Ever After

Against The Law

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This chapter is in Mark's perspective.

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Hey, guys! I just left a little thank-you message at the end of the chapter... read it if you want to (or don't - either way, it's perfectly fine!).

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It'd reached eight o'clock, meaning that the plan was officially in action. Jack (in his pitch-black jeans) skid across the school's field, lugging his share of paint buckets along as he did - I, not much of a runner myself, struggled to keep up, wishing he'd just pull me by the wrist like he always did.

I didn't know what we were doing, for Jack refused to let me in on the plan, despite my being his one and only partner involved in it. I stuck to his heels as he darted through the dark night, his t-shirt the only brightness to be seen aside from the streetlights playing the spotlight above. He made a swift movement as to glide his way into the wall, putting his back to its bricks before motioning me over. I, clumsily as ever, attempted at doing the same (failing, as I always did).

Jack didn't seem to notice, for his eyes were too fixed on something inside of the window we were pressed up beside. He leaned over to look through it, gently placing the paint cans on the grass as he did - I followed in his footsteps, getting a good look at what was going on over his shoulder.

And yet, there was nothing interesting to look at; it was just a classroom, one of the hundreds within the school.

"What's so interesting?" I whispered.

It took him a short moment to respond.

"That," he said, his voice light and in a state of surprise.

"... The janitor's cart?" I suggested, seeing his finger pointing at its ominous shape in the hallway. "What's so interesting about that?"

"It's not just the janitor's cart, Mark." Oh, how stupid of me. "It's got the key to the whole school - if we get our hands on it, this entire buildin' is ours."

I tried to imagine it as he surveyed the area, the very image of us stealing such an important artifact once the furthest thought from my mind. He couldn't really be considering it, could he? I mean, sure, I "stole" Felix's phone, but this was an entire new level of theft. It seemed inhumane, for there was a large possibility that the janitor could be fired for having let two break-ins deprive of him the only thing that kept the school safe.

But it wasn't like Jack and I were doing anything illegal - at least, I hoped not. I highly doubted that Jack's revenge would consist of anything illegal, but who knows? After all, I did get accused of theft, harassment, and pretending to be another person just this morning, so why wouldn't it make sense?

I sighed, wishing I'd done what every adult influence had told me and pursued in law school.

Eventually, I decided to speak up, finally freeing the terrifying thoughts of college from my mind.

"How're we going to get in, Jack?" I asked, unsure of what the plan was.

"Just like all other burglars do," he said simply, gripping at the base of the window separating us from the classroom. "Through the window."

But, unfortunately for him, his attempts were to no avail, for the window wouldn't budge in the slightest. He sat there for a good two minutes, wrestling around with it as if it'd eventually come to see that he only had good intentions - the window was stiff and shut, most likely locked by the janitor and his good set of keys that Jack wanted so badly.