The three of us crouched behind Ian as he slid the key into the locked door of the basketball court. The light of the moon was barely enough for us to see each other in our all-black ensembles, but I could make out who was who by the Halloween masks.

We had parked far away from Rutherford, not wanting Roy's car to appear on any of the security cameras, and had trekked through the woods to avoid being seen by anyone-- it all seemed a little much when we came up with the plan, but I knew it was worth it if it was the difference between getting caught or not.

Ian pushed the door open with ease, and I couldn't help but think bitterly about how much we struggled the night before. He slinked into the building, the rest of us following him into the large, dark room. The exit light above us and the one at the other side of the gym barely provided any light at all, just a soft green glow.

I turned on the lantern I brought and Jade and Roy switched on their flashlights. Ian reached into his jacket, pulling out his phone and turning on the flash. The room looked eerily vacant. The bleachers were put away against the walls and the basketball hoops had been raised up for the night. I'd only ever been in the room when it was crowded with students during gym class or pep rallies-- in the darkness and the emptiness, the basketball court seemed bigger than ever.

"How big should we write it?" Roy asked as we all stood in uncertainty. Thinking about doing this was one thing, but now that we were actually there? The nerves were already making my palms sweat in their gloves.

"The paper said the bigger the better-- I'm guessing that means we'll get more points if it's larger," Jade said.

"I guess we should just go all out then," I suggested, "go from sideline to sideline."

"That big?" I couldn't see Ian's face, but his voice gave away his surprise. He paused, but nodded. "Okay, we better get started then. It could take a while."

We began working on the word FOUR, all taking a different letter. I don't think any of us was too concerned about what it looked like-- The Seven didn't say anything about it having to look good, so as long as it was readable, I'd be happy. I just wanted to get it done and get out as fast as possible.

My mind wandered to the incident that morning. The name "The Five Capers" had been ringing through my head since I heard it echo through the halls. Their task was funny, I couldn't deny that. But ours carried a much greater consequence, and I hoped we'd be graded fairly. Sure, we were running a little late, but unlike The Capers, our task was a crime.

"So how'd you get the key, anyway?" Roy asked, body hunched over as he worked on darkening the first half of his U.

Ian looked up from his O, which was impressively neat looking compared to my F. "Coach Hanks always gives me his keys so I can put away equipment. Pretty much everyone knows that he keeps spare keys in his desk since he's always misplacing them, so when I went into his office to put these back, I just took the spare for these doors from his drawer."

"That's badass," Roy praised.

"Do you think anyone will suspect you?" Jade questioned from her crouched position above the letter R.

Ian shrugged. "Probably. But they'd have to suspect everyone with access to Hank's keys, which is, like, a lot of people. The players are always borrowing them to get back into the locker rooms and stuff during practice. And his office doesn't have security cameras since it's connected to the locker rooms, so really there's no way to know. Even if they suspect me, I doubt they can prove it."

"Question." Roy briefly raised his hand. "Why do this?"

Ian merely tilted his head in response, so Roy continued. "I mean, you're obviously affiliated with the sports teams and all, so why help us defile the basketball court?"

"Oh. Well, for one thing, I didn't want to pass up the opportunity to be in a group. Also, I hate the sports teams. And Coach Hanks."

I stood up straight, confused by his answer. "But you're, like, their servant. Why would you sign up for that?"

"I didn't. It's kind of a favor. My mom is... how do I put this? Coach Hanks and my mom are sort of... a thing."

"Oh," I said.

"I got roped into this because my mom said I needed extracurriculars, and Hanks offered to 'take me under his wing.' But since I'm not exactly the athletic type, a sport was out of the question." He shrugged, moving on to spraypaint the next word. "Anyway, what about you guys? Got any special motives, or just in it for the money?"

As Roy helped him with the word "of," Jade and I started working on "Clubs."

I finished up the large C, contemplating if I wanted to talk about what happened to make me join the competition. Jade evidently already knew, and I guessed I wasn't too bothered by the thought of the guys knowing. They seemed okay enough, and if I was being honest with myself, I knew they probably remembered the incident anyway, even if they didn't know that it was me.

"Money is my motive," Roy said, laughing lightly. "Well-- I also kind of want to win just to shove it in my friend's faces. They basically ditched me, so it'd be sweet payback."

Jade shrugged a shoulder as the guys came to help us finish the last word. "I just thought it sounded fun. And yeah, I want the money."

"I'm in it for revenge at The Seven," I admitted, walking over to add the last letter. "If anyone's taking that money, I want it to be me."

The silence in the gym now seemed louder, the group clearly waiting for me to elaborate. Jade's spray can was the only one still going, the two boys obviously too curious about my comment to continue their vandalism.

"Revenge?" Roy tilted his masked face to the side. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," I warned.

"We've got time," Ian said. "But... no pressure."

I took a deep breath, knowing I wouldn't have brought it up if I wasn't ready to talk about it. "Last year I was dating this guy, Kendall. It was pretty serious-- we'd been dating for almost a year. Then I found out he was cheating."

I started spraying again, eager to be distracted from my own story. "So I went to The Seven with proof, you know, obviously wanting to expose him as a cheater. It was immature, and I shouldn't have done it, but..." I trailed off, knowing I should just get to the point. I'd gone over this story a million times in my head and knew it wasn't my fault. Still, I couldn't shake the habit of blaming myself for putting the whole thing in motion.

"Anyway, they posted my proof. Kendall was pissed and he wanted revenge, so he sent The Seven pictures of me- private pictures. And they posted them."

"Damn," Roy said solemnly.

Ian nodded. "I remember all the drama about that."

I knew he probably saw the pictures, and the familiar rush of embarrassment flushed over me. It was the same feeling I had nearly my entire sophomore year, and it was the same feeling that encompassed me when anyone mentioned the incident.

"Yeah, there was a lot of it. They took the pictures down pretty fast and apologized to me both privately and in a public post, basically saying it was a mistake by one of their new members, and that normally they would never post something like that. But people had already seen the pictures, saved them... and while a lot of people got upset with The Seven over it, I think it's pretty obvious no one cared that much-- the whole school still hangs on every post they make."

Before anyone could respond, there was a rattling sound at the doors. All four of our heads snapped to stare at the entrance as we froze in place.

"What the hell was that?" Jade breathed, standing up from her finished letter L.

"Did you lock the door when we came in?" Roy whispered towards Ian.

"Yeah."

"Maybe it was just an animal?" Jade wondered.

The next noise disproved her theory: keys jingling. The four of us stared at each other, eyes wide enough to be seen in the holes of our masks.

"Holy shit," Roy cursed, snatching up his spray bottle. "We're dead."

♧

s always, hope you enjoyed the chapter! thanks again for reading!