Meanwhile, Robbie, suspicious of the newcomers, decided to do some investigating of his own. During a free period, he and one of his cronies, Derek, sneaked into the school's administrative office.
"What are we looking for, Robbie?" Derek whispered as they rummaged through files.
"Anything on those two," Robbie said, pulling up a digital record on a nearby computer. "They're hiding something, and I'm gonna find out what."
After a few minutes, Robbie found what he was looking for—or rather, what he wasn't. "Look at this," he said, pointing to the screen. "No real background info. Just transfer records from some school out of state. It's too clean."
Derek frowned. "You think they're spies or something?"
Robbie grinned wickedly.
"Something like that. And we're gonna expose them."
As Robbie plotted his next move, he failed to notice a shadowy figure watching from outside the office window—someone who wasn't supposed to be there.
The silence in the administrative office was only broken by the faint tapping of Robbie's fingers on the keyboard.
He and Derek were both absorbed in the files on the computer, completely unaware of the creeping danger that was approaching.
Robbie felt a surge of excitement when he saw the lack of any solid information on the new students—his hunch was right, they were hiding something.
But he didn't realize how close they were to getting caught.
"Wait," Derek said, glancing at the clock on the wall.
"Shouldn't we get out of here? We're pushing our luck."
Robbie, however, wasn't ready to give up just yet.
"Just a few more minutes. We need to be sure."
He scrolled through the file one more time, hoping to find a hidden detail that could confirm his suspicions.
Suddenly, a loud click echoed in the hallway outside the office. Robbie froze. Derek stiffened beside him. The sound of approaching footsteps followed.
The unmistakable heavy footfalls of Mr.Benson, could be heard growing louder.
"Oh, crap," Derek whispered, his eyes wide with panic.
Robbie cursed under his breath.
They had to move fast. He quickly minimized the file on the screen and slammed his hand on the mouse, closing out of the program.
"Out the back," he muttered, gesturing to the office's small side door that led to a utility hallway.
They darted across the office, trying to make as little noise as possible. But just as Robbie grabbed the door handle, the sound of a classroom door opening nearby froze him in place. A moment later, the door to the office opened with a creak.
"Robbie?" Mr. Benson's voice boomed from the doorway.
"What are you doing in here?"
Robbie's heart raced. He spun around quickly, trying to think on his feet. "Oh, uh, Mr. Benson! I was just looking for Mrs. Jacobs, but I think she stepped out for a minute. You know, school business."
He gave the best innocent smile he could muster, though his face was pale and his palms were sweating.
Mr. Benson narrowed his eyes. "Is that so? The office is closed during lunch."
"Yeah, just needed a quick question answered," Robbie replied quickly, his voice cracking a little under the pressure. "But it looks like she's not here. So, uh, we'll head out."
Derek was standing awkwardly behind Robbie, doing his best not to make any noise or draw attention to himself.
Mr. Benson looked between the two of them, clearly suspicious but not entirely convinced. He took a step forward, his shoes making an almost ominous click on the tile floor.
"Well, I hope you weren't snooping around in here," Mr. Benson said, his tone serious but with a hint of humor. "There are cameras, you know."
"Of course not!" Robbie said a little too quickly, and he gave another awkward chuckle. "We're just...we're just heading out now." He forced a casual gesture to the hallway. "Sorry to bother you."
Mr. Benson's gaze lingered on the two boys for a long moment. Robbie held his breath, praying he wouldn't ask any more questions. Finally, the teacher seemed to relax slightly.
"Alright, you two get going then," Mr. Benson said, though his voice still held that trace of suspicion. "And don't let me catch you in here again."
Robbie nodded eagerly, quickly ushering Derek toward the exit. As they stepped out into the hallway, Robbie's mind raced. They were close—too close. But they had to get out of there without raising any more suspicion.
Once they were safely out of sight, Derek exhaled loudly.
"That was way too close. We almost got busted."
Robbie grinned, though the excitement in his eyes was tempered with the realization of how much danger they had just been in.
"Don't worry, we're fine. We just need to be more careful next time."
He turned to Derek, his expression serious again.
"But we're not stopping here. We've got to find out what those two are really up to."
Derek looked at Robbie with a mix of awe and wariness.
"Just promise me we won't be breaking into any more offices."
Robbie chuckled darkly.
"We'll see. But we can't let them get away with whatever they're hiding."
As the boys walked away, they couldn't shake the feeling that someone was still watching them.
Neither of them knew it yet, but the shadowy figure that had been lurking outside the office window wasn't just a passerby.
They were part of a much bigger story—one that was about to get a lot more dangerous.
Sam had hidden behind a pillar in the hallway, discreetly watching Robbie and Derek enter the office.
He had seen the two boys slip in furtively, but he hadn't acted right away.
He knew something was wrong.
He wasn't sure what they were looking for, but he had the feeling it wasn't anything good.
Remaining still, he watched Robbie sit down in front of the computer, scanning through files.
Sam furrowed his brow as he realized that Robbie wasn't just an annoying bully and a complete fool, but a boy far too curious for his own good.
He listened carefully to their whispers and saw the tension rise when they heard Mr. Benson's footsteps. Sam, while retreating into the shadows, felt a sense of unease.
Robbie wasn't just a troublemaker.
He seemed to want to snoop where he shouldn't. And Sam knew he couldn't let that slide.
He waited for them to leave hastily, and once they had disappeared around the corner, he slowly stood up, his mind racing.
"Anyway, he won't find anything good.
Our current identities do exist, and even if he has a good intuition, the lack of information in these files won't lead him anywhere."
I have to keep an eye on him, Sam thought, biting his lip.
Robbie was far more dangerous than he had imagined. Sam wasn't ready to take any risks.
More than ever, he knew his role was to watch Robbie and find out what he was up to.