"It's locked," said Gavin, sounding surprised.
"Of course it's locked," said Jud. "This was a stupid idea. We should just give up now before anybody sees us."
"Everyone's asleep," whispered Harriet. "Even Mr. Unger. Nobody's going to see us."
"It's still a dumb idea."
"Stop being so negative, Jud," urged Jupiter.
Jud looked at her blankly. "You've known me for how long?"
Jupiter rolled her eyes. "Fine. Stop being more negative than usual."
Gavin ignored the squabbling behind him and focused on the door leading into the library. He'd been so sure it would be unlocked. How else were they supposed to break in and steal the attic key from Mr. Bigglesbee? He was certain that was what they were supposed to do, Mr. Bigglesbee had done everything but build a flashing neon sign to guide them here. Why the librarian wanted them to break into the attic, he wasn't sure, but it had to be important. Which meant it was probably connected to the attacks on the students at St. Hibbard's.
Jupiter and Jud had been reluctant to help out at first when Gavin had explained what he wanted to do. Jupiter hadn't been sure Gavin had read Mr. Bigglesbee correctly and Jud had decided the attempt would never work, no matter what they did. Eventually, however, with Harriet's help, they came around. Neither had known of the existence of the library attic, and the lure of the unknown and unexplored had proven overpowering.
But that had been six hours ago. Now, approaching midnight, they were starting to lose confidence.
"Even if you're right and Mr. Bigglesbee expects us to take the key and get into the attic, if we can't get past the front door, we're done for," bemoaned Jud.
As much as it annoyed him, Gavin had to agree. He tried the handle once again just for kicks. Still locked tight. It just didn't make any sense.
"Are there any other entrances to the library?" he asked.
Jupiter shook her head. "Not that I know of. But I didn't know about your attic before, so maybe there's a secret entrance we don't know about." She shone her flashlight around the walls, but, of course, nothing could be seen.
"That doesn't help us," said Harriet. "Because we don't know where it might be."
"If it exists," added Jud. "Which is doubtful."
Gavin sighed, frustrated. "There has to be a way," he insisted. He turned to Jud. "Maybe you could... you know... go Rage Monster on it?"
Jud shook his head and stepped back, raising his hands as if stopping traffic. "Forget it. One, I don't feel like passing out, and two, you don't think they'd notice if the door to the library were smashed in?"
Harriet came up and placed a hand on Gavin's shoulder. "What about the after-hours drop slot?" she asked.
Gavin twisted his neck to look at the little slot with the brass flap to the side of the door. "What about it?"
"It's a way in," she explained.
"For mice," replied Gavin.
"Or somebody with a squishable head," corrected Jupiter, joining Harriet at Gavin's side. She shined her light at the drop slot in question.
Gavin's eyes widened in shock. He looked back at the slot, suddenly curious. Was it possible?
"Doesn't he have to get punched, first?" asked Jud.
"I don't know," answered Jupiter. She turned to Gavin. "Do you?"
Gavin had no idea. He'd only ever 'used' his power when someone punched him in the face. Could he control it on his own? And did his power extend to his entire head, or was it limited to his face?
"You could at least try," suggested Harriet. "What's the harm?"
"Other than looking like an idiot when I fail to cram my head through the slot?"
"Right. Other than that."
The entire idea was so ludicrous, Gavin had trouble taking it seriously. But Harriet walked over to the slot, lifted the flap, and gestured at the hole like a spokesmodel.
"This I gotta see," muttered Jud.
Gavin took a deep breath, let it out, and approached the beckoning after-hours drop slot. Then, not sure what else to do, he leaned down and pressed his head against the hole.
Nothing happened. He stood up.
"You call that trying?" asked Jupiter. "Come on, Gavin, give it a good go."
"This is ridiculous!"
"Don't worry, nobody's taking any pictures or anything," she promised. "Just... shove yourself in there."
He rolled his eyes, but bent down and tried again.
"You can do it, Gavin," said Harriet. "I know you can." She placed a hand on his back in support.
As Gavin pushed and pushed, he tried to think how it would work. The width and height of the slot were obviously a lot smaller than a human head, so he'd need his head to lose width and height. But since his head didn't shrink when it went squishy, that meant it would become longer, more brick-shaped. He tried to envision his head stretching up, how it might feel. Would his ears stretch? If so, would that change how he heard sounds? Would he be able to-
"Oh my God, you're doing it!"
