Chapter 6: Passwords,Pasts,and Pep Rallies
After a quiet evening at home, Eliana returned to her dorm before it got too late. Exams were creeping up, and she hated falling behind even if her mind wasn't fully on formulas and lecture slides tonight. Her room was just as she left it: a bit cluttered, but hers. The comfort of routine settled in as she dropped her bag and pulled out her laptop, pretending the ache in her chest wasn't there.
At Riverside University,
Eliana was curled in her dorm bed, laptop open, study notes glowing on the screen. Her phone buzzed again. Another message.
Nina: Jace asked Zara if you're seeing anyone. Just saying.
Eliana: He's probably just being polite.
Zara: Girl, he pulled you out of that mess like some romance-novel bodyguard. You need to wake up and take the hint.
Eliana sighed, shutting her laptop halfway. Jace had defended her earlier that afternoon when Savannah tried pulling some public insult stunt near the dining hall. A fake flyer, a staged scene, even her weirdly overenthusiastic tone. Savannah had been seconds away from humiliating her until Jace stepped in, calm and clear.
"Maybe pick on someone whose name people actually know for something other than screaming at pool parties?" he'd said, voice low and easy.
It silenced everything.
And now?
Whispers were everywhere.
"Eliana and Jace?"
"She's gotta be lucky."
"Didn't know she had it in her."
She wasn't sure what to think. She liked her quiet. She liked her books. But sometimes she caught herself wondering... what if?
Not tonight, though.
Eliana: I'll study a bit more then crash. Night.
Zara: Don't dream about equations. Dream about Jace.
Nina: Or both. Equations with Jace.
Eliana rolled over with a huff, smiling in spite of herself.
Maya's residence
---
Maya lay in bed, the city lights pulsing faintly behind her blinds. Her phone buzzed once. A private alert system she set up for surveillance flags. One of the tags she followed Knox had just pinged.
A document change.
She opened her eyes fully, suddenly awake.
Tomorrow, she'd go deeper.
And maybe… avoid looking into those dark, unreadable eyes of Elijah Grant.
But something told her that might be harder than she thought.
StoneArc
---
The hum of printers and the distant buzz of an espresso machine filled the quiet tension between Maya and Elijah in the morning. Maya stood outside his office, clutching the morning reports, her heart thudding not from nerves, but from the realization that today she'd finally get access to the restricted archives. The proposal the one connected to Thomas Grant's past was buried somewhere in the digital maze of StoneArc's internal systems.
"Come in," Elijah called, without looking up.
She entered and placed the folder down. Elijah's tie was uneven. He'd been doing that a lot lately mornings where he showed up with a messier version of his usually tailored self. Maya noticed, of course. But she didn't comment.
"Dana's out today," he muttered, still typing. "So I'll need you to schedule my 3 PM with Mr. Levington, and try not to let the software crash this time."
"I only crashed it once," Maya replied, deadpan.
He finally looked up, eyes flickering with reluctant amusement. "Once is enough when it sets off a security lockdown."
"That was not my fault. You said your password was 'Fortress.' I didn't know you spelled it with two fours and a dollar sign."
"It's secure."
"It's ridiculous," Maya shot back.
He leaned back slightly, smirking for the first time that morning. "You're lucky Dana vouched for you. Most interns wouldn't survive a second week here."
"I'm not most interns," Maya said, a little too sharply. She pivoted before the moment got awkward and slipped back out, biting down the irony in her smile. No, I'm not most interns. I'm the one investigating your father's ghost in your company's machine.
---
At Riverside University, Eliana walked across the quad in an oversized hoodie and jeans, grateful for the spring breeze. Students were buzzing about the upcoming pep rally some tradition involving foam cannons and a band that only played songs from the early 2000s. Eliana wasn't planning to go. She had her sketchbook, her bubble tea, and the comforting anonymity of the crowd.
Until Jace showed up next to her, sunglasses on, eating a granola bar like it was a performance.
"You're ignoring the event of the semester," he said.
"It's literally a pep rally," she replied.
"Exactly. Terrible music. Free food. Possibly someone gets foam in the eye. Come on, you need a distraction."
"I'm good with solitude."
He stared at her. "Is solitude the name of your sketchbook?"
Eliana rolled her eyes, but she smiled despite herself.
From behind them, a high pitched laugh cut through the air. Savannah and her two shadows strutted past like they owned the pavement.
"Some of us," Savannah said loudly, "don't need pity invites to be seen."
Jace turned. "And some of us don't need to stage poolside accidents to be relevant, Savannah."
Savannah's smirk faltered. "Careful, Jace. You might accidentally reveal who you actually like."
"I think everyone already knows," he said coolly, glancing at Eliana.
Savannah's jaw tightened as she strode off, her boots clicking like threats.
Eliana sighed. "Why are you making enemies for me?"
"Trust me," Jace said, grinning. "They were already your enemies. I just lit the sign."
Back at StoneArc, Maya finally slipped into the restricted data center under the pretext of needing system files for Elijah's presentation. Her clearance had been approved two days ago thanks to Dana pushing it through unaware that Maya had requested it specifically for "integration analysis."
Rows of servers blinked silently as she plugged in the drive. She navigated through folders until she found it Proposal Archive 23A-Alpha. The sender's metadata matched the company Thomas Grant once worked for.
She clicked open the document.
It wasn't just a proposal. It was a cover sheet, followed by a redacted research outline Project Solstice.
Her hands trembled slightly. Why would Thomas's name be coded in the footer of this file? Why would Elijah approve this deal without knowing its origin?
A sudden beep.
She froze.
Her screen flickered, then shut off.
"Unauthorized duplicate attempt detected," the console warned.
Maya yanked out the drive and slipped it into her coat just as someone walked in.
It was Elijah.
She spun around, breath held.
"I forgot my notebook," he said casually, walking past her.
"Just doing file inventory," Maya said quickly, voice steady.
He paused, glancing at her. "You look pale."
"Flu season," she lied.
He studied her for a moment. Then, with a nod, he walked out.
Maya leaned against the server tower after he left, heart racing.
He hadn't seen anything. Not yet.
But she had.
And everything had just become much more dangerous.