers, Vic extended a hand to touch hers.
"This was a gift, from a friend in Cali. She and I were inseparable for years, bff you know? We had a falling out, and not long after that she transferred schools," Chastity thought back on her friendship with Lizzie and how it had ended.
"Falling out," Vic wanted to hear a little more about that part of the story.
"Ken and I were dating in a way at one point. It turns out that Lizzie had an enormous crush on him for the longest time, but he never paid her any attention. She blamed me for that. When my friendship with him went beyond the platonic, she did some bitchy things to ruin my relationship with him, and that ruined ours in the process," Chastity didn't want to detail the past. It wasn't a fond memory, and it still pained Chastity that a friend so dear could do such damaging things out of spite. Chastity always put her friends above herself, and that violation of trust was devastating to her. No guy was worth abandoning years of friendship for.
"Why do you wear the ring then?" Vic tapped the silver ring on her hand again.
"As a reminder. It's cliché but things aren't always as they seem. Everyone's hiding something, and it's okay," Chastity smiled now, self assured that though she'll probably be hurt again in the future, brighter days do dawn.
"That sounds like bullshit. Why would you still have faith?" Vic lost a lot of hope when Jina left him and hearing Chastity's optimism, he longed for a better explanation.
"Dwelling on the bad, makes everything seem worse. You're right. Life is shitty and people can be too, but that's just how it is. Facing challenges and emerging with your identity in tact is the greatest test of character. Like a weed…persistent and prevailing. Pessimism isn't my style."
"A weed huh?" Vic found the comparison amusing, and he made a mental note of it. He laid back onto the mass of pillows and stretched his legs out on the bed. Chastity's cell phone was chiming loudly, and she got up to answer it. Vic half-listened to the conversation, until he realized the subject matter.
"Daddy, hey."
"Chastity, how's everything?"
"Lovely. The townhouse Shelly's parents got is marvelous. Did you need something?"
"Tasha says that the second remedy you outlined in her instructions aren't effective. Will you have time to look over your report to her? I want to see if you can catch any mistakes." Chastity recognized this as one of the many trials her father put her through, another test to see how much she'd improved. It was more than likely there was a bug in her instructions, but she knew that her father's staff was far more capable.
"Not a problem. I have it on my laptop. I'll look over it and email it back to her tomorrow. Bye Daddy."
"I thought you were done?" Vic inquired, when she lifted the laptop again.
"I just want to look over a couple things for my dad. Then we can head downstairs and join them. Why aren't you watching the movie anyway?" Chastity was already scrolling through lists of commands as she spoke to him.
"I wanted to see if you needed help," Vic sat up and glanced at the lines of characters marching across the screen.
Chastity's keen eye zoned in right away on the portion her father had mentioned and after reading through it a few times, she caught the error. The program itself was written perfectly, but she forgot to consider the network settings were set to be more selective of acceptable encrypted code. Sighing at her own carelessness, she corrected it, highlighted the text and emailed it back to the training technician, Tasha. Closing her laptop for the final time that night, she turned her attentions to the handsome boy on her bed.
He patted the spot Chastity had occupied earlier, motioning for her to come back and sit on the bed. Vic knew he had done nothing to merit her trust, and yet she was willingly sharing personal stories of her past with him. This trust card could either be extremely helpful or a source of immense guilt to him.
"Do you trust easily knowing people can betray you at any time?" Vic asked.
"Yes," came her swift response.
"Why?"
"They call it naiveté. The glass is half full," she laughed.
There followed a moment of silence, but the barrier of unfamiliar awkwardness had thawed between them. Vic and Chastity lounged in the soft covers, exchanging humorous stories late into the night. Before long, Chastity had dozed off in the warmth of the bed and the comfort of the boy next to her. Vic lay awake, watching her sleep like he had done the other day on the balcony. He was tormented inside by the responsibility of what he had to do and the constantly growing affection he had for the sleeping girl. Vic tucked the comforter over her form snugly then tiptoed out of the room.
~
"We're going to need more time," Vic told Jerry back in their room.
"For what?" Jerry asked.
"There's got to be a better way. She's smarter than you think. She'll know. She'll catch us in our own game," Vic thought about the program Chastity was editing for her father earlier.
"That's where you were right? Spending quality time with her?" Jerry scoffed. He was in part jealous of any of the guys being able to get closer to her than he could, but he was disappointed that Vic was losing his distinct cool.
"We've never taken it this far. It doesn't feel right."
"What the hell does that mean? We can't make anymore shipments until we get that code!"
"So let's just stop then. It was all just for fun anyway. None of us need the money."
"We're just a bunch of rich kids, looking for a little excitement. That's all it's ever really been," Ken stepped into the room, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Vanness followed him in.
"Are we not finishing this then?" Vanness asked from where he was slumped on the floor.
