A/N: Okay, so I just watched the movie again, focusing on the scene where Vernon and Carl are downstairs in the basement…and I realized that they aren't even in the basement! See, first Vernon goes down a short flight of stairs and opens a door marked "Basement", which makes a lot of sense, right? But in the next scene when you see Carl walk in, if you look out the door behind him, you see a row of lockers! Vernon very clearly went from the first floor down to the basement, which is on a sub-level. So, I don't know what was up with the lockers, but I'm just going to assume that that's a goof and pretend they weren't there.

And just as a warning, line breaks signify scene/POV changes.

Chapter Four: Breaking and Entering

"I can't believe I'm doing this."

Bender rolled his eyes at Claire, who was sitting next to him, dressed in a black silk button-down shirt and a pair of matching black silk trousers. "No one is forcing you to be here," he reminded her.

Claire sighed and brushed an invisible piece of lint from her shirt. It was just after eleven o'clock, and they were sitting in Andy's Bronco in the student parking lot, preparing to go inside. At Bender's request, everyone had dressed in black. Well, Allison was wearing black because she always wore black.

"Did everyone bring a flashlight?" Bender asked, glancing around the vehicle.

Allison shook her head, and Andy did the same. "No," he said wearily. "I forgot."

Bender sighed. "Sporto, how the hell do you think we're going to get around when we get inside if we don't have any lights? Do you have some kind of x-ray vision that we're unaware of?"

Andy turned around in his seat to glare at Bender. "I have a lot of things on my mind right now, Bender. So, excuse me for not remembering to bring a goddamn flashlight on this fucked-up scavenger hunt, alright?"

Bender turned to Brian, who was sitting next to him in the back seat, and shook his head. "I don't know about you, but I'm starting to doubt Andrew's commitment to this mission," he confessed sadly.

Andy cursed under his breath and turned back around in his seat.

Claire looked down at her watch. "Can we go already? I have a really low tolerance for sleep deprivation, and if I don't get in bed by midnight--"

"Lemme guess," Bender interrupted. "You'll turn into a pumpkin."

Claire didn't even bother coming up with a response to that. "How are we supposed to get in anyway?" she asked.

Bender pretended to brush off his sleeves. "I took care of that," he assured her mysteriously.

Claire narrowed her eyes. "How?"

"I unlocked one of the windows in Mrs. Jordan's chemistry lab," he said smugly.

Claire rolled her eyes. "Of course you did."

Bender scoffed. "How else were we going to get in? Were you going to pick the lock with your nail file?"

"I can do that," said Allison, looking very pleased with herself.

"Mrs. Jordan's classroom is on the north side of the building," said Brian. "We can go around back and cut through the faculty parking lot."

Andy cut the engine and stuffed his keys into the pocket of his black sweatpants. "Let's just go," he muttered, opening his door.

The five of them poured out of the Bronco and shut the doors. They walked through the student parking lot, where they had parked, and kept close to the building as they made their way around to the back of the school. Once, Claire tripped on a piece of uneven sidewalk, and she had to reach out and grab onto Brian's arm to make sure she didn't fall.

"Are you okay?" he asked, reaching out a hand to steady her.

"You shouldn't have worn high heels," said Bender, who had turned around to see what all the fuss was about.

"What was I supposed to wear?" Claire hissed. "My combat boots?"

Bender shrugged and kept walking. A couple of minutes later, they turned the corner and came up upon a bank of windows gleaming in the moonlight.

"Which one is it?" Andy asked Bender.

"I don't remember," Bender admitted. He walked up to the first window, leaned over the hedge of bushes blocking his way, and tugged on the bottom edge. It didn't budge.

"I think that's Mr. McArthur's classroom," said Brian. "Mrs. Jordan's lab is two doors down."

Bender walked down about twenty feet and tried another window. When that one didn't move either, he moved to the next one. Three windows later, he found what he was looking for.

"Am I good or what?" he asked, pushing the window up so that they had room to climb in.

Andy ducked his head into the classroom, then pulled back out, scanning the faculty parking lot behind him. "Someone needs to stay out here and keep an eye out," he said.

Bender nodded. "Claire can do it."

Claire's eyes grew wide. "Why me?"

Bender pointed to Claire's feet. "How are you gonna climb through that window with those on?"

Claire glanced down at her heels, then back up to Bender. "Fine, but I'm not going to stand out here by myself."

Before anyone else could speak up, Bender said, "I'll stay with you."

Claire rolled her eyes, but didn't protest.

Andy sighed. "Fine, we'll go in. We have three flashlights total, so you two can keep one and we'll keep the others."

Claire nodded and handed her flashlight to Allison. Andy scooted up onto the shallow edge of the windowsill--which was only about three feet off of the ground--and turned around, swinging his legs onto the other side. He leapt from the windowsill, then turned around and held his hands out, motioning for Allison to step forward. He and Brian helped her go through the window, and then Brian went. When he landed safely inside, Brian poked his head out the window.

