A/N: Thanks for all of the reviews! Enjoy this chapter.

Chapter Three: Amateurs

On Thursday morning, Brian asked his father to drop him off early at school so that he could "finish studying for his Calculus exam". Of course, there wasn't really a Calculus exam. He just needed to do some more research on Carl without John Bender there to get him kicked out of the library.

When they reached the school, Mr. Johnson pulled up to the front entrance of the building and parked next to the curb. "Good luck on your test," he said, shooting his son an encouraging smile.

Brian nodded, feeling a little bit guilty. "Yeah, thanks. I will." He started to shut the door, then stopped and ducked his head back into the car. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yes?" His father lifted his eyebrows, waiting.

"Did you remember the catalog?" Brian asked hopefully.

"Catalog?" Mr. Johnson paused uncertainly, then broke into a friendly grin. "Catalog. Of course. It's in my briefcase."

Brian nodded. "Okay, thanks."

"Don't you worry. I'm sure I'll sell a bunch of rolls to the guys at the office."

Brian offered a weak smile. "Thanks, Dad."

"No problem. Have a good day, Brian."

Brian gave him a short wave and closed the car door. His father waited until he'd had reached the front steps before he drove away.

When Brian walked into the library, Mrs. Lee looked up from her cataloguing, her eyes narrowing immediately when she realized who he was. Before she could say anything, Brian held up his hands in self defense. "I'm just here to use the archives," he pleaded.

Mrs. Lee paused thoughtfully, then gave him a short nod. "One word and you're out."

Brian nodded emphatically. "Yes, ma'am," he said politely, moving away before she could change her mind.

He started with the yearbook and newspaper archives that he'd been looking at the afternoon before. With all of the fighting, they hadn't made much headway, and being kicked out of the library hadn't helped either. Brian took his casebook out of his pocket and recorded every piece of information that they'd missed the day before.

But it wasn't enough. He had a list of clubs and honors, but no explanation for Carl's fall from grace. After putting away the yearbook and school newspaper archives, Brian headed back to Mrs. Lee's desk, where the older woman was stamping a large stack of books.

"Um, excuse me…Mrs. Lee?"

The woman looked up, her eyes already narrowed in suspicion.

"I, uh…I just had a question." When the librarian didn't stop him, he took it as a good sign and continued. "I was wondering if you had any newspaper archives here…for the city, I mean. Not the school."

Mrs. Lee stared at him for a moment, and he thought that he could see her soften a bit. "No, not really," she said finally.

"Oh," said Brian, disappointed. "Okay, thanks." He started walking away again, back to the table to collect his things.

"Unless it had to do with the school," she added.

Brian stopped, then turned to look back at her. "The school?" he echoed.

Mrs. Lee nodded. "We kept a scrapbook. Every time the school was mentioned, we clipped the article and kept it."

Brian nodded. "Could I see it?"

Mrs. Lee studied him closely for a moment, then sighed warily and stood from her desk. "It's in the back."

Brian nodded. "Thank you, ma'am," he said sincerely.

Mrs. Lee didn't respond, just disappeared into the back room. A few minutes later, she emerged carrying a large leather photo album in her arms. "Here it is," she said, placing the album on the counter. "It's in chronological order, starting in 1961...when I took over," she added.

"Did you put this together?" he asked, flipping to the first page.

Mrs. Lee nodded and reached for her reading glasses, which were dangling from a cord around her neck. Brian continued turning the pages, slowing when he reached the year 1964.

"It was a whole different school when I joined on," said Mrs. Lee. "Students actually came here to read, if you can imagine that."

Brian turned the next page. March, April…

"Now, they just stare at you blankly if you try to recommend a book. Sometimes I wonder why I even bother."

Brian flipped the page to find a picture of Carl smiling at him from the upper-right corner of the newspaper clipping. Brian scanned the title of the article, which read, "Shermer Spotlight: Local Senior Has Big Plans for the Future".

"Bingo," Brian whispered.

"So, not only was he valedictorian, but he was also in lots of clubs."

Bender reached over and stole a piece of cantaloupe from a plastic container sitting on the top of Claire's lunch box. "Yeah, so?"

"So, he did everything!" Brian exclaimed. "He was valedictorian, played for the football team, was vice president of the archery club--"

"We heard all this yesterday," Bender said shortly, spitting a cantaloupe seed in Allison's direction. Allison cocked an eyebrow, but Bender hardly seemed to notice.

"--and president of the Physics Club," Brian finished, grinning triumphantly.

"So?" Bender asked, taking another piece of fruit from Claire's plate. She pushed the container away from her so that he could reach it easier, and he gave her a quick, sideways glance, but didn't anything.

"So," Brian continued, "he also won the regional science fair competition two years in a row. First place."

Bender spit another seed in Allison's direction, but this time it missed, flying over her shoulder. She continued to stare at him, eyes narrowed.

Brian sighed. "The science fair is a big deal, you know. It's not easy coming up with something original that actually works. I remember last year when Doug Mac…uh, Doug MacKenzie tried to make a replica of Mount St. Helens, and he put too much baking soda in, and he ended up in the hospital because the lava--I mean, it wasn't real lava, it was, uh, baking soda and red food dye and…anyway, it hit him in the eye and he had to wear a patch until it healed."

Bender put another piece of cantaloupe into his mouth, and Allison watched him closely.

Brian frowned. "Isn't anyone listening to me?"

"No," Bender said bluntly, the word coming out muffled because of the cantaloupe in his mouth.

Brian glanced across the table at Andy, who was taking a long sip of milk. "He was president of the Physics Club," he repeated, hoping Andy would understand how important this was.

Andy glanced up, distracted. "Huh?"

Brian sighed. "Never mind," he muttered angrily.

