Chapter 69
Colby said, "The screen was only hijacked for a short time, and not many files were taken. But to figure out exactly what was stolen, I’ll need to do some data recovery. That might take a while."
He motioned for Sean to hand over his phone, transferred the report file to his own device, and then turned to Josie. "I can get your laptop back to you tomorrow, okay?" he asked.
"Sure, thanks, Colby. It’s getting late. How about we go grab some dinner?" Josie replied.
"Let’s go eat," Claire said while tossing her water-damaged laptop to Sean, "See if you can salvage it."
"The motherboard’s fried, but I can clean it up when we get back. Shouldn’t be a big deal," Sean replied, glancing over at Josie.
Josie suddenly had a lightbulb moment. “Whoa, I had no idea you were this good, Sean.”
"I’m not as good as Colby. Never really spent time on this kind of things," Sean said with a small smile.
Colby glanced at him, then at Josie, looking totally baffled.
'What’s he suddenly comparing himself to me for?' Colby thought.
On the way to the restaurant, Zoey brought up the idea of asking Colby to help track down the person behind the forum posts.
Colby frowned. "From the screenshots you showed me, it’s all just people bashing Josie. Are you trying to find out who’s the mastermind behind all this slander? These comments are downright vile. Are they really trying to destroy her reputation and make it impossible for Josie to stay at school? Leave it to me. I’ll find these trolls and expose them, so they never dare to stir up trouble online again!"
Zoey hadn’t expected Colby to agree so easily, and he even looked genuinely indignant about the whole thing. Then again, he didn’t even hesitate earlier when he offered to fix Josie’s laptop.
She thought, 'No wonder he was chosen as the campus heartthrob. Not only is he handsome, but he’s got such a good heart too. I’m honestly lucky to have him as a friend! We are friends, right?'
Zoey still felt a little guilty, but after that, she mostly just couldn’t help but marvel that people were so different from each other. Aiden was also one of the most popular guys featured on the school website for everyone to vote on. One was the campus heartthrob, the other the department’s star, and their vote counts were pretty close. But when it came to their behavior, it was like night and day. They were on completely different levels. Zoey couldn’t believe she’d been so infatuated with Aiden for so long. If it hadn’t been for Josie, she had no idea how much longer she would’ve been blinded by Aiden’s reputation and all those rumors.
"What are you thinking about?" Colby leaned in closer to Zoey, his eyes practically sparkling with mischief.
Zoey’s face turned bright red, and she instinctively took a step back. "Nothing. Thanks, Colby, but you don’t have to go that far. Just finding out who they are is enough!" she stammered.
"Alright then," Colby replied, his eyes dimming a little, a hint of disappointment flickering across his face.
'Seriously? Is my charm not working? Why do I always feel like Zoey’s trying to dodge me?' he wondered.
"So, do you guys have some kind of plan? Need me to help out?" Colby sat up straighter, his expression back to normal.
Zoey patted her chest, finally able to breathe easy again. "Yeah, we do have a plan, but we don’t need any help for now."
"If you ever need anything, just say the word," Colby said with a friendly grin, "We’re on the same team now. We are teammates and friends."
Zoey felt genuinely happy. 'Being around friendly people really does make me feel calmer,' she thought. She said, "Alright, I definitely won’t be shy about asking you for help."
The meal was a blast for everyone, but when it came time to pay the bill, there was a little hiccup. Josie looked at Sean.
She asked, "Sean, we agreed I was going to pay, right?"
Sean reached out and gently patted her head. "You paid last time. Let me take care of it this time."
"Exactly," Claire chimed in, pulling her toward the exit.