In gym class, Maeve sat on her mat and stretched out. She looked over to see Leo talking with a girl. The girl was pretty, with long, curly hair. Eventually, she walked off, seeming slightly over Leo's antics.

"Who was that?" Maeve grinned slyly, getting up to talk to Leo.

He rolled his eyes and smirked. "That was Janelle. We're... kind of a thing."

Adam approached, laughing. "What do you mean, Leo? Janelle hates you."

"Wha-" Leo exclaimed. "I'll have you know, we have been on several dates together."

"Ohh," Adam rolled his eyes dramatically. "How could I forget the time you froze her with Mr. Davenport's freeze gun?"

"What?" Maeve laughed.

"Okay, that was an accident," Leo clarified.

Maeve chuckled. "Well, I think you guys could be cute together. But, if I could offer you some advice - most girls don't particularly like to get frozen."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Okay, I get it. You guys can all move on now."

-

That afternoon, Maeve had headed to Tech Town to hang out with Bree and Chase. The previous day, Chase had told her about a design-your-own-app contest Tech Town was hosting. Whichever employee created the app that got the most downloads would win a $500 gift card. There was a crowd of people glued to their phones chatting throughout the store.

"Bree, what's going on?"

Bree smiled. "Scott unveiled his app early. It's a game called Cavity Crushers. Super addictive! You save the world by smashing evil candy."

"Uh, the candy's not evil, it's just misunderstood," Scott corrected.

"Who would ever want to play that stupid game?" Chase scoffed.

The crowd cheered at their phones.

"Apparently everybody!" Bree answered.

Chase stood on a display stand and raised jis phone. "Behold my app, Structure Scan! You can scan any item and it lists the elemental makeup of its molecular structure! For example, this pen is... 30% ink, 64% polymer, and 6% steel. Come on, people! How fun is that!"

Scott did an exaggerated fake yawn and then clicked a button on his iPad. "Attention, Cavity Crushers, I just unlocked a new level. Follow me! We're going to Lollipop Lane!"

"I don't get it," Chase frowned.

Bree chuckled. "Of course you don't. See, these people are having what we call fun."

"Well, structure scans can be fun," Chase protested.

"Oh, sure they can!" Scott said. He put his iPad in Chase's face and pretended to scan him. "Oh, look. 100% loser!"

The crowd of Cavity Crushers laughed before following Scott to the other side of the store. Chase stepped down, dejected. Maeve half-pouted, half-smiled at him.

"I can't believe this. Why does no one want to try my app?" He frowned.

"Three words: late stage capitalism," Maeve answered. "In today's modern society, capitalism has destroyed our attention spans to the point where we rely on these flashy mobile games to feel even a second of fleeting joy in a world of hard labor. It's all a corporate ploy to keep us addicted to our phones and reliant on the systems of oppression that run this society."

Chase stared at her, still upset.

She paused. "What I'm saying is... it's short-term. People want something that will give them a 15-second endorphin rush... but they'll lose interest in it soon enough."

"But structure scans could do that if they just tried."

Maeve cupped his cheek in her hand, tracing her thumb over his skin. "I'm sorry. It's not a reflection on you. I'm sure your app is much better than Scott's... but you might have to consider what people realistically want. You know, a stress relief from their lives."

Chase sighed. "I guess you're right."

She grinned. "And not everyone is as smart as you. Structure scans might just be a little... much."

He smiled. "Now that, I don't get. It's so fun to research the foundational components of your surroundings to analyze their structural soundness."

Maeve stared for a moment. "Chase, please don't repeat that. Other people don't understand you the way that I barely do."

Chase laughed and rolled his eyes, wrapping an arm around Maeve's shoulders.

-

The next day, Maeve was chatting with Bree at Tech Town when Scott walked up to them.

"Ten minutes left to enter, and mine is the most downloaded app by far. Aw, am I really gonna win again? I guess I am. Victory lap!" Scott leapt in the air and prepared to run.

Bree stopped him. "Please don't run. It's just awkward for all of us."

"Girls," he scoffed, before beginning to Naruto run around the store.

As Scott was making his rounds, Chase walked in and stopped him.

"Hold it, Scott!" he called. "Hello, everybody, I'm back."

