Biohazard: An Inktober Story [FIRST DRAFT COMPLETE]

26: Stretch

The bell rings again.
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We decide it's best not to skip any more classes. So once the masses of students fill the hallway, we slip right into the crowd as if we were there all along.
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Jeremy and I spend the rest of the day concocting a plan through old-school note passing.
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...in Morse Code, naturally.
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By the time the dismissal bell rings, we know exactly what to do.
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I know for a fact that Mr. Newton spends at least an hour after school preparing his lessons for the next day. That buys us enough time to execute Stage 1 of The Plan.
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When you grow up in a small town, you pretty much know where everyone lives.
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Every day on my way to and from school, I ride past Mr. Newton's house and wave "hi" to Aubrey in the front window. I'm sure the GM probably knows this.
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That's how I know how to sneak in through the bushes, lift the window open a crack, and poke my hand through just far enough to snip one of Aubrey's stems off with a pair of scissors.
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"Sorry, Aubrey," I whisper, "I swear it'll grow back. I just need to borrow this for a while."
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Jeremy's keeping watch just in case, but I'm banking on the fact that LIVEcorp--and by extension, Jeremy's dad--is also maneuvering things so no one sees us.
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This is part of The Plan: Make it look like I'm still going along with what the GM wants.
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I finally crawl out of the bushes, stem in hand, ready to move on to next stage.
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That's when I spot a black stretch limo parked in the driveway, still running.
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There's no way that's Mr. Newton's car.