Adventures In Parodyverse: Hallowed Halls Part 4

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Adventures in Parodyverse - Hallowed Halls Part 4

    Vicky was determined not to deal with the school principal at all during her second day trapped at the local high school. The last time she had to deal with attitude and starvation due to lunch time detention, both of which added extra annoyance to an already bad situation.

    She shuffled over to the locker she'd been assigned the day earlier and picked out a couple of books so she could at least pretend she's paying attention in class. Her mind would be elsewhere, though.

    To avoid drawing attention to herself she tried to be as boring and average as she possibly could. Older looking sneakers, pale older jeans...similar to her usual casual style but more abused looking clothing. The only slight details that might give her away as an impostor were that she wore almost no makeup, her hair was very well cared for, and she had an air of confidence that was real.

    It was fairly annoying to Vicky that while they didn't see through her ruse, some of the high school boys were attracted to that air of confidence. Even as she sat in the back corner of an English Lit class near the window to try to avoid attention, she noted a few of them staring at her intently. In her mind she dared one of them to pass her a note so she could smugly crumple it and bounce it off his forehead.

    Bored with listening to the lecture during her first class she decided to check her schedule. Some classes alternated every other day - and much to her annoyance one of them was gym class, right after English Lit. While she was plenty athletic on her own, gym class never counted as athleticism. Gym teachers existed solely to humiliate their students.

    A glance at the clock revealed she'd unfortunately been there only about ten minutes. She put her feet up on the windowsill beside her and settled in for the long lecture, occasionally doodling in her notebook so she didn't doze off. And also so she could ignore the male student she could see out of the corner of her eye who discreetly kept his hand down his own pants through the entire lecture.

    The bell finally rang, and Vicky was so enthusiastic to get out of that boring, stuffy classroom that she knocked her English Lit textbook to the floor while closing her notebook. It was handed back to her by that male student she saw, using the hand she knew couldn't be sanitary. On the way out of the room she quickly tossed the textbook into the trash bin.

    Vicky then shuffled to the gym, racking her brain for some excuse she could use to avoid gym class. She hoped Jack would call her. Maybe now was time to work on her investigation? Would the teacher believe it if she said sorry but she had a meeting with the principal?

    As soon as she entered the gym she saw a blonde girl briefly speak to the gym teacher, then smile and head back toward the door. That looked so tempting, Vicky had to ask - she blocked the blonde's path and asked, "What did you just say to get out of this class?"

    The girl looked her over and frowned, but answered anyway, sounding more like she was bragging than trying to be helpful. "I'm going for the cheerleading squad. I get out of gym for that." She then pushed past Vicky and left.

    Vicky ignored that the girl used the word 'I' to imply that Vicky wouldn't have a chance. Fortunately, she didn't need a chance, only an excuse to skip out on gym class for a couple of days until her investigation was complete. Without the hesitation a normal high schooler might display, she turned around and followed the blonde girl to find out where these tryouts were.

    As it turned out there was more than one gym. The cheerleader tryouts were in a smaller one downstairs in the basement of the main gym. It was rather cool and dark down there, given that it was essentially a two story fixed-up basement with no windows.

    Yet there was no limit to the cheerfulness in the room. Vicky put on her best fake sunny smile when greeted on her way in. There was a girl in a cheerleading uniform sitting at a table, and she asked Vicky to sign in before issuing her a 'Hello my name is Vicky' stick-on tag.

    Vicky then settled in on the bleachers. She produced her notebook, which not only had doodles, but also now contained some notes on things she observed about the case she was supposed to be on.

    The first important note was the principal. So hostile to Vicky, the principal was...and that was unusual, since one would think a school principal would welcome help from a police detective. That made the principal somewhat suspect.

    Otherwise there were various student groups Vicky observed during her short time at the school. The usual delinquents wouldn't engage in blackmail, they were usually more self-destructive than out to get other people. It could be either one student quietly working alone, but that student would have to maintain decent grades, discipline, and attendance to avoid suspicion. Of course it could also be a group, but it would have to be one with good standing, intelligent membership and not much supervision.

    "Hello?" the girl at the table called out. "I called your name, Vicky!"

    Which kind of eliminated the cheerleading squad, Vicky thought as she put away the notebook and stood. "Yes?" she asked. She approached the table patiently.

    "Well you look the part," the girl muttered to herself. "But what can you do?"

