#Chapter 7: Mess at University

Beth's POV

After the introduction, Hiccup, Mavis, and I head to class and work together. We sat on our own desks, typing important programming problems. It was a small task Mr. Overland gave us to improve our computer skills. As I was busy trying the computer programs that I had already learned from Japan, I heard someone said something to me.

"You're pretty good," someone whispered from my back. It caught me by surprise and I jumped a little, turning around to see the person who said it.

It was Mr. Overland. I sighed and fixed my glasses before going back to focus on the computer screen. Honestly, I didn't have time to deal with that guy. If he wasn't there to advise me anything constructive then he should examine the other students who needed the help.

However, when I was busy typing, there's an error showing up in the computer. Ah great, the arrow wasn't moving around as I shook the mouse on my table. Biting my nails, I panicked. I never experienced this before, what was I supposed to do?

As I was fumbling around my brain for a solution, I felt something brush over my arms to hold the mouse. I turned to my right and saw Mr. Overland holding the mouse, or my hand specifically. He began typing on the keyboard, probably to fix the error. But his other His face was too close, I could feel his breath against my cheek. He had deep blue eyes behind his glasses, a very deep blue indeed. I realized that I was staring at him for too much time. I turned my blushing face away.

He finished fixing the computer and let go of my hand before walking away again."Thank you sir," I whispered. But it looked like didn't hear it, until I saw a small smile on his face.

"Got a pretty good look, huh Beth?" a voice coming from beside me said. I jolted once more and saw Tadashi.

"What?" I asked him with a dumbfounded face.

He leaned closer to my ears and whispered, "I know you like him." He finished his words with a wink.

I couldn't believe what he just said. "No way!" I whisper-yelled, pushing him away from me. He chuckled before continuing his teachings

Taking a deep breath, I resumed busying myself with my work. Only to stop again as I heard the ringing of a phone. It was Mr. Overland's.

He answered his phone and a worried expression appeared on his face. He quickly talked to Tadashi and whispered something to him. He nodded and Mr. Overland went out of the classroom after saying, "Apologies, students. There is a problem in the control panel. Mr. Winters shall be in charge of all of you."

After he closed the door, the computers began to have errors one by one. Computer screens blinked to a black, completely shut down. Some stopped working with an error notification that for some reason keeps appearing, making a sort of centipede of it. Most had their screens transition to a dark screen with green text that kept streaming down, and down, and down. All the students began to panic.

"Nē Elsa-san, anata wa kore ga nani o imi suru no ka shitte iru nodesu ka?"(Hey Elsa, do you know what this means?) Hiccup said in Japanese language. I nodded.

"Koreha oyasumidesu. Toroinomokuba, kore made de mottomo kyōryokuna konpyūtauirusu no izureka o shoyū suru kaisha. Wareware wa ryōhō Shakkuri, sore o tatakau koto wa dekimasen. Nomi Elsa-san ga dekimasu."(This is Goodnight. The company which owns Trojan, one of the most powerful computer viruses there is. We both can't fight it, Hiccup. Only Elsa can.) Mavis said.

Tadashi ran towards me.

"Dekiruyo, onee-chan," (You can do it, sister.) Tadashi said. I nodded as I took out my mini flash disk, plugged it into the CPU, and began to work.

Jacks' POV

I watched them over as the students did their work. All of them did very well. Though, one caught my eye.

Elisabeth Winters, Tadashi's younger sister. The girl who bumped me in the airport. Beth for short. I've paid attention and I know that she types quick and agile as she operates the program, as if already a professional. I stepped to her as I saw her work. She was truly a mark of talent indeed.

At that second, a crazy instinct of mine decided to surprise her as she was busy doing her work, I hope she'd still recognize me. I saw her looking at me back in the auditorium, so she must have. I lean down to whisper to her ear.

"You're pretty good," I said. The young girl was shocked as she jumped a little from her seat before facing me. My lips curved upwards, but hers bore a blank, straight line. Not even a smile. She only fixed her glasses before focusing back to the computer screen. Huh, what a busy girl. A play hard-to-get type.

