When I Found You Ch. 05

*All characters are 18 years or older. This is a 27 part series. A chapter is uploaded once a week.*

It was Monday morning. Jeremy and Kylie spent most of Sunday talking on the phone and getting to know each other more. They had even started to say "I love you" multiple times every time they talked. Kylie shared this with Skyler, who was overjoyed about her friend finally being happy.

Jeremy arrived at school first, as he had baseball practice before classes began. He met with his friend Bob on the way in.

"Hey! Bob!" Jeremy yelled to his friend.

"Hey man, where were you this weekend? The team met at the beach on Saturday."

"I was on a date."

"Oh really..."

"Yep, and she's now my girlfriend."

"You happy?"

"Extremely!"

"Good! That's what matters. Now, who is this girl?"

"Kylie."

"Kylie. Really? She's liked you for a while."

"How did you know?"

"I am observant."

"Clearly," Jeremy responded while laughing.

"I can't wait to get to know her more. You should set me up with her friend Skyler?"

"I may just do that. But remember to take it easy on me during the practice game this week."

"Not on your life, bro," Bob responded, now joining in on the laughing.

"Let's get to practice. We don't want coach mad at us," Jeremy said as they were walking toward the locker rooms. What Bob did not realize was that Kylie and Jeremy were already planning to set up a double date with Bob and Skyler for later that week.

Skyler was walking with Kylie on the way to school. They were discussing the date, and Kylie could not stop smiling.

"You are really happy. I can tell," Skyler stated.

"I am," Kylie responded. "I really did not expect things to go that well. I thought it would take a few dates to get to where we are."

"You two are just meant for each other. I knew the second he asked you out."

"You really think that."

"I do! Now only if you could get Bob to notice me, I would join you in your happy mood." Skyler added while giggling.

"You know. I heard he likes you."

"WHAT!" Skyler shouted and stopped walking.

Kylie saw this and just started laughing. She had talked with Jeremy yesterday about it and found out that they both liked each other but were scared to make a move.

"Yes, he does. Now, if you would let me continue," Kylie stated as she resumed walking. Skyler slowly followed, now recovering from the shock. "We were going out to eat on Wednesday at a restaurant in the valley. We are inviting you and Bob to come along. It's going to be a double date."

Skyler was freaked out. She really had no idea if what Kylie said was true, but she was super excited to finally go out with Bob, even if the date was set up by her best friend. "Okay. Let's do it!" Skyler stated, finally getting over her nerves.

Kylie texted Jeremy, "She's in."

He quickly responded. "He's in. :)"

Kylie started to smile until they reached the entrance to the school, where she saw Janelle waiting.

Janelle had a terrible weekend. She was trying to gather information to use against Kylie, but her every effort had failed. No one she asked had anything bad to say about her. She quickly realized that she was the only one who really spread any information around. Everyone already knew everything that she had scattered around before, so she could not just re-use the same details. She decided that her new plan was to confront her head-on and hope others would back her up. She was dead wrong.

"Good morning. Bitch." Janelle said as Kylie approached her. What surprised her was how both Kylie and Skyler decided to walk past her without engaging. She was not going to let that slide. She then decided to go grab her backpack to pull her back, but before she even attempted to do so, Jeremy appeared from around the corner and walked up to her face.

"You should not call my girlfriend a bitch. It's rude."

"Ah, so she's your girlfriend now?" Janelle responded rudely.

"Yep. I know you're going to try to keep taking her down so you can get back to being Miss Popular around here. But guess what. Do you want her? You go through me." Jeremy said with the strongest and meanest voice he could make. "If you want a deal, here it is. You leave us alone; we leave you alone."

Janelle was scared. She knew that she could take on Kylie alone, but if Jeremy was involved, he had a strong ability to gather support from other students. She decided it was best to play the long game. "Fine. It's a deal," she responded with a very irritated tone. Jeremy just smiled and ran to catch up to Kylie. Janelle had no intentions of honoring the deal. She had to take down Jeremy first.

"She took the deal," he said once he was walking alongside Kylie and Skyler.

"Shame. I would have loved to destroy her further," Skyler responded.

"Listen. I know she bullied me for a long time, but she does not deserve her whole senior year to be a disaster. As long as she leaves me alone, I won't allow anyone to bully her back." Kylie wanted to be the better person and give Janelle a change.

Jeremy and Skyler could only nod. Kylie was the one running the show. What she says about Janelle goes.

Bob was able to join them on the way to their first class. It was one that they all shared. Advanced Placement English.

"Hey, Skyler," Bob said as he started to walk.

Skyler could only blush and say, "Hey, Bob," back.

"So I hear we're joining the two love birds for a date this week."

"I heard about that. Listen, can we make it a date between us too?" Skyler whispered. "If not, we can just go as friends."

"I would love to go as your date," Bob responded happily.

"Great! I can't wait!" Skyler said with a large smile. Both Jeremy and Kylie were grinning happily as they walked into the classroom.