The crowd of customers sighed in disappointment.

"No, no, no," Chase said. "I have a new app."

The crowd sighed again.

Chase continued. "Say hello to your new BFF, Cheddy. The virtual assistant who does everything."

He raised his phone, displaying a screen with Eddy with a mustache.

"Hello, Cheddy," Chase smiled. "What's going on tonight?"

"Good evening, Chase," Cheddy replied. "I've ordered your favorite pizza, got you VIP concert tickets, and completed all current homework assignments! Is there anything else, sir?"

"That will be all, Cheddy," Chase smirked. "He's available for downloading now."

The crowd of onlookers excitedly reached for their phones to download Cheddy.

Bree and Maeve pulled Chase aside.

"Chase, what do you think you're doing?" Bree hissed. "That is Mr. Davenport's technology."

"No," Chase shook his head. "He created Eddy. This is Cheddy."

Bree glared. "I don't ch-care, you ch-stole his ch-idea."

"Cheddy is the original version of Eddy, which was actually a very helpful program," Chase explained. "It took him years to turn into the complete jerk we all know and loathe."

"It's still Eddy," Maeve said.

"You guys aren't listening. It's Cheddy."

"Chase, come on," Maeve frowned. "This isn't your creation."

"I thought you'd be proud of me," Chase answered slowly.

"What?"

"You told me to try to think about what other people might want in an app. And that's what I did."

"I didn't mean-"

"No, wait, guys!" A whiny voice interrupted Maeve's conversation. "Cheddy isn't that interesting anyways! What if I unlock another level of Cavity Crushers?"

Scott roamed around, trying to prevent his customers from buying Chase's app - but to no avail.

Over the next hour, Bree and Maeve watched the drama of the competition unfold.

"Ha! My app is outselling Scott's ten to one. How's it feel to know the guy who's gonna win?" Chase grinned.

"As embarrassing as ever," Bree answered. "What are you so proud of? It's Mr. Davenport's creation."

Chase scoffed. "Bree, people in the tech world borrow ideas from one another all the time. I doubt he'd even care."

"Oh, well, there he is," Bree pointed towards the store entrance. "Why don't you go ask him?"

Chase jumped. "Mr. Davenport?!"

Donald walked up to them.

"What are you doing here?" Chase asked.

"You're not gonna believe this, but somebody stole Eddy and is selling him as Cheddy on the Tech Town website!" Donald said.

"What?" Chase breathed in feigned surprise. "That's terrible!"

"I know, it's terrible!" Donald agreed.

"You should go home and rest. I'll call the app police," Chase said.

"Oh, no, no," Donald walked across the room and took a seat on a display table. "I'm not leaving until I find out who did it. You know what? Perhaps I should speak to a manager!"

"Oh, no-" Chase began.

"I'll get him!" Bree offered, bringing Scott over.

"Oh, may I help-" Scott began, his face dropping when he saw Donald. "Oh, it's you."

"Mhm, it's me," Donald said. "And I have a problem with Cheddy."

"Oh, hear that, Chase?" Scott grinned. "He has a problem with your Cheddy app. I'll let you handle this one. Hoo-ah!"

Scott kicked the air and left.

"Chase, I am really disappointed in you," Donald said. "You stole Eddy!"

"Oh, no, Mr. Davenport, you're not listening," Bree interjected. "It's Cheddy!"

"I can't believe this. I mean-" Donald paused before laughing. "I can. Who wouldn't want to take my technology?"

Maeve and her friends stared blankly at him.

Donald frowned. "But seriously, I never expected this from you, Chase."

"Look, I know you're angry," Chase said. "But if you hadn't invented Eddy, then I couldn't have invented Cheddy. So, in a way, this is all on you!"

"Chase," Maeve said.

"Taking credit for what isn't yours is wrong," Donald frowned. "Especially when what isn't yours is mine!"

"Yes, I know. But everybody loves Cheddy, and if I tell them that it wasn't mine, then it could crush my reputation," Chase explained.

"You're young. You'll recover," said Donald. "Or maybe you won't. I really don't care."

"Again, I'll go get the manager," Bree said happily, pulling Scott over.

"You're touching, you're touching, you're touching," Scott said, wriggling out of her grip.

