Nate running a hand through his hair while he thinks things through. After a few seconds he says, âPeople do strange things for all kinds of reasons, you know. Maybe itâs someone who played Santa Claus at the mall this year and decided it was so much fun he didnât want to stop. Or maybe some rich dude learned he has only two months to live and has decided to give his money away to a worthwhile cause.â
âYou call indulging Jackâs every desire worthwhile?â
âNo, but getting me a passing physics grade is. Although, now that Iâm considering all the options, I realize how short-sighted my choice was.â
âWhy?â I ask. âBecause you donât think your physics teacher can be bribed by a terminally ill rich guy?â
âEveryone has a price, Kaylee. You just have to be willing to push until you figure out what it is. Whoeverâs behind this website knows that. But itâs occurred to me that my request canât be fulfilled for another two and a half weeks. If Iâd been more materialistic like Jack and almost everyone else, Iâd already have my first order in hand and have moved on to my second. Now, thanks to the rules of the site, I have to wait until the first request is fulfilled before I can ask for anything else.â
âBy then you wonât be able to ask for anything.â
âWhy not?â
âBecause there wonât be anyone left to invite to the network.â I click on the screen and see the member number has risen to 424. âThatâs the catch. Right? You invite people on to the site and get your need fulfilled? Once everyone has joined, the whole thing will be over.â
âI donât think so,â Nate says. The mocking humor is gone. âThink about it. Whoeverâs behind this wants all of us on the site. They set the bar low so itâs easy for the user to leap over and get their reward. Thatâs not going to last much longer. Now that the network is up and running, Iâm guessing theyâll raise the price from a couple of emails to something more.â
âLike what?â I ask.
The silence stretches for what seems like forever until finally Nate says, âI donât know, but I doubt weâll have to wait very long to find out.â
Gina
T HIS ROYALLY SUCKS .
Gina shoves back her chair and scowls at the screen. How can she invite twelve friends on to this dumb site if everyone whoâs eligible is already on it? And how is it that she ended up one of the last to be invited? That should never happen. Sheâs always the first to know about everythingâparties, breakups, hookups. So, how
did
this happen?
When Gina reamed her best friend about never having sent her an email, Michelle said it was because she assumed Gina had already been invited by someone else. Which makes sense, but still. Thereâs no way sheâs going to be the only one of her friends who doesnât receive her NEED request. Thanks to the anonymity of the site, no one will actually know she hasnât been granted a request yet, but itâs the principle of the matter. Gina Ferguson is always on the cutting edge of trends. If NEED is the next big thing, sheâs not only going to be a part of it, sheâs going to stand out from the rest.
Of course, for that to happen, the site has to cooperate.
Taking a deep breath, Gina rolls her chair back toward the desk and clicks on her profile page, which includes not only an irritating identification code she canât change, but updates on her request.
Â
NEED REQUESTS SUBMITTED:
Â
CONCERT TICKETS TO SEE BLONDFIREâWAITING FOR FULFILLMENT REQUIREMENT TO BE MET.
Â
12 QUALIFIED USER REQUESTS REQUIRED.
Â
1 QUALIFIED USER HAS ACCEPTED YOUR INVITATION.
Â
(ALL OUTSTANDING INVITATIONS HAVE BEEN SENT TO CURRENT USERS. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO TRY AGAIN OR CLICK HERE TO RESET THE FULFILLMENT REQUIREMENT.)
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One.