What Lies Underneath (An Inanimate Insanity Fanfic)

Chapter 27 - Operation In and Out

(Timothy's POV)

As the days passed, I became more observant than ever. 

I closely paid attention to Cobs' schedule to see if it was the same every time school ended for the day. It was. 

Once the final classes of the day ended, his everyday routine was something like this: Cobs would usually stay in his office to work on who-knows-what until about 10 to 20 minutes later when he would leave his office to go back to his dwelling in his car. 

I figure that my best opportunity to get inside the storage room is when Cobs leaves the school building at mid-afternoon, as most of the students will be gone by then and he won't be there to see me trying to get in.

Of course, Michael X may still be in the picture, but so far I haven't seen him try to approach me about what I'm planning to do, so I assume Michael 5 didn't tell him about our encounter a few days ago. 

I plan that after school ends for the day, I'll go spend some time at the school's library, studying to spend the time Cobs will be in his office. Once I'm sure he's left the building, I'll leave the library and walk over to the storage room without attracting unwanted attention.

When I'm there, I will then enter the password, find those grey headphones, then close and lock the storage room again, hiding the headphones in my bag as I leave the school and go back to The Orange Hotel. 

As for a name, I'm planning to call this Operation In and Out (because why not?). 

I believe that Friday today is the best day to execute this heist, as I can then study the headphones throughout the weekend, then return them on Monday before anyone could notice. 

After that time when Michael X asked Michael 4 about how hard it must have been when he saw what he did with the grey headphones, perhaps while I study them, I may discover what Michael 4 saw. 

Michael 4. 

I realize that I haven't thought about him for some time, but disappointed I had to break that streak. As of now, I'm writing down my plan inside my notebook in Language class, which is safe to do because Michael X isn't in this period and since the teacher hasn't paid me much attention. 

The period's 5 minutes away from ending, so I try to be attentive to what my Language teacher is saying while finishing up my notebook entry. During this, she thinks that I'm taking notes of what she's writing on the board, but I already took a picture of what she wrote down (as most students here do) a while ago to look at later. 

When the bell rings for dismissal, everyone gets up and collects their things as they flood out the doors. I stay behind for a moment to avoid the swarm of students, then exit the room as well once they're gone. 

Eventually, I manage to reach my locker and pour all my books into my backpack inside. I catch sight of Matt approaching me, and I quickly think of a half-truth about what I'm planning to do after school. 

"Greetings, Timothy. I was thinking, because today's the start of the weekend, perhaps we should continue our puzzle of 300 pieces. If I recall correctly, we haven't been able to complete it for some time now." Matt asks me. I hate to turn him down, but I hope It'll be the last time I do so. 

"That sounds great, but I was planning to study at the school's library for...half an hour after class ended. Maybe once I'm done at the library, I can come back to our apartment and finish that puzzle with you," I suggest, hoping that Matt won't be too disappointed with me. 

To my surprise, he seems alright with what I'm doing. "Very well then. I'll see you soon?" 

I nod, and we both walk separate hallways. As I walk, I set a silent timer on my phone for about 20 minutes so I can know when to commence Operation In and Out. 

~

I feel my phone silently vibrate in my pants pocket sometime later, and I turn it off knowing that I have to begin the next part of my plan. I've been working on my homework inside the library, so I put it away along with my stationery into my bag. Then I walk away from the desk I've been working at and exit the library. 

First things first, I have to check the parking lot to make sure that Cob's car is gone. He has a reserved spot for himself (since he's the principal), so I check over there to see if the space is vacant. When I look around outside, his car was not there to my satisfaction. So, I quickly rush over to where the storage room is while attempting to look like I'm walking like a normal person. 

Eventually, I"m in front of the door of the storage room, its fogged-up window in the shape of the Meeple logo seemingly gazing back at me. I place my bag on the floor next to the door, and I'm about to type in the passcode into the keypad when I hear a familiar voice that makes my blood run cold. 

"Timothy?"

Sincerely, Creative Stream

So, this story's getting closer to the boiling point, and I want to thank you guys for giving this fanfic 100 votes and over 5.5K views! It's nice knowing you appreciate this.