\u201cOkay, you\u2019re good. Go!\u201d<\/p>\n
Summer pulled the plastic cap off the bottom of her boot heel and let her pocket knife fall out of the hollow into her hand. Pulling out the Phillips screwdriver bit, she set to work unscrewing the battery panel of the Laser Lock on some hapless kid\u2019s locker.<\/p>\n
In this post Columbine world, being caught with a weapon on school property \u2013 even one as dull and useless as the blade in her pocket knife \u2013 had ridiculous consequences. So Desi, her best friend, was keeping guard at the door to the outdoor halls. They weren\u2019t supposed to be in the hall this early either, but getting caught in the building before the first bell was an infraction they \u2013 especially Desi, as a straight A student \u2013 could talk their way out of.<\/p>\n
Summer had a good thing going with these Laser Locks. The infomercial for them started airing earlier that year. In it, kids pointed their little color-coordinated remote controls at the Laser Locks on their lockers and the locks popped open instantly, no combinations or keys needed. Having a Laser Lock shaved valuable seconds off a mid-day locker trip that might otherwise make it impossible to get across campus in the five minutes given before the bell rang, earning one an inordinately high punishment for tardiness. Or it would, if Summer didn\u2019t steal the batteries from these locks.
\n
\n\u201cYou know, I\u2019m gonna miss this when you go off to college,\u201d Summer said as she twisted the screwdriver. Desi had been accepted to Turnbroke University. Summer didn\u2019t know much about colleges, since she\u2019d never planned to attend herself, but she knew it was one of those fancy-ass schools that impressed people when you said you went there. \u201cI\u2019m gonna have to find a new lookout.\u201d<\/p>\n
Desi huffed and checked the window again.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere. I can\u2019t afford it and it was a waste of money for my mom to apply. I\u2019m just gonna do community college here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s bullshit,\u201d Summer said. \u201cYou can get scholarships.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot enough to go to Turnbroke.\u201d<\/p>\n
Summer rolled her eyes. Desi always was a pessimist.<\/p>\n
Panel off, the batteries inside fell out into Summer\u2019s waiting hand. She pulled a couple of dead batteries out of her skirt pocket and replaced the ones she was stealing. Then she screwed the panel back on. She\u2019d put the stolen batteries in her CD player on the bus ride home that afternoon.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy d\u2019you put dead batteries in there?\u201d Desi asked. \u201cTo add insult to injury?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNah. Without the dead batteries, they\u2019d know as soon as they tried to open it that someone was stealing them because the lock would be too light,\u201d Summer explained. She put her knife back in her boot heel and stomped her foot to secure the plastic cap back into place. \u201cBut if I put dead ones back in, then they just think the batteries died. And they\u2019ll put new ones in that I can steal later when my CD player dies again.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cOkay, you\u2019re good. Go!\u201d Summer pulled the plastic cap off the bottom of her boot heel and let her pocket knife fall out of the hollow into her hand. Pulling out the Phillips screwdriver bit, she set to work unscrewing the battery panel of the Laser Lock on some hapless kid\u2019s locker. In this post Columbine world, being caught with a weapon on school property \u2013 even one as dull and useless as the blade in her pocket knife \u2013 had ridiculous consequences. So Desi, her best friend, was keeping guard at the door to the outdoor halls. They weren\u2019t supposed to be in the hall this early either, but getting caught in the building before the first bell was an infraction they \u2013 especially Desi, as a straight A student \u2013 could talk their way out of. Summer had a good thing going with these Laser Locks. The infomercial […]<\/p>\n