This is my first fan fiction on this site and this isn't my best work, but this is just what happens when Dell Philby loses his computer. :-)

"Where is it?" Dell wondered as he searched around his room. The bus was going to be there any minute and he was running out of time.

"Dell! Get down stairs! The bus will be here in less than two minutes!"

"Mom, I can't find my laptop!"

"Well, maybe it's at school, but you'll never know if you don't get to school on time!" Dell shrugged, grabbed his backpack from the bed, and took off toward the bus stop. Before Dell hopped on the bus to school, his mom yelled out to him, "It's not anywhere down stairs, it must be at school!" Dell nodded slightly to show his mom he had acknowledged her help. All the way to school, Dell had his forehead pressed against the window, thinking deeply about the absence of his laptop. He was so enveloped in his thinking, that he didn't notice when his best friend, Hugo, sat down in the seat beside him. "Earth to Dell," Hugo said for the fifth time. "What? Oh, hey Hugo. Sorry, I was just thinking about my laptop."

"It's okay, hey, where is your laptop anyway?"

"I have no idea."

"What do you mean?"

"I can't find it. I looked everywhere."

"Was it there last night?"

"I think so, but I didn't need at it last night." Dell admitted. "Then it's got to be at school."

"I guess you're right, but could've sworn that I had to knock Elvis off my computer last night and put it in my backpack."

"Then, make up your mind. Is it at school or at home?" Hugo rolled his eyes as the bus screeched to a stop in front of the school. "No, it's gotta be at school," Dell finally confirmed. "Well, come on then," Hugo said as he got out of his seat. "Yeah okay," Dell said. He checked for his computer one last time in his backpack before he hopped off the bus and headed toward the middle school building.

"No," Dell moaned as he slammed his locker shut. "No, no, no!" With each no, he got louder and louder. "What? What?" Hugo ran to his friend's side. "It's not here," Dell was starting to hyper ventilate. "Dell, chill," Hugo said, putting a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You don't know what was on that computer," Dell said, still panting. "Oh, come on, what could be on there that's worth freaking out about?" Dell looked up at his friend. "You gotta promise you won't tell anyone."

"Come on, Dell, you know you can tell me anything."

"Promise."

"Okay, fine, I promise."

"I hacked into the school's electrical system."

"What? That's impossible! How on earth did you hack into-"

"Be quiet before someone hears you." Dell looked over his shoulder to make sure no teachers were around. "If someone opens my computer, they're gonna see the whole electrical system of the school. I will be suspended and grounded for, like, eternity."

"How did you even do it," Hugo's eyes were wide with amazement. "Have you heard anything I've been saying?"

"No, I stopped listening after you said you hacked into the schools electrical unit."

"Well, my service was blocked so what was I supposed to do?"

"Uh, borrow my data card?" Dell rolled his eyes. "Oh, now you tell me that I can use your data card. Thanks a lot."

"That's not important right now," Hugo said, trying to get himself out of trouble. "What we need to focus on is what happened to your computer." The bell rang, signaling that classes would start in two minutes. "Gotta go," Hugo said regretfully. He headed off to Science class. Dell grabbed his things and trotted off the Math.

"Today, class we're going to learn about-" Dell was completely zoned out. He couldn't stop thinking about what would happen if someone looked on his laptop. What if the principal looked at it? This made Dell wince. There goes his perfect record. But the question that was stuck in Dell's head was, "Where did he last see his laptop?" He tried retracing his steps at school. Science, English, lunch, CO-circular, free period, then he locked his locker and went home. Or did he? He couldn't actually remember locking his locker yesterday. Then something clicked. "That's it!" Dell shouted from his seat. "I'm glad you agree, Dell, but would you agree in a lower tone next time?" Everyone laughed. Dell sank down in his seat and reviewed his thought process. "So anyone could've opened my locker after school and anyone could've taken anything out of it. So that means someone stole my computer!"

He searched everyone's face on the way to his locker after lunch. "Any luck yet?" Hugo asked.

"No," Dell sighed. "Well, maybe someone thought it was their locker by mistake."

"Does everyone have a Bengals poster in their locker?"

"Who knows?"

"Ugh," Dell slammed his head against his locker. "This is hopeless. I'm never going to find the kid who took it."

"Well, maybe it wasn't a kid." Dell snapped his head up. "You mean-"

"Yeah it could be anybody. But it's got to be a staff member with not a lot of power." They both stopped and thought about all the teachers and staff at their school. Just then, Larry the janitor rolled by, the wheels on the trash can making a horrific noise. Then both of them said at the same time, "I know who it is!" Dell and Hugo had found the squeaky computer robber.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Hugo said as he hid behind the trash can. School had just ended and the boys were ready to raid the janitor's office. "Of course I'm sure. Have I ever steered you wrong?" Dell thought about his own question and answered quickly, "Never mind. Just do what we talked about."

"Why am I always backup?"

"Because I'm always front up. Now keep watch." Dell ran into the janitor's office and opened the door. He froze. The janitor was right there, and he was on Dell's computer. Dell forgot his plan. "What are you doing on my computer?" Larry turned around. "You!" He quickly grabbed a screw driver and flung it at Dell. Dell dodged it as it fell behind him on the floor with a clang. The fight was on. Dell grabbed a broom to defend himself. Larry kept throwing tools at him. When Larry ran out of tools, Dell pointed the broom at him. "Why would you steal it?" Dell asked sternly.

"I only wanted to knock off the lights for a little while, so the school would pay me to fix them."

"How'd you know I hacked into the system?"

"I looked over your shoulder when you did it." Dell slapped himself on the forehead. Next time he hacked, he really needed to find a better place than the cafeteria.

"Give me the computer, you are in no place to argue." Then Dell recognized that his weapon was broomstick and suddenly felt foolish. "Here, I'll make you a deal. You don't tell the principal I hacked into the electrical unit, and I won't tell anyone about you're little scam. So what do you say? Do we have a deal?" Dell reached out his hand for Larry to shake. Larry tentatively put out his hand and grasped Dell's in a certifying hand shake. Then, the lights went out.

Feel free to review! I would love to hear your feedback! :-)