"You don't think anyone's really going to come, do you?" he asked Bender.

Bender shrugged. "How should I know?"

Brian bit his lip nervously. "Well, what if someone does come? What are you going to do then?"

"We're going to get the hell out of dodge before they catch us, too," Bender deadpanned.

Brian frowned. "That's not funny."

"What's not funny is how fuckin' cold it is out here," Bender responded, rubbing his hands together. "Get in there before I make you trade places with me."

Brian sighed. "Fine."

Andy and Allison were waiting for him out in the hallway. "Everything okay?" Andy asked.

Brian nodded. "Let's just go."

It took them a moment to orient themselves, but after a moment they figured out which way they were supposed to go and started walking down the hallway.

Just before they reached the stairwell leading down to the basement, Allison stopped dead in her tracks. "I think my flashlight is dying," she said, hitting it lightly against palm of her hand.

Brian glanced over in time to see the light flicker a couple of times, then come back on.

"It's probably the battery," said Andy. "Let's just hurry so we can leave before it goes out completely."

Allison sighed, hit it one more time, and nodded.

The basement was definitely a lot creepier at night than it was during the day…or at least, how Brian imagined it would be during the day. There were desks and stacks of chairs pushed against one wall and a row of filing cabinets along the other. A long wooden table divided the room in half.

"Does anyone see a light switch?" Brian asked, sweeping the beam of his flashlight over the wall next to the door.

"No," Andy muttered. "Guess we just have to use the flashlights."

Brian pointed his flashlight at the row of filing cabinets lining the right-hand wall. "Which one do you think it is?" he asked.

Andy stepped forward and squinted at the label on the drawer closest to him, and Brian shifted the flashlight so that he could read it. "State Test Scores, A through L," Andy said. Brian flicked the beam down to the row below it, and Andy bent down. "M through Z."

They were halfway through the first set of cabinets when something loud sounded from the other side of the room. Brian jumped about half a mile into the air, knocking into Andy, who was crouched on the ground, reading a label on the bottom row. Brian pointed his flashlight over to the wall next to the door, where Allison was sitting in front of a large piano covered in a thin layer of dust. "Want me to play something?" she asked, her mouth curling into a sly, toothy grin.

"Uh, no, thanks," said Brian.

Allison jutted her chin out defiantly. "I'm really good."

Brian let out a nervous chuckle. "Maybe some other time?" he asked.

Allison shrugged and stood from the bench, moving over to the table in the center of the room. She started going through a box of books on the floor, tossing the ones she didn't like into a messy pile in front of her.

"Light."

Brian glanced back down at Andy, who was still crouched on the floor. "Sorry," Brian muttered, shining his flashlight onto the next label.

Clank!

Brian jumped again, this time landing on Andy's hand, which the jock had pressed against the floor to steady himself. "Ow!" Andy shouted, pulling his hand out from under Brian's shoe.

Brian stepped back and flicked the beam of his flashlight over to where Allison was standing. "What now?" he asked her.

Allison didn't say anything, just held up a six-pack of beer, with two cans missing. She let it dangle from her index finger, eyebrow lifted expectantly.

Brian's eyes went wide. "Where'd you get that?"

Allison rolled her eyes. "I snuck it in under my coat," she said sarcastically.

Brian shook his head. "Did you find it in here?"

From below him, Andy let out a sharp chuckle. "Hand 'em over," he told her.

Allison scoffed. "I found them."

"So?" Andy asked, standing up and walking over to the table she was standing next to.

"So, they're mine."

Andy lunged for the beers, but Allison was quicker. She swung them just out of his reach and hopped up onto the table, sending books scattering. Andy leaned over her, reaching behind her back and feeling around blindly. Allison smirked and glanced over at Brian. "Want one?"

Brian's mouth dropped open. "Oh, I don't drink. I mean, I've had a drink, but I don't drink on, like, a regular basis or anything."

"Why does Brian get to have them, but I don't?" Andy demanded as he swiped once more at the air behind her back.

Allison didn't answer, just reached one hand forward and tickled Andy under his left arm.

"Hey!" Andy shouted, laughing. He tried to grab her arm to make her stop, but she yanked it out of reach. Then she pulled out the beers and tossed them in Brian's direction. Surprised, Brian reached out just in time to catch them before they hit the ground.

"Hey!" Andy exclaimed, turning to glare at her. "That's not fair!"

"Why not?" she asked.

"You're supposed to be on my team," he said, as though this should be obvious.

Allison shrugged and blew her hair out of her eyes.

Brian glanced down at the pack of beers in his hands. "Who do you think they belong to?" he asked them.

Andy shrugged. "Maybe one of the janitors. Or a student."

"Or Vernon," Allison added.

Brian paused. "Where did you find them?"

"In that box," Allison told him, pointing down at the floor next to Andy's feet. Andy moved back to let her jump off of the table, then leaned down to get a better look.