"I don't know. Did we suddenly become chicken shits?" Jerry snarled. He hated the idea of leaving things unfinished, and they would be walking away from a lot. As leader, he feared the repercussions.
"Jerry, just fucking think it over," Vic growled in a low whisper.
"Fine. Let's say I agree with you. Do you really think it'll be that easy to back out?" Jerry sighed.
"Call them now. Test the waters," Ken suggested. He threw a cell phone at Jerry who dialed a long distance number. A gruff voice answered on the other line.
"What do you have for me?" the man asked in a slimy tone.
"It's complicated. Might not work out," Jerry told the man forcefully.
"They're not going to like that. NOPI is hosting Race Wars here in little over three months from now."
"I don't care. I don't owe you anything, and an easy out was always agreed upon," Jerry insisted.
"What's the problem? Didn't we give you enough information on that Tse man?"
"That's not it. It's just a lot more work than I had expected."
"Here's the deal. You get me what I need for the NOPI show here, and I'll forget everything about the F4."
"Is that a threat?" Jerry hissed, really agitated now.
"Look, you can't be hard to track in Boston. The point is we've been buddies for a long time now. Consider this a parting gift, a favor to me. Later." The line clicked, and Jerry angrily tossed the cell phone back to Ken.
"Fuck. We need to get this last one for him. I figured he'd be content with the stock from last time, but I guess the upcoming nationals raised demands. I want to know how he knows enough about F4 to blackmail me," Jerry eyed his friends suspiciously.
"Palmdale Desert. That shit with some sort of Asian mafia remember?" Vanness pointed out the only instance where their identities could have been compromised. There was that nasty fight with some cocky punks.
"Whatever. Go get the girls. They need to know about this," Jerry demanded.
~
[Lizzie: remember Li Zhen? The girl who betrayed Shan Cai because she had a crush on Dao Ming Si?]
Ahhh this is getting so darn hard to write! I hope it's remotely enjoyable…plausible. I'm actually totally technology incompetent, so I'm making it up as I go, indulge me this little bit please, wrong as it may be. I will be doing a double post today, and I'd love it if you all would leave reviews on each chapter like usual. Thanks!
[refresher: Chas and boy are upstairs in her room. The rest of them are downstairs watching a movie.]
"Hey. Just because we didn't meet Saturday doesn't mean you have to try to finish this tonight," Vic drawled as he positioned himself next to Chastity. He picked up a few of the papers she had scattered around her and glanced them over.
"I know but I'm almost done with this part. You'll look over it for me when we compile right?" Chastity tried to stifle a yawn then stretched her arms out above her head. Saving the finishing touches on her paper, she shut the laptop and set it aside. With her hands folded in her lap, she started twisting a small silver ring she always wore on her thumb. Noticing this nervous habit of hers, Vic extended a hand to touch hers.
"This was a gift, from a friend in Cali. She and I were inseparable for years, bff you know? We had a falling out, and not long after that she transferred schools," Chastity thought back on her friendship with Lizzie and how it had ended.
"Falling out," Vic wanted to hear a little more about that part of the story.
"Ken and I were dating in a way at one point. It turns out that Lizzie had an enormous crush on him for the longest time, but he never paid her any attention. She blamed me for that. When my friendship with him went beyond the platonic, she did some bitchy things to ruin my relationship with him, and that ruined ours in the process," Chastity didn't want to detail the past. It wasn't a fond memory, and it still pained Chastity that a friend so dear could do such damaging things out of spite. Chastity always put her friends above herself, and that violation of trust was devastating to her. No guy was worth abandoning years of friendship for.
"Why do you wear the ring then?" Vic tapped the silver ring on her hand again.
"As a reminder. It's cliché but things aren't always as they seem. Everyone's hiding something, and it's okay," Chastity smiled now, self assured that though she'll probably be hurt again in the future, brighter days do dawn.
"That sounds like bullshit. Why would you still have faith?" Vic lost a lot of hope when Jina left him and hearing Chastity's optimism, he longed for a better explanation.
"Dwelling on the bad, makes everything seem worse. You're right. Life is shitty and people can be too, but that's just how it is. Facing challenges and emerging with your identity in tact is the greatest test of character. Like a weed…persistent and prevailing. Pessimism isn't my style."
"A weed huh?" Vic found the comparison amusing, and he made a mental note of it. He laid back onto the mass of pillows and stretched his legs out on the bed. Chastity's cell phone was chiming loudly, and she got up to answer it. Vic half-listened to the conversation, until he realized the subject matter.
"Daddy, hey."
"Chastity, how's everything?"
"Lovely. The townhouse Shelly's parents got is marvelous. Did you need something?"
"Tasha says that the second remedy you outlined in her instructions aren't effective. Will you have time to look over your report to her? I want to see if you can catch any mistakes." Chastity recognized this as one of the many trials her father put her through, another test to see how much she'd improved. It was more than likely there was a bug in her instructions, but she knew that her father's staff was far more capable.
