“See you later, Lizzie.”
“All right, later.” I walked the rest of the way home from the corner where me and my friend Alice always split up to go our own directions. I walked up the stairs of the porch to my front door and right when I was going to put my key into the lock, the door opened before me. I gasped in surprise. When I lifted my head I saw my mother standing in the doorway with her arms crossed and she was tapping her foot. “The school just called and told me your were failing a class.” I walked in, sighed, and set my backpack down, then I went into the kitchen to fix myself a snack. “Really? That sucks.”
“Don’t you walk away from me. This is a serious matter.”
“And what if I don’t think this is a serious matter?” I chomped on an apple.
“Elizabeth Grace Morgan, we have been over this discussion more than once. You will finish high school whether you like it or not. Now, I will not take any more of your sarcasm so why don’t I finish up the conversation?”
“Yeah, but-”
“You will do all the homework that is needed to increase your grade in chemistry, you will study as hard as you can to maintain a B average in that class along with your others, until then you are not to hang out with any friends or go out to any social gatherings, and I will not hear a single complaint! Are we clear?”
“No! That is so un-”
“I said, are we clear!?” Her voice had gotten lower and louder. She was being serious.
“Ugh. Fine. Yes, we’re clear, whatever.”
“Good, now go to your room and your not coming out until your ready for that test on Monday and your homework is finished.”
“What? I’ll never be able to do it all in one day!” There was hysteria in my voice.
“I guess you should have thought twice before you let your grade drop then.”
My cheeks were burning with anger as I stomped to my room. My mother could be so dumb sometimes. There was no way I could do all that studying in one day. It was too much, it was overwhelming to look at all the papers sitting on my desk not getting done. I didn’t even know where to start, I would have to get a copy of the test to know what to study and---
My train of thought was disrupted by a brilliant idea I just got. It was a call for desperate measures, but hey, I was desperate. I would have to break into the school.
I would have to work quickly, coming up with what I would have to bring and do in order to have a successful break in. I guess it is good that today is a Friday.
I made a mental picture of Easton High in my head. There were doors on almost every side of the school. I also remembered the basement windows, those were probably the most safest place to go through if I didn’t plan on getting caught which I didn‘t. Students of Easton High say there is always one basement window that is unlocked. I’ve never had the need or curiosity to try opening one until now. Every other door was most likely to be locked and would require breaking locks or glass. I was trying to keep this plan the most it could be away from actually breaking something open. I mean, is it really considered breaking in if you don’t break anything to get in?
Now for what to bring. I would have to bring the key to unlock the drawer that carried the tests. I had made a copy of that key months ago. You see, at Easton High, all the tutors get a key to the test copies. So I had signed up for a tutor and, during the process of getting tutored, had figured out where Sophia kept hers, which was in her purse. I quickly grabbed it and went to the store to make a copy of it. Lucky for me, she hadn’t noticed until the next day when she was tutoring me which left me time to put it back in her purse and tell her to check one more time, feigning innocence.
This was going to be a cakewalk for me except for the fact that I didn’t know if a teacher would be there or not. I scooped up my black clothes. Before I put them on I made a sign that said, “Studying Hard, Please Do Not Disturb.” And hung it on the outside of my door. Good thing my mom told me to stay in my room. I slipped on my black pants, black long sleeve, black jacket, and dark shoes. I thought about leaving fingerprints which couldn’t happen so I put on my black gloves. I decided I should wait a while.

After waiting a long time I put the key into my pants pocket and opened my window. “Show Time.” I whispered to myself. The fresh air felt so good on my face and it smelled amazing. All the colorful leaves lay on the ground everywhere. I couldn’t help but imagine that the mess of leaves were like my mess of chemistry papers scattered everywhere. I climbed out and made it safely to the ground since my room is on the first floor. I reached up to close my window. Once it was shut I felt relief because I felt as if once the window was closed all my chemistry homework was never to be seen again. The mess is just gone like that.


I made my way around the house and then started running, I ran across the street and then down the sidewalk. I made sure that I was not in view of my house before I started walking. I hadn‘t noticed how late it was, the sun would start to set soon and it was getting even more chilly. With all the time I had walking I started to think about how dangerous this was. What would happen to me if I got caught? Lizzie, No! You cannot back down now. While some people might call this crazy, I call it brilliance.

Finally, I reached Easton High. It was only about a mile and a half from my house. I felt paranoid and started looking all around me, I felt like if someone was watching me. I tried to act subtle, carefully walking onto school property. Once I felt like the trees were covering me enough I ran the rest of the way to the back of the school. Right when I was about to turn the corner I heard a click. I ignored it for I had to hurry. I bent down to the first basement window. I put my cold fingers against the icy glass and pushed. Nothing happened so I tried again, harder this time. Still, nothing happened so I moved onto the second one. When five different windows didn’t open I felt defeated. There were no more basement windows. I guess it was just a rumor that there was always one that was unlocked. I sat back down next to the last window and breathed a disappointed breath when all of a sudden I heard a click sound, the same one as before. Strange. I looked behind me to see what it was and sure enough, it was the unlocked basement window. It was hidden behind a whole bunch of bushes filled with thorns. In a thrill of excitement I quickly pushed the window open and shoved my legs in. I couldn’t think about anything else except getting my hands on that chemistry test. I started getting anxious.