"'Old textbooks'," he read from the side of the box.

"There were a bunch of books on top," Allison added.

Andy scoffed. "So no one would look in there. Whoever did that must think they're really smart," he said sarcastically.

Everyone paused.

"Vernon," they all said at the same time.

"I can't believe he would bring beers to school," said Brian, shaking his head.

"I can," said Allison.

Andy shook his head. "Well, now we know why he was down here during lunch."

Brian looked down at the beers again. "So, should we put them back?"

"Hell, no!" Andy exclaimed, reaching out to take them. "That's a good brand."

"But he's going to know someone was down here," Brian pointed out. "He saw us trying to get into the basement today. He'll know it was us."

"What is he going to do, report us?" Andy asked. "He won't have any proof unless he tells them what went missing."

Brian paused thoughtfully. "Yeah, I guess," he said hesitantly.

Everyone was quiet for a moment. Then Allison said, "I have to pee."

"Take your flashlight with you," said Andy. "We'll keep Brian's down here."

Allison held up her flashlight, which had gone dead sometime during the scuffle over the beers. She flicked the switch a couple of times, but nothing happened.

Andy sighed. "We'll go with you."

Claire sighed and shifted her weight from one foot to the other. "How much longer is this going to take?" she asked.

Bender, who was standing a couple of feet away looking out over the parking lot, shrugged. "I don't know."

"It seems like this is taking a long time," she whined.

"It hasn't even been five minutes."

Claire sighed. "It seems longer."

Bender turned around to face her. "I know a way we can make the time pass," he said suggestively.

Claire glared at him. "We're supposed to be the look outs, remember?"

Bender shrugged and stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Claire watched him for a moment as his eyes flickered over the parking lot again, scanning the area for unexpected visitors. His lips parted briefly so that he could take in a breath of air, and Claire felt her throat go a bit dry.

"You didn't meet me this morning."

Bender glanced over at her. "I overslept," he said simply.

"I waited for you," she said, her voice carrying equal parts indignation and disappointment.

Bender watched her for a moment. "Nothin' I can do about it now…"

Claire scoffed. "You could say sorry."

"I don't say sorry."

Claire rolled her eyes. "You think I don't know that by now?"

Bender took a step in her direction, slowly closing the distance between them. "Who wears a silk shirt and heels to break into their school?" he asked, reaching out to brush his fingertips over the collar of her shirt.

Claire huffed loudly and batted his hand away. "You said to wear black. This is all I have."

"And since when do you ever listen to anything I say?" he asked, taking another tiny step in her direction.

Claire swallowed deeply, but stood her ground. After a moment, she saw his mouth curl into a satisfied smirk, as if her reaction pleased him somehow.

"Don't look at me that way," she warned him.

Bender ignored her and let his eyes travel down to her throat. "Actually, I was hoping you'd wear that sleeveless shirt…you know, the one with the lace collar."

Claire blinked, confused. "It's forty degrees out here!" she exclaimed.

Bender shrugged.

Claire felt the anger rising up, along with something else. "You pig!"

The side of Bender's mouth turned up slightly, as if he was trying not to smile.

Claire continued glaring at him for a few seconds before she leaned forward and kissed him hard on the mouth.

"That looks like a duck."

"No, it's supposed to be a wolf."

"That's not a wolf. You have to bend your index finger to the left to do the wolf."

Brian frowned and tried again. "Like this?"

Andy looked from Brian's hand over to the wall in front of them, where the beam from their flashlight had created a large, yellowish circle against the chipped paint. In the middle of the circle was a shadow in the shape of a wolf.

"Yeah, that's it," said Andy. "Can you do a flamingo?"

Brian frowned. "No, I don't think so."

Andy took the flashlight from Brian's hand and pointed it in front of his own fingers. "It's kind of hard," he told him. "Watch what I do with my pinky…"

"That's really cool," said Brian.

"Here, you try," said Andy, passing the flashlight back to him.

Before Brian could do anything, he heard a loud clanging sound coming from the next hallway over. Both boys froze instantly, eyes wide with fear. A few seconds later, they heard footsteps, which grew louder as the seconds passed.

Andy, the first to recover, grabbed the flashlight from Brian's hand and flicked the switch so that the light disappeared. Then he took Brian by the sleeve and pulled him into the girl's restroom.

"Allison!" he whispered.

"What?"

"Don't flush the toilet. There's someone out in the hall."

A few seconds passed, and Allison swung the stall door open. "Who?" she whispered.

Andy shrugged.

"Maybe it's Bender and Claire," said Brian.

Andy paused thoughtfully, then went back to the door. He cracked it open just wide enough to stick his head out. A few seconds later, he ducked back into the restroom and shut the door as quickly as possible.

"Shit!" he hissed.

A/N: Dun dun dun! Who could it be? Guess you're going to have to wait until next time to find out. In the meantime, review!