Day 26: 48,645 Words and a Big Fall Causes a Big Ruckus

Okay- we are in the end game now. I should finish tomorrow, hopefully just past 50,000 words. I actually still really have no idea how to wrap it up, but with the Breakfast Club providing a blueprint, I will find my way somehow.

Everyone is at the school. Everyone. Oh, I should tell you that Cody Simpson changed the password to the VIP WiFi Network, so now our heroes have access to the internet, and are able to communicate with each other via their phones. Chadwick and the rest of the senior admin are locked out, victims of their own evil machinations.

Here is an excerpt:

Sam, Dean, and Logan were on the second floor of the school. They were nearest to the administrative hall, and this was probably the most dangerous place to be, not only because they were close to Chadwick Penneyworth’s office, but because this was the place where there had been the most sightings of the Mini Militia.

The evening before, during the planning session at Jackie’s Place, Jackie had pulled out blueprints of the high school.

“Where did you get those?” Berto asked, mystified. It wasn’t a rhetorical question, but Jackie treated every question like it was rhetorical, and this was no exception. After an uncomfortable silence, James Van Der Beek tacked the blueprint to the chart paper stand and pulled out a strip of star stickers. The man had missed his calling as a professional facilitator. One by one, the teachers named all of the locations where the Mini Militia had been spotted. Soon, a pattern emerged, with the greatest concentration of stars right outside Chadwick Penneyworth’s office.

Now, as Logan, Tanner, and Sam approached the hallway, they positioned themselves on opposite sides of the hall, partially hidden by the cover provided by the doorways. Cautiously, they peeked out and down the hall. What they saw chilled them to the bone. The Mini Militia was gathered en masse. Marching up and down the hallway, clutching their wooden rifles, playing dead, you name it, it was happening. It was utter chaos.

They were going to need a distraction. Tanner pulled out his phone and texted the teens.

Text exchange in Operation Breakfast Club group chat:

Tanner: we are on the second floor hallway. It’s filled with bogies. We need a distraction.

Kye (Thief): *skull emoji*

Tanner almost screamed with frustration- NO ONE UNDERSTANDS YOUR USE OF EMOJIS AS A GENERATION, he was in the middle of texting, using all caps to denote his impotent rage, when Logan shook his head and held up his phone, shaking it- indicating Tanner should read the latest message.

Berto always knew that their expertise in emoji use would one day come in handy. Their moment had come. They translated for the rest of the group.

Berto: That means they’re on it.

***

While the teens waited to be called into action, they had been bonding in the library. It turned out that the Mormon was quite helpful, and Riley thought, kinda loveable. When Kye had been about to do something completely offside, Luna (that was her name, and Riley decided she was going to use it from now on), had crouched down to where he knelt on the floor and explained about consent and toxic masculinity. Kye had shaken his head in disbelief at his own toxicity and then had actually apologized to Riley. Wow. Wonders would never cease.

After that, all of the teens started to come out of their shells, little by little, including Riley. Was it possible that they were more than their labels? Was there more? Riley wanted to find out.

But then, she felt a vibration in her pocket. She had become so used to not using her phone at school, she had almost forgotten about it. It was time to start some shit. They were ready.

They rose to their feet exchanging conspiratorial glances.

“Where should we do this?” Jagger Allen asked Riley. She shrugged, and then remembered something.

“Stairs down to the cafeteria- you know, where all the chairs are,” she said, and saw understanding dawning in the eyes of her peers- no, she could call them friends now. She saw understanding dawning in the eyes of her friends.

Jagger had volunteered to be the one to do it, but in the end, it was Kye who stepped to the top of the stairs, and before anyone could stop him, he started to slide. He might have been able to save himself by grabbing the railing, but he wasn’t here to save himself, he was here to cause a ruckus. Just as it looked as though he might regain his balance, he tripped over the stack of chairs that was inappropriately placed at the bottom of the staircase. He eventually landed with a crash on an out of place folding table, and slumped to the ground. The hero they needed and didn’t deserve.

They all heard Penneyworth emerging from his office yelling, “What in God’s name is going on???”

Kye jumped to his feet, thankfully unharmed by the Big Fall. “Run!” he yelled, and they did.

***