Friend making app
Ally's hobby and specialty is creating simple games and apps using coding.
During the summer vacation of her second year of middle school, with the help of her teacher, Slade, she joined the 'Code Girls' camp, which was notorious for being difficult to get into, and gained attention by creating an app called 'Clicked' that found friends who were perfect for her.
Not only did she create her first official game app, but she also secured a spot in the long-awaited "Games for a Better World" youth coding competition, making Ally feel like her bright future was unfolding before her eyes.

“On my first day at Code Girls Camp, the teachers told me to create whatever app I wanted.
He said that apps that pursue fun are good, and apps that are helpful in real life are also good, so try whatever you like.
I really liked that.”
Allie added, covering her mouth with one hand as if she were about to reveal a big secret.
“As you all know, this is something that rarely happens to second-year middle school students in the real world.”
Laughter erupted from the audience.
Ally smiled and continued her presentation.
“But I had absolutely no confidence that I could handle that difficult task.
It was completely frozen.
“Because there wasn’t a single familiar face at the camp.”
Allie slowly moved to one side of the stage.
I just hoped the audience wouldn't notice my legs shaking.
“I looked around at my friends next to me.
What kind of kids are these nineteen strangers I'll be spending this summer with? Do they like the same music as me? Or the same books? Do they have younger siblings, older siblings, or older brothers? Where do they all come from? There were so many unknowns, but they all had one thing in common.
“Everyone loves coding.”
Ally glanced sideways at the side of the stage.
Courtney, who I met at camp and became best friends with, nodded and smiled brightly from behind the curtain.
Only then did I feel a little relieved.
“Then an idea suddenly occurred to me.
What if there was an app that helped you find new friends? Click! Like a lock and key, click! What if the app found friends who were just right for you?
Every time Allie said 'click!' she snapped her fingers.
Then he took his cell phone out of his back pocket.
“So the app I developed is called ‘Clickd.’” —From pages 8-9

Old rival
On the first day of school, Allie's confidence grows as she reveals her click to her close friends and receives their approval and support.
However, during computer class, he becomes very nervous when he hears that his lifelong rival, Nathan, is also participating in the competition.
Even Nathan's "Built" app is so sophisticated and fits the spirit of the competition that I'm starting to get impatient.
Ally abandons her plans to release Clicked after the competition in order to beat Built, and begins actively promoting it within the school.
And Clicked creates an explosive response through word of mouth among children in the awkward atmosphere of the first week of school.

Nathan Frederickson stood before the teacher.
Allie frowned without realizing it.
Allie and Nathan went to the same elementary school.
We even took computer classes together after school.
Every year, we participated in computer competitions together and competed together in science fairs.
But somehow, Allie always fell behind Nathan.
Besides, Nathan would often bring up that fact and irritate Allie.
If I had to pick someone who could be called Allie's enemy, it would be Nathan.
(syncopation)
When Allie greeted him with a reluctant expression, Nathan also blurted out a word with a reluctant expression.
“Okay, so the formal greetings are over?”
The teacher noticed the subtle war of nerves between the two and burst out laughing.
“I called you because I wanted to see both of you in person and congratulate you.
“I am truly delighted to be sending two of my students to the Games for a Better World competition.”
"yes?"
Allie asked back in surprise.
Because I never dreamed that the teacher would also be mentoring Nathan.
Allie glanced at Nathan.
The color was draining from Nathan's face too.
“Is Ellie going to the competition too?”
“Yeah, it was recommended last week.
You'll be amazed at the apps Ally created.
It's not normal.
“Allie, you’re going to be amazed when you see the game Nathan made all summer!”
The teacher tapped the desk with his palm as if he was excited.
Allie kept her mouth shut.
Nathan also remained silent.
The two people tried hard to avoid each other's gaze.
―From pages 32-34

Fatal error
The number of Clickd users increases exponentially over time.
Allie is busy preparing for the competition, gathering stories of successful friendships and trying to get the children to show off their interest and support.
However, Clickd is shocked to receive a report that there is a fatal flaw that extracts photos without the user's permission and leaks them as hints.
Moreover, even though I thought it would be easy to fix, it is not easy to find the cause of the error.
To make matters worse, this error exposes her best friend Emma's secret and makes her the butt of jokes, putting Allie in danger of ruining their friendship.
Allie comes to the painful realization that the real world works differently than the digital world, where you can start over after typing an undo command.

Ally tried to recall the app's photo-related code in her head.
It took me a whole week to figure out how to extract hint photos from Instagram and save the click picks to my phone's album.
But eventually I figured out a way, and I tested it hundreds of times.
Moreover, this issue never occurred when I tested the app with my Code Girls friends.
But if you think about it differently, my Code Girls friends and I didn't actually get to use the app much because we were so focused on testing.
“It must be a coincidence.
Because we have hundreds of users and this has never happened before.
but……."
Ally trailed off.
I didn't know what to say.
I felt all the strength drain from my body, and the bag I was carrying fell to the ground with a thud.

It was a problem that couldn't just be overlooked.
The content of the text itself was surprising, but the fact that someone's secret was randomly revealed was equally surprising.
But what if something like this happens again? Sharing personal photos without permission was a serious problem.
I had to somehow find the cause of the error and fix it.
-From pages 84-85

emergency situation
Eventually, as unexpected accidents occur simultaneously, the situation spirals out of control and becomes dire.
Nathan makes a surprising confession to a troubled Allie: her game is also flawed.
The two team up to find a way to fix each other's apps, and they eventually succeed.
However, just as Allie is feeling relieved, an accident occurs where the leaderboard, which can be said to be the core of Clicked, is completely destroyed.
Allie becomes desperate and gives up on competing, suspecting Nathan's intentions...


Allie confided in her teacher that something was wrong with Clickd.
And he said that for three days straight, he did his best to fix the errors in the computer lab after school and in his room after school.
“But yesterday, Nathan gave me an alternative.
At least so I can participate in the gaming tournament this Saturday.
But then I found out… … .
Anyway, it doesn't matter anymore.
I was trying to fix a bug and the leaderboard got completely broken.
The leaderboard is the core of Clicked… … .
So now… … I think it’s all over.”
Tears flowed down my cheeks.
The teacher pulled a piece of tissue out of the box and handed it to Allie.
Ally continued her story after blowing her nose, but then digressed again.
“Everyone is getting frustrated because the app isn’t working.
But that's not the point! The app I made isn't working.
I don't have an app to present at the competition anymore.
My best friend, Emma, ​​doesn't like me very much.
My friends don't even eat lunch together anymore, and kids I don't even know are fighting with each other.
But it's all my fault."
(syncopation)
“Ally Navarro, can I ask you one more question?”
"sure."
“When you first realized there was a problem with the app, why didn’t you just close it?”
Ally thought about the thoughts she had had throughout the past week.
Kids were having so much fun with the app, we needed to increase user numbers for Saturday's competition, and we needed a success story to prove that Clicked was making the world a better place.
But all those excuses had nothing to do with the real reason I didn't close the app.
Allie looked straight into her teacher's eyes and told the truth.
“Everyone recognized me.”

---From the text