Read Six for Free Online Page B

server?”
    Michael nodded with an embarrassed smile, and Parker could tell, though he was doing his best to hide it, that Michael was feeling rather pleased with himself.
    â€œWhat are they?” asked Parker, running his finger over the line of letters next to his name.
    â€œYour grades.” said Michael.
    â€œCool,” said Parker, reading the marks. They were good—excellent in the cases of science and math—with just one exception. Parker winced.
    â€œBetter than my mark,” said Michael on seeing what Parker was looking at.
    â€œHow do you get worse than a fail at art?”
    â€œUnmarkable.”
    â€œOh,” said Parker. Then something occurred to him. “Did you change it?”
    â€œDid I change what?” asked Michael.
    â€œDid you change your grade?”
    Michael raised his eyebrows and his mouth dropped open in horror.
    â€œNo!”
    â€œYou should do it,” said Parker, as the potential of what Michael could do started to dawn on him. “And change mine, too, while you’re at it. But don’t make it too obvious—maybe just a C.”
    Michael eyes widened even farther, and he looked around to make sure that nobody had heard. “That’s cheating!” he whispered.
    Parker was confused. “Why else would you hack into the system if that wasn’t what you were going to do?”
    Michael shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wanted to find out if I could.”
    â€œAnd that’s it?” asked Parker.
    â€œYeah. Why, is that bad?”
    Parker shook his head, slightly confused. “No, it’s good, obviously—just seems a bit of a waste.”
    Michael considered this for a moment and then sheepishly closed the program.
    â€œI do cheat sometimes,” said Michael defensively. Parker could tell he was embarrassed.
    â€œIt’s okay—I wasn’t saying you should cheat.”
    Michael opened up a car game.
    â€œLook, I can get unlimited money.”
    â€œReally?” asked Parker. “I thought they’d made that game cheat-proof.”
    â€œNo,” said Michael, getting excited again. “If you just open this, then press f , space . . .”
    *  *  *  *  *  *
    Parker and Michael spent the rest of the afternoon buying every expensive car modification in the game and laughing as they easily outran every other online player. By the time the end-of-school bell rang, Parker felt like maybe he’d just made his first friend since arriving at River Creek. Michael, it seemed, felt the same.
    â€œYou want to come play at my house tomorrow?” asked Michael as they walked down the corridor to their lockers.
    â€œOnly if you don’t say ‘play.’  ”
    â€œWhat then?” asked Michael.
    â€œHang out.”
    â€œOkay. Do you want to come to my house and hang out tomorrow? Bring your bike, if you have one.”
    Parker was just about to respond when he saw Emma walking down the corridor toward them. She waved, and Parker stopped to wait for her.
    â€œWho’s that?” asked Michael, slowing down next to him.
    â€œEmma. My sister.”
    â€œShe’s pretty.”
    Parker recoiled in disgust. “She’s ten. And she’s my sister.”
    Michael shrugged. “She’s still pretty.”
    Parker looked at Michael like he might be crazy.
    Emma waved as she approached. Before Parker could introduce them, Michael stepped out in front of him and offered his hand to Emma.
    â€œHi, I’m Michael. I’m in your brother’s art class.”
    Emma smiled, shook his hand, and then turned to Parker.
    â€œHe doesn’t know?” she signed to Parker.
    Parker shook his head. He turned to Michael. “She’s deaf.”
    â€œOh,” said Michael.
    The reaction of people finding out that Emma was deaf was always different. Most of the time people took it well, though they often