The daily serial fictional based on Chicago's Boystown neighborhood: Boystown series by Danny Bernardo

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13. The Math

"Brandon, you've got to help me," Alex said, chasing after him on his way to his locker. "God, Alex, haven't you ruined enough lives?" Brandon said, rolling his eyes. "Omigod, I wouldn't even come to you if you weren't like a total techie." "Not helping your cause, Alex." "Everyone think

13. The Math
"Brandon, you've got to help me," Alex said, chasing after him on his way to his locker.

"God, Alex, haven't you ruined enough lives?" Brandon said, rolling his eyes.

"Omigod, I wouldn't even come to you if you weren't like a total techie."

"Not helping your cause, Alex."

"Everyone thinks I'm the one who sent that picture of Robbie kissing Mr. Parker and now everyone hates me."

"Do you blame them?"

"But I didn't do it! And you can help me prove it!"

"And why would I do that? What do I get out of it?"

"Um... I'll go to prom with you?"

"Get over yourself," Brandon said, walking away.

"Wait!" Alex called. He took a sigh and held out his wrist, letting the beautiful platinum bracelet gleam.

"Is that... ?"

"It's from Tiffany's. And it's all yours, if you can do this for me."

*

Brandon pulled up the email that went viral with the picture of Bobby and Mr. Parker.

"So every email server includes... "

"Seriously, I don't need to see the math, Brandon."

"Fine," Brandon said. After a few strokes on the keyboard, a long set of numbers appeared.

"Ok, splainy?"

"Well, that's the IP address," Brandon explained. "And that email definitely came from the school."

"Well, can it tell you who sent it?"

"You mean beyond the totally obvious fake email address that sent it? No, it can't tell me all that."

"Well how the hell... "

"Hold on, hold on," Brandon said, spending the next few minutes zoning into his laptop as he went berserk on the keyboard. Finally he looked up.

"Well?"

"I think I figured out who did it."

"What? How?"

"Oh NOW you wanna see the math... "

"I just don't get... "

"Well knowing it came from a school computer was a start. It also helps that the time stamp on the email was outside of school hours, so there weren't a lot of people logging on to school computers at the time. So, if I matched the time stamp by seeing who logged into a school computer at that time... "

"You can hack into the school computer system?"

"... I was able to narrow it down to one user, within a reasonable doubt."

"Well, who was it?" Alex demanded, trying to get closer to the screen. Brandon quickly pulled it away.

"Tut, tut, young Alex. My compensation?" Alex groaned and handed over his prized Tiffany's bracelet, the only memento he had before Bruce went nuts. Admiring the bracelet on his own wrist, Brandon handed the laptop over to Alex.

Alex found the name on the screen and almost threw it across the computer lab in a rage. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me!"

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Just joining us? Catch up here:

Volume 1 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 2 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 3 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 4 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 5 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five

Volume 6 -
Week One, Week Two, Week Three, Week Four, Week Five



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