Shaking away the idea, he proceeded to continue writing his fake plan. During the next two days, students would still be taking occupational shadows and possibly submitting their Life Plans for pre-approval. The only time when City Hall would be empty and the area void of people would be late at night just before the two moons crossed each other’s path. That would be when he needed to break in. Unlike the Undecided sector, there were few security measures put into place in the Decided sector of the city because people didn’t commit crimes. Teenagers pulled pranks every now and then, but it was never anything extreme.
This would be.
Garrett had to hope that only the doors to City Hall would be locked. Inside and outside of course. All he had to do was figure out a way to pick the locks. If the locks could be picked, that is. Otherwise, he’d have to break a window.
With a frustrated sigh, Garrett leaned back in his chair and stared at the copy of the blueprints in front of him. There were too many variables and he hadn’t been inside City Hall in so long that he couldn’t trust his memory to remember everything in enough detail to be of use. What he needed was to visit it again to scope out the area, what type of security measures were in place, and what he would need to get in and out unnoticed. But other than submitting his Life Plan early for pre-approval, he had no reason to visit City Hall.
But Opal did.
Leaning forward once more in his chair over the blueprints, he located the room where the pre-approval submissions were taken. It was deep into the first floor of City Hall. If he could go with Opal when she went to pick up her pre-approved Life Plan, he could do his scouting then. Yes, that could work. He’d have the perfect excuse and it wouldn’t be suspicious at all. Just two 16-year-olds going to the one place in City Hall they were expected to go.
Garrett had already figured out the first part of his plan and how he would implement it. He would sleep well tonight.
Buzzing sounded off to the right of Garrett’s ear. He lifted his head and groggily opened his eyes to see the interwave flashing by his head. Something odd stuck to his cheek and he realized it was a sheet of paper. Gathering his wits, he picked up the interwave and answered it. “Hello?”
“Garrett?” Opal’s confused voice sounded in his ear. “Were you asleep?”
Garrett gazed around to see that he had indeed fallen asleep at his desk. The sheets of paper detailing his plans were strewn across the desk in various unrelated piles. Startled at leaving all his plans so utterly exposed, he began gathering them up and piling them together in one stack, not caring what order they were in.
“Garrett? Are you there?”
“Yes, sorry, Opal. What is it?”
On the other end of the line, Opal creased her brow and stepped outside the door to her house. “Don’t you remember that you agreed to let me help you with your Life Plan today? I’m headed to your house right now.”
Garrett jolted up out of the chair, the breeze from his quick movement causing the few top sheets of paper to fly onto the floor. “Right now?”
“Yes…Garrett, why are you acting so weird?”
“Oh, it’s nothing. I’ll see you soon. Bye!” Garrett swiped the end call symbol across the screen and looked at the mess in his room with wide eyes. He’d have to tidy up to keep Opal from getting suspicious.
Garrett rushed around the room putting away the mess he’d created the night before, stuffing most of it into his closet. Next, he focused on his desk, collecting each sheet of paper holding his criminal plan. He rushed over to his bed and stuffed them underneath the mattress. No one would find them there, least of all Opal.
He’d just opened his sciorb when he heard a knock on the door. “Garrett, can I come in?”
Garrett swept his gaze across the room, doing one last check before shouting, “Yes, come on in.”
Opal’s smile diminished as she took one look at Garrett. “Weren’t those the clothes you were wearing yesterday?”
Glancing down, Garrett realized that he’d fixed every detail but one. Wincing, he replied, “Yes, I kind of fell asleep at my desk last night.”
Opal’s green-eyed gaze studied him for a moment before her face lit up into another smile. “Working on your Life Plan?”
What was with the two people in his life he cared about the most being so gullible lately? thought Garrett. Instead of fighting it, he embraced it. “Yeah, except that I kept tearing up the sheets and throwing them away.” He gestured to the sheets of paper piled in the trash can.
Opal glanced over at them and then laughed. “Now you’re almost acting like me. I think my parents threatened to take all the paper out of the house and leave me with only the sciorb to work on when I first started writing my Life Plan.”
Garrett laughed too. “When was that?”
“When I was five.”
By the way, Opal was smiling, Garrett couldn’t tell whether she was joking or not.
“Anyway, how far did you get?”
“Well, I got past my name, where I wanted to live, how many children I wanted, and what age