"Not a problem. I have it on my laptop. I'll look over it and email it back to her tomorrow. Bye Daddy."
"I thought you were done?" Vic inquired, when she lifted the laptop again.
"I just want to look over a couple things for my dad. Then we can head downstairs and join them. Why aren't you watching the movie anyway?" Chastity was already scrolling through lists of commands as she spoke to him.
"I wanted to see if you needed help," Vic sat up and glanced at the lines of characters marching across the screen.
Chastity's keen eye zoned in right away on the portion her father had mentioned and after reading through it a few times, she caught the error. The program itself was written perfectly, but she forgot to consider the network settings were set to be more selective of acceptable encrypted code. Sighing at her own carelessness, she corrected it, highlighted the text and emailed it back to the training technician, Tasha. Closing her laptop for the final time that night, she turned her attentions to the handsome boy on her bed.
He patted the spot Chastity had occupied earlier, motioning for her to come back and sit on the bed. Vic knew he had done nothing to merit her trust, and yet she was willingly sharing personal stories of her past with him. This trust card could either be extremely helpful or a source of immense guilt to him.
"Do you trust easily knowing people can betray you at any time?" Vic asked.
"Yes," came her swift response.
"Why?"
"They call it naiveté. The glass is half full," she laughed.
There followed a moment of silence, but the barrier of unfamiliar awkwardness had thawed between them. Vic and Chastity lounged in the soft covers, exchanging humorous stories late into the night. Before long, Chastity had dozed off in the warmth of the bed and the comfort of the boy next to her. Vic lay awake, watching her sleep like he had done the other day on the balcony. He was tormented inside by the responsibility of what he had to do and the constantly growing affection he had for the sleeping girl. Vic tucked the comforter over her form snugly then tiptoed out of the room.
~
"We're going to need more time," Vic told Jerry back in their room.
"For what?" Jerry asked.
"There's got to be a better way. She's smarter than you think. She'll know. She'll catch us in our own game," Vic thought about the program Chastity was editing for her father earlier.
"That's where you were right? Spending quality time with her?" Jerry scoffed. He was in part jealous of any of the guys being able to get closer to her than he could, but he was disappointed that Vic was losing his distinct cool.
"We've never taken it this far. It doesn't feel right."
"What the hell does that mean? We can't make anymore shipments until we get that code!"
"So let's just stop then. It was all just for fun anyway. None of us need the money."
"We're just a bunch of rich kids, looking for a little excitement. That's all it's ever really been," Ken stepped into the room, crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Vanness followed him in.
"Are we not finishing this then?" Vanness asked from where he was slumped on the floor.
"I don't know. Did we suddenly become chicken shits?" Jerry snarled. He hated the idea of leaving things unfinished, and they would be walking away from a lot. As leader, he feared the repercussions.
"Jerry, just fucking think it over," Vic growled in a low whisper.
"Fine. Let's say I agree with you. Do you really think it'll be that easy to back out?" Jerry sighed.
"Call them now. Test the waters," Ken suggested. He threw a cell phone at Jerry who dialed a long distance number. A gruff voice answered on the other line.
"What do you have for me?" the man asked in a slimy tone.
"It's complicated. Might not work out," Jerry told the man forcefully.
"They're not going to like that. NOPI is hosting Race Wars here in little over three months from now."
"I don't care. I don't owe you anything, and an easy out was always agreed upon," Jerry insisted.
"What's the problem? Didn't we give you enough information on that Tse man?"
"That's not it. It's just a lot more work than I had expected."
"Here's the deal. You get me what I need for the NOPI show here, and I'll forget everything about the F4."
"Is that a threat?" Jerry hissed, really agitated now.
"Look, you can't be hard to track in Boston. The point is we've been buddies for a long time now. Consider this a parting gift, a favor to me. Later." The line clicked, and Jerry angrily tossed the cell phone back to Ken.
"Fuck. We need to get this last one for him. I figured he'd be content with the stock from last time, but I guess the upcoming nationals raised demands. I want to know how he knows enough about F4 to blackmail me," Jerry eyed his friends suspiciously.
"Palmdale Desert. That shit with some sort of Asian mafia remember?" Vanness pointed out the only instance where their identities could have been compromised. There was that nasty fight with some cocky punks.
"Whatever. Go get the girls. They need to know about this," Jerry demanded.
~
[Lizzie: remember Li Zhen? The girl who betrayed Shan Cai because she had a crush on Dao Ming Si?]
Ahhh this is getting so darn hard to write! I hope it's remotely enjoyable…plausible. I'm actually totally technology incompetent, so I'm making it up as I go, indulge me this little bit please, wrong as it may be. I will be doing a double post today, and I'd love it if you all would leave reviews on each chapter like usual. Thanks!