"This is really difficult for me to say," Chase said to Scott.

"He didn't create the Cheddy app," Bree finished for him. "He stole it. See? Easy!"

She walked off.

Chase frowned. "It's Mr. Davenport's. I didn't want to lose, so I tried to pass his technology off as my own."

"You know, Chase, admitting that was very big of..." Scott paused. "Your sister. Now it's time for my victory lap."

Scott jumped up excitedly and began to run around the store.

Bree walked over again. "Good news, Chase. Your night's about to get worse. Everybody who bought the Cheddy app wants their money back."

"What?" Chase asked. "Why?"

They looked over at people using Cheddy.

"Tickets to a movie?" Cheddy spoke through someone's phone. "Sure! Which of your imaginary friends will be joining you?"

"Nice shirt! Too bad about the face," someone else's Cheddy exclaimed.

"Daily reminder: no one likes you!" A third Cheddy said.

Chase sighed. "Oh, no. Cheddy is using the computing power of all these devices to evolve into snarky Eddy faster."

"Never mind that," Donald said, pulling out his phone. "You also forgot that Eddy's software is self-replicating. He's gonna start infecting other devices soon."

Something beeped.

"Uh, I think he already has," said Chase.

They looked as Eddy's face began to pop up on several display screens throughout the store.

"Hey, look!" One of the Eddies said. "Now I'm annoying in HD!"

"How are we gonna shut this thing down?" Chase asked.

"Well, we're gonna have to delete the app at its source. I can reset Eddy's mainframe from here... unless you stole my app that does that too!" Donald exclaimed. "Okay, as soon as I shut down and reboot the lab's network, we should all be Cheddy free."

Donald clicked a button on his phone. When he did, the Eddies on the screens began to dissolve away.

"What's happening?" One of the Eddies whined. "I'm pixelating! I'm pixelating!"

The voice grew more and more distorted as the Eddy disappeared. Soon enough, all of the Eddies in the store had dissolved completely.

"Okay," Donald sighed in relief. "The Cheddy app is deleted. Crisis averted. Except for you, Chase. Your crisis is just beginning."

Bree laughed. "Woohoo! Victory lap!"

She ran excitedly around the store, cheering loudly.

-

That evening, Maeve stayed behind to help Chase clean up before closing Tech Town for the night. After Scott's win, Chase was pretty dejected.

Maeve straightened up some boxes on a shelf, thinking. How could Chase have done something so... self-centered? It was so weird.

She stepped back and bumped into someone. Chase.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"I'm sorry," Chase frowned.

They looked at each other awkwardly for a moment.

"Maeve, I'm really sorry," he eventually said.

"Why?"

"Just... for everything that happened. I've been so focused on this competition, I've let some of my own morals slip away. I haven't been paying as much attention to you... I'm sorry. It wasn't fair."

After a moment, Maeve smiled slightly. "It's okay."

"No, it's not," Chase replied. "I shouldn't have gotten upset when you said I should have used my own technology. I just got so caught up in this. I guess I just really wanted to beat Scott."

Maeve sighed. "I get it. You just wanted people to give you credit for how awesome you are. It's alright."

Chase smiled and hugged Maeve.

When they broke apart, Chase frowned again. "I just really wanted people to like me."

"Chase," she said, "You're the smartest guy I know. I know you can make an app on your own that's really cool. And if people don't appreciate that, then that's on them."

"You're right. It's just hard to watch... Scott get everything I wanted."

"Look, why do you even feel the need to outshine Scott anyways? He's an adult man who looks like he doesn't shower and is probably a Discord mod."

Chase laughed, and Maeve followed.

"You don't have to compare yourself to him," she continued. "Especially when you're already so much better."

Chase hugged her again. She kissed him on the cheek.

"I really appreciate you saying all this, Maeve. Thanks for sticking with me."

"Of course," Maeve smiled. "But... we gotta go if we want to make it in time for that play Adam's doing."

"I'm not sure I want to be on time for that."

Maeve grinned and playfully slapped his chest. As they walked out of the store, the two laughed about everything that had happened that day.

-

RAHHH i didn't proofread this chapter and i wrote it rlly fast so sorry i just wanted to get something out for you guys <3 more to come i promise