    "I can juggle." Vicky picked up four plastic wrapped tee-shirts and tossed them into the air in series, juggling them briefly before putting them back on the table. "Cool, huh?"

    At the time Vicky was being sarcastic, showing off what she thought was a rather lame and stupid talent just to waste time. But the girl at the table was extremely impressed. Without another word she handed Vicky a carefully pressed cheerleader uniform wrapped in plastic and a pair of matching sneakers. "Good luck tomorrow," the girl said. "Next!"

---


    Vicky frowned as she left the small gym carrying all that extra cargo. "God, the cheerleading squad here must suck," she mumbled to herself. As she turned the corner and headed back toward the main hall she spotted an Asian woman in a leather jacket wearing something on her back, and leaning against an inner hallway wall. Someone she recognized immediately.

    "Chiaki," Vicky whispered, trying not to attract the attention of anyone nearby, though the hallway was deserted.

    "I met about your case with your school principal," Chiaki spoke in a soft whisper. "Who was very uncooperative. Considering the subject matter of the conversation I suggest you search the office for evidence."

    "You baited the principal?" Vicky asked, sounding impressed.

    Chiaki nodded. She took out a pair of sunglasses and headed directly for a exit which was only a few feet behind her. "Good luck," she said.

    Vicky was impressed again that Chiaki offered so much help, even on matters that were only briefly discussed and she didn't really expect the Lair Legion associate to help with. Things that were supposed to be beneath her talents. She couldn't help but wonder just how Chiaki baited the principal and how the conversation went.

    It was time to toss aside the trappings of pretending to be a student and get back to her real job. She knew she had to check out the principal's office, but first she needed to create a distraction to draw out the staff there. Fortunately one was created for her.

    Vicky smiled as she glanced out a hallway window, with only about a minute to go before class would begin. She had shoved her cheerleading uniform and backpack in her locker to be as light as possible. Outside darkness encroched over the school and lightning flashed. A spring storm was approaching.

    The idea was that during those storms, a building as large as a school couldn't be entirely waterproof. There would likely be water leaks indoors, and usually at least one would be big enough to require the attention of the principal as well as the maintenance staff and anyone else from the office who was curious.

    She was in the library when the pouring rain started. She put down the book she was reading and headed toward the office. The mood changed among the students and teachers as the storm began - suddenly the students lost focus and began watching the storm, and teachers began to realize that and watch as well. One or two students would run out of class to go and close their car windows quickly.

    And just as Vicky predicted, the princpal wasn't in the office, and neither was the receptionist. They closed the office door but neglected to lock it - so Vicky slipped in quickly and silently. The reception area still had its blinding flourescent lights on, but even they took on a slightly different color mixed with the light of the storm outside.

    Strangely, the principal's office, while empty, was dark and the shades were drawn. Vicky guessed, with some amusement, that the principal was a little afraid of lightning and meant to shut it out. The lights being turned off was simply an act of frugality executed on the way out.

    She sat in the principal's chair and woke up the computer quickly. There wasn't much there, only boring school related documents. If the principal was indeed involved, this was on professional act. There had to be files somewhere, however...or could Chiaki have been wrong?

    Then it became obvious. There was a wooden cigar box sitting on the desk, and it had a lock. The principal didn't smoke, and it was illegal to do so in a school anyhow. Vicky tested it and found it locked, so she bent up a paper clip to pry it open. Inside she found small slips of paper.

    Only the wording on them didn't make sense. She looked at one carefully, and it seemed to be two sets of initials and a small number. There were others like it but some were crossed out. She stared at the pieces of paper for a moment and grabbed them all. As of that moment the case was over - either it would work itself out or she'd be kicked out of the school and taken off the case. At that point Vicky didn't care which.

---

    At the end of that school day Vicky thought she had it made. She spent most of the rest of the day trying to keep a low profile, actually going to classes, and pretending to take notes but really using the time to figure out the principal's note system out on paper. During the last class of the day it finally dawned on her.

    The first set of initials had a pattern. Several notes had the same first two initials. The small number also had patterns, only not a perfect one - they all represented nice, round numbers like 15, 20, 10. Never a number like 7 or 18. She guessed that if they had to do with blackmail, and because it was small-time, it was probably in hundreds. 1500, 2000, 1000. It could be in thousands...but that point was irrelevant. All she had to do was match the amounts with police reports of blackmail.

