Augmented Reality by Victor Appleton (ink book reader TXT) 📗

“Anya,” Jenna Davis called out as she hurried to catch up to her friend. “I never said your program was stupid. Honest!”

I stopped to watch the squabbling students disappear into the flow of traffic. What was the academy turning into? It was as if the pressure of the reality show or the upcoming Inventors’ Olympics was sending everyone over the edge.

I tried my best to ignore the rising drama level and go about my business like it was any other day. I did spot both camera crews trailing me at different points in the day. As usual, I did my best to be as boring as possible, keeping to myself and going to class. I hardly saw Sam or Amy. And who knew what Noah was up to. Part of me worried that I was going to become as introverted as Amy if I kept this up.

After the final bell rang, I swung by my locker, and then headed out to the academy’s front lawn. I hadn’t collected any loot on Noah’s app, but I wanted to see if my classmates had found enough to finally satisfy the beast.

Things looked better already. Although the entire student body wasn’t present, this was by far the biggest turnout yet. Each person held up their phone, waiting for the virtual monster to attack. I dug out my own phone and quickly found Sam and Amy farther down the lawn.

“Hey. How did your interview go?” I asked Amy.

She shrugged. “Okay, I guess. The suit helped but I was still sweating buckets during the whole thing.”

“Yeah, it went great, all right,” Sam added. “And then they fired her!”

“What?” I asked.

Amy shook her head. “They didn’t fire me. I still get to help organize clips for Danny.” She let out a long breath. “But Joey doesn’t want me doing any more animations.”

“But they looked so cool,” I said. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“I know, right?” Sam said, throwing her hands into the air.

“He said they were ‘going in a different direction,’ ” Amy continued. “From what I’ve seen so far, they’re focusing more on the drama going on in the school.”

“Yeah, what’s up with that?” Sam asked. “Is it just me, or is everyone all worked up lately?”

Amy shook her head. “It’s not just you. I’ve noticed it too. People are snapping at each other all over the place.”

Sam crossed her arms. “And I’m sure the camera crews are getting it all on film.”

Amy nodded. “They are.”

I was embarrassed to tell my friends that my argument with Noah would be a big part of that school drama. The cameras had sure captured us bickering enough.

“What are they going to do with all the scanned images of everyone’s notes and blueprints?” I asked, trying to change the subject.

Before Sam or Amy could answer, Noah charged over. “I saw your latest confession, Tom,” he said with a snarl. “Nice. Real nice.”

“What’s he talking about?” Sam asked.

“Oh, he didn’t tell you? My best friend here thinks I’m jealous of him,” Noah snapped, jutting a thumb in my direction.

“What?” Amy asked.

“I just told the truth,” I barked. I couldn’t believe Noah had the nerve to be angry at me.

“Swift?” Sam said accusingly. “I don’t believe you.”

Noah nodded vigorously. “Oh, believe it. He thinks I want the school named after me instead.”

I pointed at Noah. “Well, he thinks I’m a crappy inventor!”

Amy gasped. “Noah!”

He shook his head. “And I still don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Sam motioned for us to be quiet as she glanced around the schoolyard. Both camera operators were slowly pushing through the crowd, heading our way. “You better keep it down unless you want this to end up on the show,” she whispered.

Amy looked toward the ground, fidgeting with her hands.

I had a lot more to say about Noah, but I didn’t necessarily want it recorded for posterity. Sighing, I held up my phone, mimicking the other students around me. Noah glared at me one more time before doing the same.

Through my phone’s screen, the beast slowly marched toward the school. There was even an animated helicopter hovering above its head this time. But if I’m honest, the new addition didn’t really hold my interest. I was still fuming about Noah. I can’t believe he’s still denying what he said about me, I thought.

In my peripheral vision, I saw the camera operators slowly lose interest in our group; they turned to sweep their cameras over the rest of the crowd.

“I saw you say it,” I whispered to Noah. “Why can’t you just own up to it?”

“I would own up if I had said it,” he hissed back.

“Maybe you just heard wrong,” Sam murmured.

“You’re taking his side, now?” I asked, my whisper getting louder.

Sam shook her head as she kept her eyes fixed on her screen. “I’m not taking anyone’s side. I just can’t believe Noah would say anything like that.”

“Look, I said he was jealous,” I admitted. “There. I owned up to what I said.”

Noah shook his head. “And that’s a low blow, man.”

Amy whispered something, but it was so quiet, I couldn’t make out what it was.

“What?” I asked her.

“I said, we can go see for ourselves,” she repeated. “If it will get you two to stop fighting, I can find the clip you’re talking about.”

“Excellent idea.” I glanced at Noah. “Last chance to come clean.”

Noah nodded. “Oh, let’s go settle this right now.”

I looked around to locate the camera crews. They’d disappeared in the sea of students who were watching the virtual beast’s approach. Without another word, the four of us eased out of the crowd and slinked back toward the school. I followed the others through the front door, with one last glance over my shoulder to make sure we weren’t being followed. I’m sure the four of us sneaking away would’ve piqued the interest of the camera operators.

“I’ll have Danny pull up the exact clip,” Amy said as she led the way up the stairs to the