The class went fine until the PA system made an announcement. "Jeremy and Kylie, please report to the main principal's office." The school was small, so every student knew who they were. They got the traditional teasing as they walked toward the office. They both had no idea what awaited them.

Mr. Harold, the school principal, was red to the face and yelling at one of the IT managers when the two entered the office.

"Kylie. Jeremy. Please give me a few minutes." He ushered them toward some seats in the corner as he and the IT manager closed the door. They could hear part of the conversation.

"I DON'T CARE IF IT'S IMPOSSIBLE TO PREVENT. I NEED TO KNOW WHO GOT THE INFORMATION. WE CAN NOT HAVE PRIVATE STUDENT NOTES BEING LEAKED AND RELEASED." Mr. Harold was yelling.

Jeremy whispered to Kylie that information was what they most likely told Janelle. He said to just deny any accusation and say you found anything on social media. Kylie nodded.

"NOW I HAVE TO GO TELL EVERY STUDENT INVOLVED IN THIS MESS THAT WE LOST SENSITIVE INFORMATION. DO YOU KNOW THE TYPE OF PROBLEMS THAT COULD GET US INTO? THINK OF THE CIVIL LIABILITY!"

This continued for another five minutes before Mr. Harold finally opened the door. The IT manager looked exhausted and practically ran from the office.

"Please come in. I am sorry for the wait."

Kylie and Jeremy walked into the office and sat on the chairs behind the desk. Mr. Harold began, "So I am sorry for interrupting your next class period, I have to go through most of the students in the school, and I saw you two together this morning, so I decided to start with you."

"Is everything okay?" Jeremy asked.

"Well, no. Someone was able to break into our school system and leak information that could have negative effects on the students." he continued. "We have turned the investigation over to the FBI, but they are not hopeful of finding the perpetrator." He started to shake his head. "Anyway, back on track. Both of your personal files were part of the leak. Now both have nothing that important except your grades and school notes. I have reviewed them myself, and there should be nothing to worry about. You are both A students with no disciplinary actions on your record. I had to let you know of the leak legally."

Both Kylie and Jeremy nodded. "Well, thanks for letting us know," Kylie added.

"Of course. Now please get to lunch. Again I am sorry for taking up your second class period."

Both left the room. They looked at each other, relieved that this was not about what information they had gained access to. What no one realized was that the hacker was another student with an axe to grind against them, but as their files were clean, the hacker decided to look elsewhere.

After school, while Jeremy was studying at home, he received a phone call from his bank.

"Hi, Jeremy. This is Daisy from Chase. Is now a good time to talk about this year's changes."

"Sure, I meant to reach out to you earlier, but school has been busy."

"No worries. We just wanted to let you know your account has been upgraded to our private client program given the increase in assets and liquid cash balance."

"Is there anything I need to do from my end? What does that mean? Sorry I am not used to having accounts like this."

"Nothing you need to do from your end. We will be sending you a new card, the American Express Black Card, for you to use on your daily spending. It will provide the best rewards, and as it's an invite-only card, the benefits are very generous."

Jeremy found the whole idea of the wealthy getting free things because they could spend more money inappropriate and wrong. But given that his account required a personal manager, he decided to just give them instructions to donate a good amount to lower-income individuals each year. While it did help with taxes, it made him feel good as he knew his money could assist others.

"Sounds good. Did you get my latest investment and charity email? I just want to make sure."

"Yes, we did. My investment team and I are working through it now." Jeremy decided to donate to build new baseball stadiums at some of the lower-income schools around the area.

"Great! Thanks for reaching out. I will be out of town next week, but if you need me, please call."

"Of course. Have a great rest of your week."

"You too," Jeremy responded before hanging up.

Jeremy decided to make a few purchases that night. He bought some new clothes to wear to Los Angeles next week, a new electric scooter for himself and Kylie so they could ride around the park, and most of all, he upgraded his family and Kylie's ticket to first class. He decided to go a little overboard, given it was going to be their first trip together.

His new card arrived later that night, and even his parents did not receive this exclusive card. But he had already decided not to use it that often. He did not want to start showcasing his wealth after hiding it for years. He would just continue to use his basic credit card for most purchases.

At the same time, Kylie was packing and preparing for the trip. She was bringing only one bag and a backpack. She left some space open for any gifts or things she bought while in LA. She had saved up about three hundred dollars to use for fun money while on the trip. What she did not realize was that Jeremy secretly transferred an extra thousand into her account. He thought she should be able to spend some extra on things she would really want.

The rest of the school week went normally. Skyler and Bob became closer each day and were practically dating before the official double date. Kylie and Jeremy were also able to spend a good period of time together that week. They had still not moved past kissing and making out, but they both felt like it may be time to move their relationship to the next level.

Before they knew it, it was time for the double date on Friday. They met with Skyler and Bob right when school got out.