Upgrade (Augmented Duology Book 2) by Heather Hayden (the top 100 crime novels of all time .TXT) 📕

class, and the ceramics room was on the first floor, not too far from the cafeteria. Dan took notes on his phone and asked if I knew the teachers.

“Ms. Waldron is strict about being on time, but she’s nice and likes to hold class discussions,” I said. “She used to teach history, but she switched to English after…after our previous English teacher left.” My teeth scraped together as I remembered Ms. Cabon and her never-ending baked goods. All lies. She’d actually been Dr. Molly Bell, my biological mother, living in hiding for sixteen years after she and her husband went on the run for creating their biggest experiment—me.

“What about Ms. Robins?”

I plastered on a smile. “She’s tough, but a good teacher.” He didn’t need to know how badly I’d failed Basic Ceramics first semester last year. I’d only survived that class because Neela had spent hours after school helping me. My smile collapsed a little, but Dan had headed down the hallway and didn’t see. I brought the smile up again and followed him to the cafeteria, my sneakers squeaking on the polished linoleum floor.

The smooth concrete floor and white walls of the cafeteria hummed with the sounds of conversation, laughter, and plastic silverware clicking against plastic bowls. It’ll be nice not eating alone for once. I led the way to the line of students waiting to reach the cafeteria’s serving dispensers.

“I just moved here a couple days ago, so I don’t really know the town very well yet,” Dan said as we waited for our turn. “What’s there to do for fun?”

I shrugged. “There’s the mall and cinema, I guess, and a beach. Probably should ask someone else for suggestions, I tend to spend a lot of time at home.”

“What about your friends? Don’t you hang out somewhere?”

I looked down at the floor. “Since what happened, I don’t have any friends. The few I had were the ones who were the most upset about the augmentation thing.”

“Oh,” Dan said. I glanced up in time to see his face fall. “I’m sorry, that sucks.”

For a second, I thought he was disappointed to have met the school outcast, but he instead gave me a sympathetic smile. “Every time I start making friends, we end up moving away, so I can sort of understand what it’s like. It’s not my parents’ fault, their job just requires moving a lot, but it still sucks.” His smile brightened. “We can hang out for as long as I’m here, though. Outsiders should stick together, right?”

I grinned. “Sure thing. Though I’ll warn you now, I spend most of my free time running and playing Realmshards.”

“Realmshards? I love that game! What kind of character do you play?”

“I’m a mage! You?” The line inched forward, and I followed it automatically.

Dan stayed on my heels. “I’m a warrior. I don’t suppose you need another person in your quest party?”

“Maybe,” I said, trying to contain my excitement at the idea. “I’ll have to ask my healer.”

“Your questing party is run by a healer?”

“It’s just the two of us,” I explained.

“You only have a healer and a mage in your questing party?” Dan blinked when I nodded. “How far along are you?”

“We were capped before they raised the level again.”

His eyes widened, but he gave a short nod. “Oh, good. I’m about five levels from the previous cap, so I’m not too far behind.”

“We can help you with the quests that you’re working on, if you want. Since we’ve done them before, we can show you how to finish them the fastest way.” Halle didn’t normally calculate the swiftest course of action for quests, since it preferred to enjoy the time we spent together in-game, but I could remember some tedious quests around Dan’s level. We’d have him leveled and fighting bosses with us in no time.

If Halle’s okay with that. My initial excitement faded to worry. Dan was nice, but Halle might not want another player in our party. We’d have to be careful what we say around him…maybe I should have checked with Halle first.

“That would be great,” Dan said. “I can’t do any of the boss quests unless I join a party as a mercenary, and that’s not always a great experience.”

“I’ll let you know,” I said, keeping my voice light.

“Sounds good.” Dan’s excitement rubbed off on me, and I brushed away my worries. Halle wanted me to make new friends. I’m sure it’ll be happy I found someone who shares my interests.

We’d finally reached the tray dispenser. I picked up a red plastic tray, moved to the serving dispenser, and set the tray on its shelf. The machine beeped, and I made my selection from the touch display—burger, fries, fruit salad, vanilla pudding, and orange juice. A moment later, clear plastic dishes slid down from the dispenser onto the tray in consecutive thumps. Lunch ready, I looked around the cafeteria, my stomach sinking again. Perhaps the tour would have been a better idea after lunch; there weren’t any empty tables at this point.

Dan collected his meal, then gestured across the crowded cafeteria. “Let’s sit over there.”

He directed me to an empty table hidden behind a group of jocks. Dan’s height must have given him the advantage of spotting it—he stood almost a head taller than me. A couple of the football players glanced our way when we sat down. Upon catching sight of me, they focused on their own table again. I shook my head and set down my tray, then picked up a ketchup packet and dumped it over my pudding.

Dan’s eyes widened. “You’re going to eat that?”

“It’s good,” I said, picking up my spoon.

“Viki always eats strange combinations.”

I jerked my head around to find Neela standing nearby, a bright smile on her face that matched her friendly tone. Her tray was clasped in