Noah had already warned me about what he’d said in his last confessional. He felt horrible about it. It was recorded just after Joey had shown him what I had said about him, so not only did I totally understand his anger, but I was also prepared. The recording wouldn’t catch me off guard like last time. Noah and I had even worked it into our plan.
The image of Noah onscreen jumped as if part of the scene had been cut out. “He wouldn’t even have that robot if it weren’t for me,” Noah continued. “He totally got the idea for it from my app.” The video switched off abruptly.
I nodded. “Yup. That’s what he told me yesterday.”
“And what would you say to him if you could?” Joey asked.
I tried to look angry. “I’d tell him so what? I don’t see him building a cool VR robot. He’s just a programmer afraid to get his hands dirty. If he tried to build something like I have, it would probably blow up.”
None of that was true, of course. Noah was a first-rate engineer and a top programmer, as far as I was concerned. But I needed to give Joey what we thought he wanted.
“That’s great,” Joey said. He made some notes in his notebook. “Now, do you think any of the other students are jealous of—”
“Actually, I have to go,” I interrupted. I pretended to check the time on my phone as I stood. “Can we pick this up later today?”
“What? Oh, okay,” Joey said, closing his notebook. “But definitely make some more time for this. It’s very important to the show.”
“I will,” I agreed as I pulled back the curtain. “And thanks for keeping my robot safe.”
“Oh, I will,” Joey said.
Yeah, right, I thought. He’d probably love to have a clip of Noah messing with it for his not-so-real reality show.
I left the computer lab and went down to algebra. I couldn’t wait to tell my friends how smoothly everything had gone. Unfortunately, when I walked into class, I realized that I’d have to keep my mouth shut. One of the camera crews was already there, watching—recording. Still, I gave Sam and Amy a subtle thumbs-up as I sat down.
I couldn’t communicate with Noah. We were still supposed to be feuding after all. I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s why the crew was waiting for us in our first-period class. Joey probably texted them to find Noah and me and wait for some kind of blowup.
They didn’t get one, though. Noah and I simply ignored each other completely.
During our chat the night before, Noah thought it would be fun to come up with some scripted arguments for the cameras, but Sam quickly talked him out of it. It would be much easier to pretend to give each other the silent treatment than to go for an Academy Award–winning performance with zero rehearsal time.
The camera crew stayed in class for the entire period, so we had no choice but to keep up the act. After class, they trailed after Noah, so at least I could talk to Sam and Amy.
“Everything still a go?” Sam asked as we walked down the crowded hallway.
“You bet,” I replied. “We just have to keep cool a couple more hours.”
Amy squeezed the straps of her backpack. “This is so stressful.”
“Just act natural,” Sam told her.
Amy rolled her eyes. “When someone tells you to act natural, that’s the last thing you can do.”
We split up and headed to our second-period classes. We just had to hold it together until the end of third period. Since Amy had been working in the editing suite, she knew that was when Danny and Joey would leave for lunch. And since they always left the campus to eat, they also locked the editing suite while they were away. Luckily, we had a man inside—well, a robot inside.
Just before the end of third period, I used one of Noah’s hall passes to get out of class. I hustled down to the cafeteria and found Sam and Amy already waiting.
“Where’s Noah?” Sam asked.
“I don’t know,” I replied, pulling the VR gear out of my backpack. I placed a controller in each hand and pulled my glasses down over my eyes. It took a few seconds, but I easily connected to my robot through the school’s Wi-Fi network.
Noah finally arrived. “Man, I had a hard time ditching the camera crew. What did you tell—” He paused and sniffed the air. “Cool! Tater tots!”
“Focus, Noah,” Sam scolded.
“All right, all right,” Noah said as he pulled his tablet from his backpack. He gave the screen a few taps. “I’m tied in.”
I glanced at my friends. “Time to go live.”
I pressed a button on my right controller and my view shifted. Instead of just looking at a blank cafeteria wall, I now saw the interior of the editing suite. If I were wearing true VR goggles, it would look as if I was really there, but since I viewed the scene through my glasses, I saw a transparent version of the room. Fortunately, the image would be solid on Noah’s tablet.
“How’s it look?” I asked him.
“Crystal clear,” he replied. “And recording.”
I moved the joystick on my left controller to make the robot rotate left and right. The camera scanned the area. Once I was certain the room was empty, I moved the robot toward the main workstation.
“Okay, let’s start with the same clip we saw yesterday,” I said.
“Tap any key to wake the computer out of sleep mode,” Amy instructed.
I raised my right hand and the robot’s right arm came into view. I reached out and had its claw tap the space key. The bank of monitors blinked on. Then I reached over to operate the trackball. Unfortunately, I didn’t take into account the smoothness of my robot’s claws. Whenever I tried to roll the ball, the claw simply slid off the ball’s polished surface.
“Uh-oh,” I said.
“You’ll
