Whisper of Broken Things

Chapter 8

I wake up to my alarm at 11:00 am. I was up till 2 in the morning devising a plan on how I was going to break into a police department and steal confidential files. I reach for my phone to turn off the alarm as I realize the smell of my grandmother's cooking fills the air. I stumble down the stairs to a full breakfast laid out on the table by my dad. "This what we're doing now?" I ask, taking in the delicious sights of bacon, waffles, toast, sausage, and eggs all neatly presented on the table. "This is what we're doing. Now sit down and eat, it's your grandma's recipe" my dad tells me, pulling out the seat beside him.

 I sit down and begin eating the plate he made for me. It's not quite like my grandma would make it, but it will have to do. "I've got a few meetings in town till about 5:00 then we can go out to eat, if you'll be alright home alone all day?" My dad asks, looking up from his laptop. "Actually I have plans." I tell him. "Are these plans including these new friends you've met?" he asks, searching for some explanation. "Yeah." I tell him. "That's great Matty. I'm glad you've found some good friends already. Names?" He asks although he looks more engaged in his email than the actual question. "Halle, Connar, Cassidy, and Dylan," I tell him, hoping he won't question me any further. He repeats back the names and then suggests that I invite them to go to dinner tonight. "Yeah, sure." I tell him. "I'll ask" "Good, I'm excited to meet them." He exclaims.

 He closes his laptop and stands up from the table. "I'm going to go water your grandmother's garden out back, then I'll take you wherever you need to go, okay?" he asks. "Ok," I tell him. Once he closes the back door, I run upstairs to his bedroom. I've got approximately 12 minutes to find something that will get me into the police department with no questions asked. 

After searching through his entire room, I ultimately decide on a stack of papers encased in a tan envelope labeled "Bar Harbor Police". I know for a fact that he has most likely already turned a copy of these in. But maybe I can convince someone that he gave them the wrong ones. All I need is a way in where they keep the files, and then I have a plan for the rest. I stuff the papers in my backpack, along with a key I found in my dad's room labeled "police", just in case. I get dropped off at "Sweet scoops" at 11:50. My dad tells me he will pick me up once he is out of his meetings and I go inside expecting to be the first one there but Dylan sits at the same table as yesterday. 

I fight the urge to wait outside until anyone else gets here and take a seat next to him. "Hey," he says without looking up from his phone. "Hey," I say back, realizing how awkward this is going to be. I sit there for a few minutes playing block puzzles on my phone before making the brave decision to ask about him and Halle. If they are together, I need to know, not that it would get her out of my head, but it's worth a try. "So, what's up with you and Halle?" I ask, trying to sound as innocent and simply curious as possible. "Nothing I don't think." he' tells me, this time looking up from his phone. "I don't know, I'd like to think there's something. I mean, it's always been Cassidy and Connar, and then Halle and I, but sometimes I feel like I'm playing a game that I don't know how to beat. That, and she's my best friend in the entire world, I would never want to ruin that." 

My stomach flip-flops when hearing him refer to Halle and him as each other's, but something about the uncertainty in his voice tells me, Halle probably doesn't feel the same about him, and I have to keep myself from smiling. I don't know what to say so I don't say anything. We sit in silence for another 6 minutes before Halle, Cassidy, and Connar come in altogether. 

Halle takes the seat next to me and when I look over at Dylan, he doesn't look too pleased. It's obvious he has some type of thing for her, but it couldn't possibly be the same as what I feel. "What's the plan?" she asks, completely ready for anything. I pull out the papers I took from my dad this morning. "I'm going to go in with these and tell them my dad gave them the wrong ones. The Sherriff will hopefully take me back to the filing room so he can show me the other ones and switch them out. That's when you guys will come in with an excuse on why you need help. I'm hoping that the Sherrif feels the need to help you and leaves me alone. Then I need you guys to prolong your distraction as long as you can. I just have to figure out how big the file room is and where the case files are, once I find it, I'll take the suspect list and sneak out." I tell them.