Tom could not even pretend to concentrate. He drifted through the rest of the day, wondering about Alex and how much trouble she would be in. She was certainly capable of unleashing a virus on the computer system; it would look very suspicious for her to be hiding in the computer lab. He felt sick to think of her being expelling when he was so sure that she was innocent. Then there was the kiss. He would be in an enormous amount of trouble himself, if anyone found out.
As the bell to his last class rang, Tom climbed wearily from his desk and walked mindlessly out into the buzzing corridor. Then he saw Alex, stood at her locker, loading her bag up with books. He felt a wave of relief; she had not been expelled after all. She caught sight of him and smiled warmly.
"Hey," he said. "You're still standing then."
"Yeah," Alex said. "I had to go to the principal and explain why I was in an out-of-bounds area, though." She laughed.
"You wanna go to Fluke for a bite to eat," Tom asked her, leaning against the lockers.
"I can't, I got a detection to get to. I interred with the computer lab," Alex said, with a contemptuous giggle. "That is a detection-able offence."
"Alex, no way! It was all my idea!" Tom protested. "I'll go explain it was my fault."
"No it's fine," Alex replied.
"No it's not," Tom argued. "I'm not gonna let you take the fall for me."
His stomach did a somersault as she took hold of his arm, and then she told him; "Look, if you tell them you did it then they'll keep you here, and they'll still keep me here for lying about it, and then no-one will go to Fluke, and Fluke will go out of business, and do you really want that on your conscious?"
Tom could not help laughing.
"But you owe me a burger, okay?" She added, squeezing his arm.
"Absolutely," he replied, softly.
He watched her walked off down the corridor.
"Hey!" He called after her.
She glanced back.
"How long you in for?" He asked.
"Til six o'clock," Alex replied.
"That's uncanny! That is exactly the time I was thinking about walking by the front entrance," Tom said. "If I happen to see you, maybe I can walk you home."
Alex's lips curled into a smile, and she nodded her head.