I was having an adrenaline rush, acting too fast. I wedged and wedged my way in feet first. I wiggled this way and that trying to get the rest of my body in the little rectangular window. It was smooth around the edges of the window which helped me slip a little more. I was halfway in now when I heard a rip. Perfect, my pants ripped and then I heard a snap as something hard hit the basement floor in the school. I was too exhilarated to worry about it. I gathered the tattered piece of pant and shoved it in my other pocket. My stomach was now sliding in. My legs were in the window while my head was still sticking out. I thrashed my legs feeling for something to land on. I felt something that was hard. It could either be a table or the floor. Since the rest of my body was smaller than my legs it was easier to squeeze the rest of the way in. I ducked my head in and my hands were still hanging on. I was now facing a wall. I didn’t feel the hard table or floor anymore. I felt like I was high above ground, about ten feet or so above ground. I would have to take a chance. Then I looked down. I was about three inches from touching the marble floor. I laughed to myself and made the jump. I breathed a heavy breath of relief. My palms were almost about to drip from so much sweat. I rubbed them on my pants and then felt the key. I remembered my plan and had to get back to work quickly. The window slammed shut above me and I shrieked, the little bit of light was gone. My nerves were getting the best of me, but I couldn’t let them. It was pitch dark in the basement. I tried to make out as much as I could. I ran through everything bumping my hips against hard tables and ramming my head on sharp points. I was sure that by the end of this I would have a couple bruises. I found stairs and ran up them. Once I was upstairs I quickly began looking for the room that had the tests. I also prayed that no teachers would be there.
I was as quiet as ever and since there was light, I didn’t run into anything. It was easy for me to find the room and once I was in, my eyes locked onto the bin that held the tenth grade chemistry tests. I reached into my pants pocket to get the key. All the color from my face drained and my hands went cold when I didn’t feel anything but a piece of candy in my pocket. Suddenly, I remembered the snap from before. I hadn’t worried about it. I should have since it was the key. Shoot, I thought the piece of candy was the key. I had reassured myself from a piece of sugar. This was bad, real bad. It was a long ways back to the basement and my time wasn’t looking hot. I decided to use the bobby pin from my hair. I yanked it out, unfolded it and concentrated on moving it into the lock. I carefully felt on how to move it so that the lock would open. It finally unlocked and my breathing returned to normal. I felt a chill on my neck and turned around quickly. There was nothing there. I searched for the test and slipped it out, then I quickly made a copy of it. While it was printing out I had the feeling again that someone was watching me. I did my best to ignore it. I returned the original copy to the bin, but before I could close it a hand enclosed around my wrist. I was about to scream when all of a sudden the person put a hand over my mouth. “Shh. It’s just me. Alice.” She took her hand off my mouth and let go of my wrist.
“Oh my goodness! What the heck are you doing here Alice?” She was dressed in black exactly like me so I could almost guess why.
“I’m pretty sure we’re both here for the same reason.” She laughed. “Lose something?” She held up my key.
“You found it! Wait……….so, you were the stalker. I knew I wasn’t being paranoid with myself. There was a reason.”
“Ha ha Lizzie, you don’t get paranoid. But yes, I was one step ahead of you for a while there before you started freaking out and ripping your pants.” She laughed again and I couldn’t help but laugh as well too. This was a nice surprise.
“I can’t believe we’re both doing this. At the same time and place and……….oh man! We need to hurry!”
“Oh yeah and I need a copy of that test.” We hurried to make a copy of the test for Alice and then stuffed our copies into our jackets and replaced the original. Then we shut the bin, locked it and ran to the basement. We got out the window and then ran off school property. The sun was a little ways away to fully set. We still had the beautiful color of the sun with light. We both took big breaths and then laughed. “Man, what a day. What a crime. Oh, here’s your key.” Alice handed me my key. We kept walking towards our houses, away from the scene.
“You know what? Keep it. I’m tired of these childish schemes I keep pulling. It’s time for me to quit, you know?”
“Well, I don’t want it either. I mean, this was so bad what we did. I don’t want to keep going in life like this either.” Alice looked off into the distance and then looked to me. I knew what she was thinking. I nodded to her giving her the assurance. She pulled her hand back and the flung it forward. The key flew very far into the depths of all the trees. It felt good to get rid of it. “So, after this test, no more scandals, correct?”
“That would be great.” We walked until our corner.
“See you later, Lizzie.”
We smiled to each other. “Later.” I said And the rest was history.