"Yeah, we get it, alright?" said Bender, pausing to spit another seed in Allison's direction. It bounced off of her coat and landed in her lap. "Carl was a dork, just like you. Fascinating."

Brian glared at him for a moment, but Bender was too engrossed in his cantaloupe slices to notice. "That's not all I learned," he protested.

"What else did you find out?" asked Claire.

Brian smiled, satisfied that he'd finally caught someone's interest. "He did go to college."

"Oh, yeah?" asked Andy. "Where to?"

"NYU. He got a scholarship that paid for nearly half of his tuition."

Andy's eyebrows lifted in surprise. "Wow."

Brian nodded. "I know. With a degree from NYU, why would he be working here?"

"Maybe he didn't graduate," said Allison.

"Why wouldn't he graduate?" asked Brian.

Allison shrugged, pulling a grape from the plastic bag in her hand. She flopped the grape in her mouth and started chewing, her eyes never leaving Bender's face.

Brian released a frustrated sigh. "Well, I don't know how we're going to find out if he did."

Suddenly, Allison sucked in a deep breath and spit the chewed up grape in Bender's direction. It hit him square in the middle of his forehead and started sliding down his nose.

Bender wiped the grape off of his face and glared at Allison, who was watching him smugly, chewing on another grape. He pointed his finger in her direction as a warning. "That's not funny."

Allison cocked an eyebrow, which suggested that she disagreed. Brian cleared his throat to get her attention, but it didn't work.

Andy swallowed a mouthful of ham and cheese sandwich and wiped his mouth with the back of his sleeve. "Don't they have a place on job applications for you to put what degrees you've earned?"

Brian nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I think so."

Andy nodded. "So, if he graduated, it would say so on his job application."

Brian frowned. "Where are we going to get that?"

Andy shrugged.

"They keep all of those records in the basement," said Bender, who was wiping his face with one of Claire's fancy napkins. "Right next to the student files."

"How do you know?" asked Brian.

Bender rolled his eyes. "How the hell do you think I know, genius? I've been down there."

"Why?" Brian asked, confused.

"To look at my file," Bender replied, as though it should be obvious.

Brian paused thoughtfully. "So, Carl's application would be down there?"

Bender shrugged. "Probably."

"Well, that's not going to do us any good," said Claire. "What are we going to do, break in and steal it?"

Everyone at the table froze. Brian glanced over at Bender, whose eyebrow was arched in defiance. Then Bender jumped up from his seat and started walking towards the exit, with Brian right on his heels.

It wasn't until they'd reached the stairwell leading down to the basement that Claire, Allison and Andy were able to catch up with them.

"I was being sarcastic!" yelled Claire.

"I wasn't finished with my lunch," Andy grumbled.

"I want to go," said Allison.

Bender held up a hand to silence them. "Can everyone please stop yelling?" He rolled his eyes. "You guys are such amateurs. Really."

Claire glared at him. "We aren't going down there, and we certainly aren't going to steal anything."

"How are we going to solve this case then, Claire?" Bender asked. "By guessing? No, we need evidence."

"Case?" Claire echoed. "Since when is this a case?"

Bender sighed dramatically. "Keep up, Claire. I can't be expected to explain everything to you."

Claire looked as though she wanted to punch him in the face. Brian stepped in between them. "Are you sure the file is down there?" he asked Bender.

Bender released another exasperated sigh. "Haven't we already addressed this issue?"

Brian paused and looked back at Claire, who was still fuming. When she saw Brian looking at her, she cocked an eyebrow in challenge. Brian cleared his throat. "Well, I don't…I don't know," he finished lamely.

Brian rolled his eyes. "Fine, I'll do all the work." Then he turned and started down the steps. When he reached the bottom, he yanked open the basement door and stepped inside.

The door was opening again before it even had time to close. Bender stumbled out, followed closely by Vernon, who was glaring at him. "What is this, Bender?"

Bender frowned, pretending to be confused. "Sorry, sir, must have gotten lost. You mean this isn't where they're holding drill team try outs?"

But Vernon wasn't listening. He was staring up at the other four, who were still gathered at the top of the stair case. "What the hell is going on here?"

"If I were you, I'd watch your language, sir," Bender warned him. "As a person of significant authority at this institution, it's important that you set a moral example by, both in word and in deed--"

"And if I were you, I'd watch my mouth," Vernon interrupted. "I'll see you in detention on Saturday."

Bender nodded. "Do you want to bring the beers this time, or should I?"

Vernon gave Bender a light shove, and the two of the ascended the staircase. When they reached the top, Vernon pointed to the door leading to the hallway on the other side. "Get back to the cafeteria."

Bender saluted. "See you on Saturday, sir."

"Go!"

Claire grabbed Bender by the sleeve and dragged him out of the stairwell. "You're such an idiot," she muttered as the door closed behind them. "He might have let you go if you hadn't started making fun of him."

Bender shrugged. "Whatever. My way was more fun."

Claire sighed, but didn't press the issue. Everyone started walking down the hallway, except for Allison, who was still staring at the closed door. "Why was Vernon down there?" she asked.

Bender glanced over his shoulder, but kept walking. "It's where he keeps his porn collection," he informed her.

Allison frowned doubtfully and followed them down the hallway. They arrived back at the cafeteria a couple of minutes later to find their table just as they'd left it. Immediately, Andy sat down and picked up his sandwich.

"Well, that wasn't very helpful," said Brian.

Bender shook his head. "Doesn't matter. We'll just have to go down there when no one is in the building."

Brian frowned. "How are we going to do that?"

Bender shrugged and picked up a piece of cantaloupe. "We're gonna have to break into the school."

A/N: The next chapter is where all the trouble starts, so keep an eye out for the next update. And please review!