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I was telling the truth. Even if my dad read every online chat between us, which he probably had, Justin and I had only been studying acquaintances. I didn’t have to admit he was also the most beautiful person I’d ever been in contact with.
    My dad leaned forward in his chair and watched me carefully.
    “I don’t think you should see him again,” he said, in a tone that meant this wasn’t open for debate. “He isn’t a good influence.”
    I glared back at him. “It was just a study session,” I said. “And believe me, I doubt I’ll ever hear from him again.” My dad’s shoulders finally settled and he leaned back in his chair.
    “As far as I can see you’re telling the truth.”
    My eyes pleaded with him. “Dad, we can’t keep doing this. You need to forgive me.”
    He shook his head and stared down at his hands.
    “It’s going to take time,” he said, and his eyes met mine. “You broke the law, Maddie. You stole from me and sold my computer files to a group of digital school protesters,” he said, as if he had to remind me why I was on probation.
    I groaned up at the ceiling. “I didn’t sell anything. They offered me money but I didn’t take it.”
    “I don’t care about the money. It’s your character that worries me.”
    “
My
character? Do you know what you’ve created?” I sat up in my chair and met his eyes. “You’ve turned my life into a computer program. People aren’t robots; we’re not a bunch of machines for you to operate.”
    He shook his head. “Go to your room, Madeline.”
    He always did this. As soon as I was brave enough to voice my thoughts, he always silenced me.
    “You’re not saving lives, Dad. You can’t save lives when no one’s really li ving a nymore.”
    My dad stood up. “That’s enough. I said go to your room.”
    I jumped up and stomped out of the office. I pounded up the stairs and it took every ounce of restraint I had to keep from slamming my bedroom door shut. I dropped onto my bed and pointed my finger at the wall stereo. The sensor recognized my fingerprint and I scrolled down a list of songs until I found the playlist I wanted. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as acoustic music filled the room. The guitar chords slowly defused the memory of my dad’s eyes, his ridicule and doubt. I let myself escape from my dismal world into a lighter one.
    I grabbed my brush pen off the nightstand and turned on the ceiling canvas above my bed. The laser from the end of my brush pen painted the blank screen with color. I drew a picture of the birds I saw earlier in the day; I wanted to hold on to the image of the arrow they made in the sky. I drew words above the picture, words that were echoing through my mind like a prayer:
Please Don’t Be Short-term to Me.
Then I realized I wasn’t thinking about the birds.
    I stared at the words and my mind traveled to Justin. I wondered where he was, what he was doing. Did he live alone? Did he have roommates? Did he have a girlfriend? I dropped my pen and grabbed a pillow to smother over my face.
    Stupid, stupid Madeline. He’s way out of your league.

Chapter Four
    Even though digital school is year-round, it’s still customary to take weekends off. Saturday morning I lazily watched the weather channel on our kitchen wall screen and ate my routine breakfast of a protein bar and vita-float.
    “Do you have any plans tonight?” Mom asked when she walked into the room.
    I popped a piece of the granola bar in my mouth. “There’s a book talk in New York I might go to. Or, a friend of mine’s a film editor in Australia and his movie debuts tonight, so I might catch that.” I swallowed the bar down with a mouthful of the orange float and felt Baley’s wet nose nudge my leg. She sat at attention next to the table, her eyes fixed on my breakfast.
    Mom poured a cup of coffee and sat down next to me at the table.
    “You kids have so many options these days. Don’t you ever feel overwhelmed in that