Chapter 184 - Jedd77 or Edward Bayon

School was manageable and Scarlet didn't have to pay too much attention to classes. Her assignments were a breeze after Alex introduced that APA citation generator. Everything seemed to be progressing smoothly and Scarlet finally understood what having a normal life meant.

It was boring.

How anyone could live such an ordinary life was beyond her. With not much happening with any aspect of her life, the writer in Scarlet was ready to climb the walls out of frustration. Where was the insanity? Where was the inspiration? She needed more drama, more mental stimulation and more unpredictability in her life. The roller coaster of emotions and experiences was what gave Scarlet the thrill of living., Without that, what was the difference between the living and the dead? Everything was too peaceful.

Alex was spending more time at Kiwi Cat Studio and learning how to prepare nutritious meals for Jasper who was often too busy to eat anything while the other employees left for lunch. The poor CEO was overworked and Scarlet felt bad that he was trying very hard to play his role with her plan to bring Anastasia down. Hence, she took on the job of organising the pizza party by herself so that Alex could spend more time with her childhood sweetheart.

It came to Scarlet as a shock when Alex announced that she was officially dating Jasper. Claire wasn't surprised. In fact, even Orita didn't react to the news apart from a message congratulating Alex and reminding her to prioritise studying first. The writer wondered if she was the only one stunned by the news of her sister dating someone even though she knew about Alex's affection for Jasper for a long time.

Now that she had time to slow down, Scarlet reflected on herself. The pizza party had been planned and there wasn't much that Scarlet needed to do now. Facing a writer's block, Scarlet gave up working on a new book. The story about a cross-dressing boy and a tomboy girl can wait for now.

With a sigh, Scarlet stared at her phone. Edward hasn't been showing up at school for nearly a week and wasn't talking much to anyone other than informing them that he was sick. The writer was worried about Edward. To make matters worse Jedd wasn't texting her at all. The last message was four days ago.

Then, as if the gods above heard her prayer for a more interesting life, something unexpected happened.

Scarlet grinned when her phone beeped. Jedd finally sent her a message after four days. Quickly, Scarlet abandoned her work to check her inbox.

Jedd77: Hello, Scarlet! have you been busy?

Scarlet grinned and texted back quickly.

Frost: Not at all. What have you been up to lately? You didn't contact me at all, I thought you'd died or something.

On the other end of the texting, Edward had mixed feelings. He was almost fully recovered from the cold now and Elfie had gotten what he needed to know to start working on those leads. They would be able to find out what connections Anastasia had with the Pineapple Group soon. For now, Edward and Elfie were keeping the progress they made away from Jasper who was having the time of his life with his girlfriend. An office romance sounded hot but not when Jasper and Alex spent half their time eating and arguing over how many hours of sleep was reasonable.

The teen felt touched that Scarlet was still concerned about him as Jedd but didn't know how Scarlet would feel about him as Edward. What if Scarlet liked Jedd more than Edward? Would she look at him in disgust or feel betrayed if she found out Jedd77 was actually Edward Bayon? He didn't want to keep her in the dark for too long about everything but he was also unable to tell her everything, especially if it concerned EZ Express and Anastasia. The mob boss was picking off spies like grains on the ground. He was merciless and unstoppable that Edward's father had to recall back some of the agents sent to investigate for their safety.

Jedd77: I didn't die although I can understand why you're worried. As a texting friend, you wouldn't really know if it was me texting you or an alien that had taken over my body

Frost: No kidding... Are you still mad that I didn't reply to you a few weeks ago when you texted? I was busy :(

Jedd77: If I say that I was, what would you do?

Frost: ...

Frost: What would it take for you to forgive me?

Edward paused for a while. This was getting dangerous for him and his evil self couldn't help but want to take advantage of the situation. If Scarlet was offering, why should he refuse?

Jedd77: If I said that I wanted to meet you in person? We study at the same university. how we haven't seen each other in person is ridiculous if you'd asked me.

Scarlet thought about it. Jedd77 wasn't like those creepy online texting buddies who befriended you so that they could ask you for money. However, a part of the girl was afraid of meeting up with a stranger from online. Elfie and Jasper had always told Alex that she shouldn't trust anyone she didn't know personally online. Many things could be faked and Elfie gave a very long and detailed lecture about internet crimes.

Not replying to Jedd immediately, Scarlet switched apps to find Edward. For some reason, he was the first person she could think of. Alex was way too busy and from a different faculty so meeting up with the artist was going to be challenging. Nah, who was Scarlet trying to fool? She just didn't want to be the third wheel in her sister's love life now that Alex and Jasper were finally a couple.

Scarlet: Edward... are you busy?

The teen who was waiting for Scarlet's reply raised a brow when she texted him using his other phone's number. Having dual SIMs in a phone had both advantages and disadvantages. Edward had to switch over to the other SIM card to reply to Scarlet.

Edward: What's up?

Scarlet didn't beat around the bush and explained that an old online friend of hers was proposing a real-life meet-up because they were both students in the same university.

Scarlet: But I'm afraid to go alone. Can I bring you along as a friend for the meeting?

When Edward read that, he didn't know if he should be happy that Scarlet trusted Edward or hurt that Scarlet didn't trust Jedd77 seeing as they were both him. Also, to make things more complicated, how was he going to meet Scarlet as Jedd77 while accompanying her there as Edward Bayon? This was a twist that even the teen spy never expected.

However, before he could think of a solution, his eager fingers had already agreed to accompany Scarlet to meet her online friend. When he came back to his senses and read Scarlet's ecstatic reply, the spy groaned. He did it again... the disease of losing his intelligence around Scarlet was confirmed. Edward was a doomed man.

Scarlet agreed to meet Jedd77 and asked if it was alright to bring a friend along for the meeting. As Jedd, Edward didn't disagree and quickly arranged a time and a place for the meeting. Knowing that Scarlet would feel safer in a place with more people but not crowded and noisy, they decided on the cafeteria at the atrium where Alicia first introduced Scarlet to the group.

Jedd77: The tuna melt sandwiches and black coffee there is the best

Frost: Oh wow! You and I have similar tastes. I like the tuna melt sandwiches and black coffee. In fact, it's the first place I went to for lunch after my official start of the bridging course.

They chatted for some time and Scarlet made an excuse about needing to help with dinner preparations before the phone quieted down. Still lost and in a daze, Edward wondered what he was going to do about agreeing to meet Scarlet as both Edward and Jedd77. Why did he do that? He kept shooting himself in the foot when it concerned Scarlet and the only solution to it was to call a certain someone.

Elfie rolled his eyes when he heard a familiar ring tone. Wasn't Edward calling him a little too frequently lately? He didn't have to be a fortune teller to know what the call was about. There were only two things Edward would call him for. The first was Anastasia's case but the hacker highly doubted Edward was calling about it. The teen usually worked late into the night and called after midnight if there was anything related to the case. It was almost dinner so Elfie bet it was about the second topic that had become a fad for Edward - Scarlet.

"Let me guess," Elfie picked up the call. "This is related to Scarlet. Have you done something stupid again?"

Edward blinked. Was he that predictable? "Yes, and yes," he admitted begrudgingly. "I need your help to pretend to be Jedd77 for a day. Please!"

Elfie groaned. "What have you done this time? Please at least make this entertaining or I'm not going to help."

With no choice, Edward started from the beginning while enduring the humiliation when Elfie hooted in laughter for the next twenty minutes. If he didn't get a solution by the end of this phone call, he was breaking into Elfie's 'high-security' apartment tonight.