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But I didn't have much to do with them, even though they were the people I had formed study alliances for unnecessary group projects with in high school and later during my university years.

“Coffee?” Luca asked Shani, who turned in her chair to Jordan, who was holding up a cup.

“It smells good, but I can't stand the bitter taste,” Shani said, while Luca almost snatched the coffee from Jordan's hands and turned energetically to Shani.

“Then come with me, Jenny, and the guys from the baseball team to Midnights later,” he winked. “I'll buy you a whiskey.”

“Are you trying to kill me?” Shani laughed dryly before shaking her head and turning back to her screen.

The two young men grinned at each other, knowing Shani's preferences all too well.

She and the guys were good friends. Every Wednesday, she met up with Luca to play video games and spent a lot of time with him and the guys from the baseball team at the beach near the harbor or at Misty Point, the diner in downtown Harbor District.

Sometimes I wished I had a normal, wild student life like the three of them, but that wasn't possible since Azara had become a dominant part of my life. And to be honest, I didn't have the head for such games anymore. My games were different.

Luca spotted me first.

“Kieran?” He jumped up, spilling his coffee, and I looked alarmed at the cables on the floor. The guy was good at ruining technology. “Oh my God, I can't believe it!” He laughed and pulled the hood of his dark green Vanderwood hoodie off his head. “He really showed up.”

He came up to me and patted me on the shoulder, brotherly, while I kept my eyes on his raised coffee mug.

“I told you he would come,” Shani said with a grin, spinning in her swivel chair as she pulled up a leg.

“Hey man,” Jordan said, shaking my hand.

“What's up?” I asked, sitting down in my old seat and taking my hands out of my leather jacket.

“Harlow is putting pressure on us,” Luca snorted, slumping into his chair. “That damn hacker has complete control over the technology. The day before yesterday, he even gained access to the student accommodations.” He laughed. “The guy's a damn machine.”

It had been a piece of cake. And the thought that Rebecca's plans to block the technology had backfired and that she was probably furious gave me enormous satisfaction.

“His codes are good,” Shani interjected.

I raised an eyebrow.

“How do you know that?” I asked, trying to keep the suspicion out of my voice.

“Shani managed to find a data trail he didn't clean up, so now we know he was actually operating from here,” Jordan replied.

I bit my tongue and looked down at my hands, twisting the black rings until it hurt.

Sometimes I was a damn idiot.

When there were incidents with Azara, chaos reigned in my head and I started making stupid mistakes.

“To be honest, I'd rather let the guy continue,” Luca sighed in frustration. “His ideas are brilliant. There's never been so much going on on this campus, and we're talking about Vanderwood here!”

He sounded enthusiastic. A sparkle flashed in his eyes. Although the games hadn't even started yet.

“Harlow will tie you to her Rapunzel tower if she hears you,” Shani laughed, handing me a can of energy drink.

I took it and nodded gratefully, because I had stayed up all night to find out more about some people at this university. Among them the shady DeLoughrey girl.

She had modeled in Sacramento and had a photography account on Instagram where she had posted several pictures of the strange Senseque girl who was new to the pack, but those were all the clues I had about her. No place of birth, no online bills, no other social networks, no contacts...

I knew that people like her definitely had contacts, which was why I hadn't given up. And in fact... I had found what I had been looking for in the comment section of a damn tattoo studio's page.

This annoying Ruisangor girl was now called Larissa DeLoughrey. But there had been a time when she had lived under the name Lillian Champson.