Chapter 23: The Double Life Begins
The first full week of training felt like living in two dimensions simultaneously.
By day, Jaden Sterling was the perfect #2 student. He sat in his usual seat at the back of Calculus. He raised his hand in class exactly twice per session to avoid suspicion. He maintained a steady 98.5% average, which was high enough to keep his cover but low enough to explain the slight decline in focus.
By night, he was JD-Zero.
The training schedule was brutal. They'd finish school, April would work her shift at the tutoring center, then they'd meet at the PC cafe at 9 PM. From 9 PM to 2 AM, Jaden would play under Tomas's guidance while April analyzed opponents, documented strategies, and made notes on what needed improvement.
By 2 AM, they'd be exhausted. By the time they got home, there were only a few hours until school started again.
Tomas was relentless. He would pause games mid-match and force Jaden to explain his strategy. He made him watch his own VODs in slow motion, pointing out microseconds where his decision-making could have been better.
"You're good at reacting," Tomas said during the third day of training. "But professional gaming isn't about reaction. It's about prediction. You need to think like your opponent. You need to be three steps ahead."
Jaden was improving, though. By the end of the first week, his ranked rating had climbed 150 points. His consistency was increasing. And April could see the moments where he was transcending raw skill and entering the realm of true strategy.
But the cost was becoming visible.
Chloe noticed. She pulled April aside at lunch on Friday and said: "You're fading. Like, actually disappearing. If you don't tell me what's going on, I'm calling your mom."
"Don't," April said sharply. "Chloe, please. Just... trust me."
"I do trust you," Chloe said. "Which is exactly why I'm worried."
Marcus also noticed. He was watching Jaden like a hawk, documenting every slight decline in performance. He didn't know what was happening, but he knew something was. And Marcus Thorne was patient enough to wait for the pieces to fall into place on their own.
One evening at the PC cafe, Kai brought in a new addition to the team a sports psychologist named Dr. Kim, who specialized in competitive gaming mentality.
"Jaden's technical skills are excellent," Dr. Kim said after observing him play for an hour. "But his mental game is unrefined. He overthinks in high-pressure situations. We need to work on his ability to stay calm when everything is on the line."
So they added psychological training to the mix. Dr. Kim would have Jaden play while listening to distracting noises. Play while sleep-deprived. Play while under artificial stress to build his mental resilience.
April documented everything, filling her notebook with observations about his progress, his weaknesses, his patterns.
One night, after a particularly brutal training session, Jaden collapsed on the couch in the cafe's back room.
"I don't know if I can do this for three weeks," he admitted.
April sat beside him, brushing his damp hair off his forehead. "You can. You're stronger than you think."
"I'm not strong," Jaden said. "I'm just desperate. There's a difference."
"Maybe," April said. "But desperate is enough sometimes."
That's when Eleanor Sterling called.
Jaden's phone buzzed in his pocket. He ignored it, but it kept ringing. Eleanor didn't tolerate being ignored.
"Where are you?" his mother demanded when he finally answered.
"At a friend's house," Jaden lied. "Studying."
"I doubt that," Eleanor said coldly. "Your grades are declining, Jaden. From a 99.8% to a 98.5%. That's not studying. That's distraction. I'm concerned about what's consuming your time."
After he hung up, Jaden looked at April. "She knows something's wrong. It's only a matter of time before she starts digging."
"Then we need to work faster," April said. "Two and a half weeks, Jaden. We have two and a half weeks."
That night, Marcus sat in his room and looked at the photo he'd taken of Jaden and April at the PC cafe. He didn't know what they were doing there, but he knew it was important. And he knew that when the time was right, that photo would be very useful.
The countdown had begun.