I like it

Wait, what's wrong with me? I never acted like this before.

I had to stop.

I was about to leave her alone until I saw an error on her computer, one the girl couldn't seem to fix. She tried to solve it but the screen wouldn't let her do anything. A wave of panic washed her face and she started looking around frantically.

'Have a problem, don't you?' I thought as I leaned smoothly near her and placed my hand on top of hers in order to move the mouse around and fix the errors myself. I pushed a little closer so my fingers could reach the keyboard. Within this distance, I caught her fragrance soft and fresh as winter at the pine woods. I felt her staring at me with a surprised look, before turning around to hide her blush.

I finished fixing the error and released her hand. I walked away and heard her whisper, "Thank you sir."

I only smiled without turning back to face her.

Five minutes later, my phone rang. I picked it up to see Jonathan as the caller. He was one of the computer mechanics in this university.

"What's up John?" I said, answering the phone.

"Jack! Come to the control panel ASAP! A virus attacked the Mainframe! They're trying to erase the school's important data and information!" he yelled. I widened mt eyes as a worried look spread across my face.

"I'm on my way," I said and closed my phone.

"I'm going to the control panel. There's a virus attacking the Mainframe. Take care of the students for me," I told Tadashi. He nodded and I headed my way towards the door."Apologies, students. There is a problem in the control panel. Mr. Winters shall be in charge of all of you," I said before running towards the control panel.

I inserted my identity card into the security machine, and the door then opened for me to enter. Jonathan and Nod were there, typing the keyboards madly

"What happened?" I asked.

"The virus that's harming the Mainframe is from Goodnight. You know that right?"

I froze at the mentioning of the company. Goodnight programs are one of the most powerful Viruses. Fixing their virus would be incredibly difficult. It is riddled with an algorithm that's hard to crack

Then, something strange happened. The computers that had all the errors, turned back to normal. Trains of error notifications transformed to a single window, and even that disappeared entirely. Computers that were shut down lit back up. The running of green text in front of a black background faded to a regular startup screen.

What?!

"What's going on now?!" I shouted.

"Weird. The Virus is gone. Here's a message," Jonathan said. I looked at the computer screen and saw the said message.

YOUR COMPUTER IS NOW SAFE. YOU MAY RETURN TO YOUR PROGRESSES (S/A)

T.D.S_

"Wait, is that..." Nod started.

"The most brilliant White Hat Hacker in the world.." Jonathan continued.

"The Diamond Snowflake," I finished.

I had a talk with Jonathan. Seeing that there are no further issues, I went back to class.

Elsa's POV

"Phew!" I said, plugging out the flash disk and slipped it back into my pocket.

The computers are back to normal and the students let out sighs of relief. Mr. Overland came back to class and we started our work again.

TIME SKIP, AFTER SCHOOL...

I was waiting for my brother to finish his work. While I was waiting, I opened my laptop and made some edits as I listened to one of my favorite songs, Spectrum by ZEDD.

We'll run where lights won't chase us

Hide where love can save us

I will never let you go...

The melody felt like it was calling me, so I couldn't help to sing along. Following the rhythm, I lightly swayed my head and listening to the blasting beat, letting out the sound from my lips

Breathing you in when I want you out

Finding our truth in a hope of doubt

Lying inside our quiet drama

"Nice song by the way."

I stopped singing and saw Mr. Overland smirking at me. I gave him a small, bashful smile and he smiled back. He then walked away towards his car. Shrugging, I went back to my computer screen. I saw Tadashi walking from a far.

"Hey Els, sorry for the wait. Come on, let's go," He said. We walked towards the car and Tadashi drove us home.

When we went home, I quickly changed my clothes and had a good rest, my thought wandering back to my time with Mr. Overland earlier in the classroom. I thought of the largeness of his palms and the way he leaned so close to me.

My heart skipped a beat, and I didn't know why my own body actually allowed it. This strange feeling was there when he was near me too, but I guess now he didn't have to be there to make me feel this way. Just thinking about him made my chest burn. I could feel it pounding.

No...

I can't...

stop this feeling now...