    The first two letters were probably the agent performing the blackmail. No sense for the principal getting dirty when someone else could do it. Probably a student's initials. Vicky perked up at that and pretended to excuse herself to go to the restroom.

    She snuck back into the dark principal's office again, this time more daringly walking right past the receptionist while she was busy typing. She had to work fast - one break-in was daring, two was nearly insane. No telling what would happen if the school's resident police officer got wind of it. She opened the student records file drawer and began to thumb through the folders quickly. They were last name first, first name last.

    Then she saw them. Perfect initial matches for the notes, one after the other. She pulled them out one at a time and scanned them quickly - there had to be a connection. And there it was - the chess club? That was odd. Geeks like that usually had such strong moral centers. Unless the principal was holding something over them. She had to go and ask them.

    Vicky quickly sent a text message to Jack...she would be a little late getting out of school. The case was almost done.

    After the last class bell rang Vicky emerged from the staff restroom where she had been hiding since she left the principal's office. She knew the principal would be looking for her sooner or later and she had to delay that until after she questioned the chess team.

    The staff restroom was appropriate at the moment because Vicky was changing into the cheerleader uniform and shoes she was given. There were two reasons - because the principal wouldn't spot her right away, not being used to the new clothing, and because she needed the chess team's undivided attention.

    The chess team met in the library. It was a more comfortable place than a classroom, plus too often a teacher wouldn't be quite ready to leave a classroom yet and they'd have to wait - but not in the library. Vicky strolled in and smiled at the group of boys and one girl gathered and discussing chess pieces.

    "Hiya," Vicky greeted them cheerfully.

    "You're lost," the girl said as the boys stared. "Cheerleader practice is downstairs."

    "That's cool, cause I'm not really a cheerleader and this is my last day here." Vicky plunked down the principal's notes on the table. "Any of you want to tell me what these are?"

    "Where did you get those?" one of them asked in a panic, and reached for them. But Vicky was faster.

    "Ah, ah." she warned him, wagging her finger. "That's what we call a revealing move. I'm sure that sounds familiar, chess geek. If I were to guess what's going on, I'd say this was all your idea and the principal found out and wanted a piece. Am I right?"

    "I'll tell you anything you want to know," another boy said, "if you show us your boobs."

    Vicky rolled her eyes and leaned over the table. "So all you guys do here is gather in the library and play with yourselves?"

    The one girl on the chess team snickered but quickly covered her mouth.

    "We can't say anything," one of the boys said. He looked at the others almost threateningly. "We'll lose our scholarships."

    Vicky shook her head. "Hate to break it to you all, but there's no scholarship. You're being strung along." She turned and headed back to the door. "I have everything I need. Just watch the news, guys."

---

    Jack was waiting calmly in the car outside the school, knowing that Vicky was going to be a little late. She wasn't that late, however - before the school yard had cleared and the buses had finished boarding, Vicky came racing out of the school through the falling rain and slapped her hand against the passenger window.

    "Why are you dressed like that?" Jack asked as Vicky opened the newly unlocked door and slipped into the car.

    "To make guys horny," Vicky replied quickly. "That's how I got info out of the chess team. Why, is it working for you too?"

    Jack looked away and sighed as he started the car and began driving. "Want to go home and change first or go to the office?"

    "Change first," Vicky replied. "Those guys at the office are freaks."

    "Okay." Jack turned on the radio as they headed away from the school. "Get enough to solve the blackmail case?"

    "Enough to make an arrest or two," Vicky replied.

    "Good," Jack replied. "I hear you had enough of that school."

    "Yah," Vicky laughed.

    "And yes, it kind of is working for me. I always liked cheerleaders."

    "Cool, then you can wear the uniform home later," Vicky replied sarcastically.

    Jack laughed. Somehow he expected a reply like that.

TO BE CONTINUED?

-- Story written and copyrighted (C) 2007 by Jason Froikin, and may not be
-- reprinted without permission.
-- Yuki Shiro designed by Jason Froikin, based on designs by Masamune Shirow
-- Liu Xi Xian and the Psychic Samurai are original design by Jason Froikin
-- Lara Night is an original creation by Jason Froikin

Post By Anime Jason Sat May 26, 2007 at 11:40:35 am EDT	Subject Adventures In Parodyverse: Hallowed Halls Part 4

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