Harriet's cry shook Gavin out of his thoughts and back into reality. A reality where he was somehow stuffing his head into an after-hours library book drop slot.
"Whoa! Go Gavin!" cheered Jupiter.
"Boy, I hope you don't get stuck in there," said Jud.
Gavin nearly panicked upon first realizing what he was doing, but he quickly calmed himself down. You've done this plenty of times before, he told himself. You're just not getting punched this time. Which, honestly, is a step up.
The top of his head had disappeared into the slot. He continued pushing himself forward until his eyes entered. Looking around, it was really, really strange to see the inside of a drop slot. The metal walls dimly reflected his bizarrely-shaped head back at him like he was staring into a funhouse mirror. Then, just as his nose and mouth entered the slot, his eyes emerged on the other side.
The first thing he saw was the wooden overnight cart with a couple of returned books lining the bottom. Looking around, he was able to get a decent glimpse at the first floor of the library. Everything was dark, of course, no lights were on or candles lit, but he could still make out the circulation desk and the tables and chairs in the center of the room.
"Are you in?" came Jupiter's excited call from the other side. "What do you see? Anything that will help us?"
Right. Focus on the task. He twisted his neck around, noting the odd sensation of his squished head sloshing about like jelly to accommodate the twist. Looking to the left, he saw the inside of the locked library door. To the right, just more of the library.
"Nothing," he reported back. "Just the doors, some books in the bin, nothing we can use."
The four of them stewed in silence a moment and Gavin was just about to pull his head back out of the room when Jupiter spoke up. "How close are you to the doors?"
"Right next to them," answered Gavin.
"Close enough to push the emergency bar to open them?" she asked.
Had it not been crammed into the drop slot, Gavin was pretty sure his jaw would have dropped.
"Of course!" said Harriet, suddenly very excited. "The doors are only locked from the outside! Push on the bar, and they'll open right up! Can you do it, Gavin?"
Ordinarily, there would be no way, even if he'd somehow managed to stick his head through the slot. But he wasn't exactly ordinary at the moment. His head was very, very long. Tilting it to the side, he managed to get the top of his head up against the end of the bar. "Here goes," he warned. With a grunt, he shoved his head against the bar. It was fruitless at first, but he kept trying, feeling the bar against his head, willing it to push itself open just the tiniest bit.
He couldn't do it. Not with a straight push. But maybe if he banged against it...
He swung his long head out, then brought it forward to smash against the emergency bar. The first hit did the trick, and the door clicked open just enough for Jud to grab it and yank it all the way.
Jud, Jupiter, and Harriet stood, aghast, and looked at Gavin's freakishly-long head blinking back at them.
"We did it!" cheered Gavin.
"OK, I'm good if I never see you like this again," said Jud.
"Maybe you could pull your head back out, Gavin?" asked Harriet. "You do look like something out of a nightmare."
Snickering, Gavin retracted his head through the drop slot. Once it was free, his head inflated back to a normal size.
"Who says our abilities are useless?" asked Harriet.
"Not me," said Jupiter. "Well done, Squishy Head."
Gavin grunted. "Please don't call me that. You know I hate that."
"I have to call you something," she countered. "You're a bonafide superhero. Gavin won't cut it."
"Fine, call me... Stretchy Head. No, that's lame. The Head Manipulator. How about just The Head?"
"Wow," said Jud. "Your talent really doesn't lend itself to a cool name, does it?"
"Rubber Skull," said Harriet. The others turned to look at her and she grinned. "He's The Rubber Skull."
"I like it," said Jupiter after a moment's contemplation. "Using Skull in your name is always cool. Skull's are cool."
"If you wanted some alliteration, you could be Stretchy Skull," suggested Jud.
"No," said Gavin with a grin. "I like Rubber Skull. I like it a lot. That's what I want. I'm the Rubber Skull."
He swelled with pride. He had finally found his superhero name. It was short and sweet, classy and cool, and just a bit intimidating. It was perfect.
"Well done then, Rubber Skull," said Jupiter. She raised the flashlight until it shone directly under her chin and grinned maliciously. "Now that you've done the impossible, shall we steal the key, sneak up to the attic, and find out what we're not supposed to know?"