“What happened, Three?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” she asked. His eyebrows pinched together, and before he could say anything else, she answered her own question. “Oh, the ClickPics? I had to take them down, but don’t worry, it’s just temporary.”
But as she continued to her seat, she realized it wasn’t just Marcus. Everyone on the bus was staring at her, and they didn’t look happy.
“Where’s my leaderboard?” someone called out from the back row.
“Yeah, mine’s empty,” a girl said.
“They’re all empty!” another guy added. “Where did everything go?”
What are they talking about? Allie thought as she fell into the seat next to Zoe. “Okay, what’s happening?”
“Didn’t you open Click’d today?”
“Of course!” Allie immediately responded. It was the first thing she did every morning when she woke up. But then she thought about it.
She’d been curious about the photo queue, so as soon as her alarm sounded, she’d bolted from bed, fired up her computer, and gone straight to the CodeGirls server. She was so thrilled to see it working, her mom had to call her down to breakfast three times, and she’d darted out the door for the bus, speeding to the corner so she wouldn’t miss it.
“Actually…no. I guess I didn’t.” She pulled her phone from her pocket and tapped on the icon.
“It’s gone?” she said as she stared down at her screen. “Everyone’s rankings are gone. What happened?”
“I’m pretty sure that’s what everybody on the bus wants to know.” Zoe tilted her screen in Allie’s direction. It looked the same as hers: nothing but ten question marks next to ten empty photo slots.
Allie’s fingers flew across the glass as she opened screen after screen, frantically searching for anything that would help her understand how this could have happened.
“There hasn’t been a single bloop all morning,” Zoe said.
As soon as the bus came to a stop, Allie stepped into the aisle and sprinted down the steps. But she didn’t go to her locker. And she didn’t go to first-period math, either.
She was heading for the computer lab, but when she turned the corner and spotted the door, there were a bunch of people standing there. She couldn’t deal with answering their questions. And she couldn’t deal with seeing Ms. Slade. She felt her eyes well up as she took off in the opposite direction. And suddenly, she found herself in front of the library doors.
She ran up the steps to Emma’s favorite spot in the corner next to the window, and collapsed into one of the beanbag chairs. She let her face fall into her hands and she sat there, letting the peaceful silence seep into her skin.
The bell rang, but she didn’t move.
Her phone chirped, but she ignored it.
She sat there for a long time, going over the events of the night before, thinking about every change she made, every test she ran.
She’d done exactly what Nathan told her to do.
Nathan.
Did he?
No way.
He couldn’t have.
She pulled out her phone and started writing a text to him, when the speakers crackled to life and a woman’s voice filled the silent library air.
“Allie Navarro, please report to the office. Allie Navarro.”
When Allie stepped into the empty hallway, she realized she’d been racing around campus all week—running to the lab, sprinting to her locker, rushing through the lunch lines—but now she wasn’t in a hurry at all. She took slow steps, taking as long as she could to get to the office.
She thought about all the teachers Jane had mentioned, and she pictured them lined up outside Mr. Mohr’s door, each waiting for a turn to complain about Click’d. She could feel the sweat beading up on her forehead.
She was relieved to find the office empty when she arrived. “Hi,” she said to the assistant behind the counter. “I’m Allie Navarro. Someone paged me?”
“Mr. Mohr had to take a call,” she said. And then she pointed to a row of uncomfortable-looking chairs. “Have a seat. It might be a while.”
She sat there for a full fifteen minutes, trying not to look as nervous as she felt. Finally, Mr. Mohr’s office door opened and he waved her inside.
Allie’s heart started racing again, even faster this time. She’d never been inside Mr. Mohr’s office. He pointed at a brown leather chair on the other side of his desk and said, “Have a seat, Ms. Navarro.”
As Allie sat down, he opened a file on his desk and read it to himself. It was quiet for a long time, and she wished he would say something—anything—because she was starting to feel claustrophobic. And she needed to drown out all the thoughts in her head. She grabbed a chunk of her hair and wrapped it around her finger for something to do with her hands, while she tried to ignore how thick the air in that tiny room felt.
He finally let out a long breath and folded his hands in front of him. “I’ve been at Mercer Middle School for sixteen years, and I have to tell you, this has probably been the strangest, most interesting first week of school I’ve ever experienced. Do you know why?”
Allie shook her head.
“Teachers have been complaining all week about classroom disruptions from student phones, and over lunch breaks this week, I’ve been forced to start confiscating them. We’ve never had a problem with phones—a few offenders here and there—but for some reason, they’ve become especially popular all of a sudden.”
Allie tried to look like she had no idea what he was talking about.
“Have you heard of an app called Click’d?”
Allie nodded.
“I hadn’t heard of it until late yesterday. When I did, I went straight to all the online app stores so I could download it and see how it worked firsthand, but I couldn’t find it anywhere.” He stood and crossed the room, and then leaned back against the window overlooking the parking lot. “Do you know why I couldn’t find it anywhere, Ms. Navarro?” he asked as he folded his arms.
Allie gave him a quick nod.
“It’s not in any of the app stores, because Click’d was created by one of our very own students. Isn’t that right?”
Allie hugged her chest. She wished she could close her eyes and disappear.
“Tell me about it,” he said.
“About Click’d?” Allie asked.
“Yes. Please. What does it do?”
Allie shifted in her seat. “Well, it’s an app that helps people find common interests. It learns who you are, and then matches you up with ten people you might want to know.”
Mr. Mohr nodded and gave her a half smile. “How did you come up with that idea?”