Four of Clubs

27

As the Gym slowly got more crowded, I loitered by the doors, keeping an eye on the ticket taker positioned in the entrance hall. Finally, more people were starting to show up, forming a line long enough to keep her busy. Now that her attention was completely drawn away from the lobby behind her, I had a chance to sneak across it and into the adjacent hallway.

The halls were dark and empty. The hum of the crowd and thump of the music grew distant as I moved further into the vacant school. I was alert, listening for any sign of a custodian or security guard who might be making rounds. But the only sound was my heels clicking on the linoleum, each step echoing off of the lockers lining the walls, persuading me to walk faster.

I'd walked the halls a thousand times and knew where I was going, yet I found myself looking to the signs beside the doors, reading the numbers to assure myself I was headed in the right direction. 

I made it to the door I needed and reached for the silver handle, praying it wouldn't be locked. A sigh of relief escaped me as it turned, allowing me to push the door open and slink inside. 

I shut it quietly behind me, leaving the light off so it wouldn't attract any attention to the room, and hurried over to the window. Ian was waiting on the other side, five shorter boys surrounding him. As I unlatched it and swung it open, I could hear them whispering in excitement, bombarding Ian with questions.

"So how did you turn the power off in the school that one time?"

"Forget that, I want to know how you got into the basketball court."

"And how you almost got caught by Coach Hanks! I saw that on the news the next morning-"

"You can learn about it while we work," I interrupted. "Get in, we've got work to do."

The window was low enough to the ground for Ian to climb inside and just big enough for him to fit through. He brushed himself off once he was in-- he was dressed nicely, ready for his later task at the dance, and had something tucked under his arm. The other boys followed his actions and I shut the window behind the last one, looking at the team in front of me.

"Okay, there's seven of us, so this shouldn't be too hard. Thanks for coming to help."

"What do you want us to do?" Matthew asked.

My eyes darted around the lab, spotting what I was looking for in the corner of the room. "Okay, there's only one copying machine, so one person can cover that job. Anyone here ever used one before?"

The scrawny blonde raised his hand. "I use them a lot-- I do extra credit work as a teacher's assistant, so I have to copy worksheets like, once a week at least."

"Perfect," I said, reaching into my purse and handing him the ballot I'd taken from the dance. "We're gonna need a lot of these."

"Here," Ian said, handing him the thick white package he'd been holding. "It's extra paper, just in case we run out."