Party Til You Drop -- Dead

Party Til You Drop -- Dead Ch. 8

The girls huddled close together in secrecy as they walked down the hall toward the Headmaster's office.

"Here's the plan," Max breathed excitedly, "You knock on the Headmaster's door, grab his butt, and quietly unlatch the key."

Paige stopped walking and stared at Max as if she had three heads.

"That's a horrible idea!" She said in a harsh whisper. Max loosened up and sighed.

"I know," She replied, "But I couldn't think of anything else! What do you suggest doing?" Max whispered back. Paige thought for a moment, and grinned.

"Here's the plan," She mocked Max's earlier tone, "I knock on the Headmaster's door while you hide around the corner. I'll tell the Headmaster that Lauralee asked for him, in the lobby. As he walks by, I'll silently unhook the key from his belt loop. Then, when he's out of sight, we can go get the Deaducation Book from his desk."

Max smirked. Paige thought she heard her mumble something about the plan being really good. Then Max seemed to have a thought.

"How are we going to return the keys?" She asked.

"Easy. We place them on the floor down the hallway and tell him it must have fallen off of his belt."

The girls silently squealed in excitement as their plan began to unfold, as Max hurried and hid around the corner and Paige approached the Headmaster's door.

"Here goes nothing."

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The Headmaster's door moved open with no sound at all. The Headmaster was, of course, sitting at his humongously large desk.

"What do you need, Miss Henderson?" He called, his voice echoing through the shelves and shelves of books around the giant and slightly intimidating room.

"Oh, um, well, er," Paige stuttered. She looked to her right to see Max peeking around the corner, urging her to go on. She took a deep breath, and let it out slowly -- at least she intended it to be slow. "Lauraleeneedsyouinthelobbysir!" She held her breath as the Headmaster levitated up and down to the doorway. He smiled for the first time she'd seen since she'd been there.

"Thank you, Paige. Don't stutter -- it's unlady-like." As he turned, Paige quickly grabbed his keys and yanked them off. She gasped as the Headmaster spun around, his eyebrows pushed together in anger.

"Are those my keys?" He demanded. Paige's eyes fluttered as she fumbled for words, but words did not come out. Instead, it sounded kind of like "Um, oh, um, er, erm, uh, um, um, um". She slowly brought out her hands to reveal his keys. She saw Max over his shoulder, peeking around the corner once more, glaring at her in anger. She smacked her forehead, which is basically sign-language for "you idiot".

Inside the Headmaster's office, Max and Paige sat, being lectured by the Headmaster.

"I am utterly disappointed in you, young ladies! Theft is not only lady-like, it is rude." This lecture continued for what seemed like forever, but was probably more like around ten minutes. The girls left the office to their dorm, hanging their head in fake shame, secretly grinning at each other under bowed heads.

Paige thought Max would be angry at her, but when they got to their dorm, she started laughing. Paige looked at her in confusion.

"Why are you cheering? This isn't good! How are we going to get the book now?!"

Max smirked as she held up her right hand, to reveal a thick brown book that read "Deaducation" in worn-out letters. The Headmaster's Deaducation Book!

"But... how did you get it?" Paige asked, dumbfounded.

"Well, I know how to, um... teleport. The Headmaster foolishly left his drawer unlocked, because he hadn't planned on leaving, I guess. From around the corner, I teleported to his office, grabbed the book, and teleported back just in time to be lectured!" Max was grinning from ear to ear as she concluded her explanation. "Isn't it just brilliant!"

Paige shook her head as she stared at Max,  her brow furrowed in frustration.

"Why couldn't you do that in the first place, when the Headmaster was gone?"

"We needed a decoy, of course! He obviously thought you were trying to steal the book by getting the keys, so failing to do so would make him believe you failed in getting the book." She smiled. Paige hadn't seen Max this happy since she'd been there.

"Well -- I mean... How do you know how to teleport?" Paige questioned eagerly. Max scoffed in a bragging manner.

"You think I haven't done this before? My previous roommate, Abigail, was my decoy and I got the book by slipping by quietly. We of course got caught, because the Headmaster can actually be smart and not-so-old sometimes. He detected me, and we both got in trouble. But I had enough time to read how to teleport. The Headmaster's Book is the first and oldest version of Deaducation, before precautions were taken to prevent thieving and other scandals."

"But... what happened to Abigail?" The thought lingered eerily in Paige's mind. "Where did she go?" Max chuckled.

"Abby was a troublemaker anyway. That one failed attempt was her seventh strike, and my second." She leaned in to whisper, "I never get caught," with dramatic emphasis. She leaned away and said louder, "She did. She's not very stealthy. Well, was. They banished her soul for being a 'bad' soul."

Paige gasped in shock and horror. "They sent her soul away? How does that work?"

Max rolled her eyes. "I'm not quite sure yet, but I don't really think the souls get 'banished'. I think they're taken a special place. But I don't really care if her soul is destroyed or not. She was annoying."

Paige thought in horror that this might be how Max thought of her. Forgetting that Max could read minds, she was shocked when Max said, "Don't worry. You're not as annoying as her."

Paige shook the nonsense from her head and got down to business. "We need to go."