Generation Next Read Online Free PDF Page B

yet.”
    “We promised ourselves last term that we’d come up with something serious,” Ava explained. “It might be a game or a website or even an app, but it has to be something that makes use of all our individual talents.”
    “Are you lot nuts?” I laughed. “Haven’t you got enough going on revising for exams?” They all glared back at me as if I were the crazy person in the room. “Of course,” I said, “you guys are all such geeks, you probably don’t even need to revise. Anyway, what exactly are your individual talents?”
    “Well, Ava is brilliant at anything film- and video-related: shooting, editing, sound editing—all that kind of stuff,” Austin said.
    “Sounds good. I’m pretty handy with a camera, too,” I said.
    Austin went on, getting more animated as he spoke. “Sai is a master at graphics, web design, layouts and anything arty, and I’m pretty fearsome when it comes to coding and technical jargon.”
    “And what about him?” I said, nodding toward Miles.
    “My little brother comes in handy for running errands sometimes, but mostly he just hangs out playing World of Warcraft ,” Austin laughed.
    “Look, we’ve got all the bases covered,” Sai said. “Trouble is, we spend most of our time together looking at the brilliant stuff other people are doing and not doing anything ourselves because . . . Well, because we haven’t had any good ideas of our own yet, I suppose.”
    Sai looked at me hopefully, as if he thought I might say some magic word to make something amazing happen right then and there. His stare was intense, as if he was trying to figure out my entire character just by looking at me. Then Ava stood up and headed toward me, her forehead knotted in a frown.
    “And what about you, Penman? What are you good at?”
    I pondered the question for a moment; what exactly was I good at? Then, as if a cartoon lightbulb had flashed above my head, it dawned on me that I might be just what they were looking for.
    “Actually,” I said, “I’m a bit of an ideas man. I s’pose that’s what I’m really good at. Ideas.”
    “So have you got any?” Ava said, laughing. “’Cause I can only spend so many weeks locked in a small space wasting time with these two idiots before I go psycho with Austin’s mum’s bread knife.”
    “Er . . . could you at least let me have a minute or two? I’ve only just walked in the door. You need to give me a few clues about what sort of thing you want to do,” I said.
    “That’s the problem, man, we haven’t got any direction,” Sai said, shaking his head.
    Out of the blue, Miles looked up from his game and shouted over his shoulder from the sofa.
    “Yeah, man, you’re GODLYM0DZ, you can help us.”
    “What did he say? GODLYM0DZ? How the hell . . . ?”
    My blood ran cold and I looked at my new mates one by one, all staring at me as if I was about to sprout horns or wings or something. Then my heart sank as the penny dropped. Austin looked guilty. They all looked guilty.
    “Miles has been online gaming since he was nine,” Austin mumbled. “He reads all the forums.”
    “So is that why I’m here? Is that the only reason you called me over and befriended me the other day, because you knew who I was and you thought . . . ?”
    I didn’t know whether to feel angry or flattered or . . . No, what I actually felt was hurt. I’d stupidly thought this smart, quirky little group had reached out and invited me into their inner sanctum because they thought I was a decent bloke; that I was worth befriending. Turns out it was because of some stupid online persona I’d shaken off ages ago. Turns out they wanted something.
    “How?” I asked. “How did you know it was me?”
    “I wasn’t sure at first, but a bit of fishing around on some online forums and it seemed pretty clear that GODLYM0DZ was Jack Penman,” Austin said.
    “So you targeted me when I arrived at St. Joe’s just so I could help you out with your