The following week, Tiffany rounded us all up so we could begin our first task: finding the basketball coach who sold the keypad that the robber used to study in order to hack the bakery.

After school on Thursday, we were to meet at the bus station.

I arrived first, right on time. Taehyung came after me. I was surprised to see him there.

"Hi," Taehyung greeted me.

"Hey, Taehyung," I said, "I didn't know that you were coming."

He sighed, "Yeah, Tiffany sort of dragged me into it," he smiled.

"Well, it's good you're here, we need all the help we can get."

The others arrived and we all greeted each other, then waited.

The bus finally arrived and we paid and took our seats.

The bus was full of commuters, and there was only room to stand. Tiffany discreetly nudged me to stand by Jimin but I shook my head. Even though I wanted to, I wasn't bold enough!

We rode the bus for half an hour. The bus was abuzz with the tired chatter of commuters. I looked out the window as the city passed us by.

We finally got out at a suburban town right outside the city. Fortunately, the bus let us out not far from the city's middle school.

"This is where we can find the coach," Jimin declared, "Come on." We walked to the school.

We reached the entrance of the school, hesitant. I think that all of us had doubt about what we were about to do. Luckily, Taehyung, ever the motivator, reminded us that we had an important task.

"Come on guys, it will be fine, we have to do this, remember?"

We all nodded in response.

Taehyung firmly grabbed the handle of the front door and pulled it open.

Inside, the school was dim and silent. We navigated our way through the empty hallways to the gymnasium. Yet, this proved to be a task that had difficulty. Every time a teacher or student passed, we had to duck into a classroom out of sight, we didn't want to be questioned about why we were there.

The fourth time we had to do this, we were nearly seen, and all collectively sighed in relief when the adult passed without spotting us.

I sighed, irritated, "We should've just come up with an alibi!" I huffed.

We continued down the halls, occasionally evading teachers, until we reached the school's gym.

However, in the gym, there was a cheer leading practice going on.

"Just play it cool," Tiffany hissed.

We leisurely walked across the gym into the office, where we hoped to find the coach. Luckily, the cheerleaders were indifferent towards us.

We hesitated before going into the office.

"Let me talk guys," Jimin said. Then we went inside.

Inside, a woman was turned around towards a computer monitor. We waited for a few seconds. Not knowing what to do, I cleared my throat to get her attention.

She turned around to face us, "Can I help you?" She said.

Uh oh. She sounded annoyed! We grew worried.

Tiffany nudged Jimin to explain.

"Hi ma'am, we um...we need to speak with the basketball coach," Jimin explained. I could hear nervousness in his voice.

Her already frowning expression went even more displeased. She crossed her arms, "And why is that?"

"Um....we need to ask about the basketball program at the school!" He rushed.

"Hmm," the woman stared at us judgmentally, "I've never seen any of you before. And this school is pretty small. You all look a bit old to be in middle school as well..." Her expression was growing more sour by the minute.

Jimin cleared his throat, trying to remain firm, "Well, you see...We aren't middle schoolers. We are checking out the basketball program for...my little brother! My family is moving here next year!"

She narrowed her eyes, "And what about your friends??"

He glanced back at us, "Well, they-they're just here with me because I wanted someone to come along. It's pretty important."

"What?" She said, still defiant against trusting us.

As Jimin struggled to find his words like that, I watched in pain. I hated seeing him being treated in such a degrading manner by this woman. I had to speak up.

"It's very important because his brother is a fantastic basketball player," I said certainly.

"Is that so?" The woman tilted her head.

"Yep," I said, "Their family found their dream house in town but they said they might even sacrifice buying it if the basketball program here isn't good enough for their son."

"Wow," she said.

"It's crazy, I know. But he plays so well, they say he could be the next big basketball star player!"

The woman nodded, engrossed in my story. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the rest of my friends were engrossed too.

The woman stood up, "Alright, I'll tell you where he is."

We listened to her explain where we could find the coach, thanked her, and went on our way.

As we headed down the hallway, Tiffany patted me on my back.

"Good thinking back there, Bree," Tiffany said, "You too, Jimin."

Jimin walked beside me, "Yeah, great job."

I blushed and beamed at the same time.

We went all the way to the very back of the school. The halls were completely empty and silent. It was eerie.

"This is kinda...weird," Tiffany said, grabbing Taehyung's arm.

"Yeah, I know," I gulped.

Suddenly, we heard the echo of footsteps.

"Where's that coming from?" Jimin asked.

I listened closely, then pointed to a door at the end of the hall, "There!"

We rushed off in the direction of the noise.

The door was open and we looked inside. The room had a beamed ceiling and a concrete floor. At the front of the room there was small stage lined with black curtains. It was some sort of mini theater.

Towards the side of the room, a short, graying man was fiddling with a control board. Unlike the woman in the gymnasium, he saw us standing at the door.

"Can I help you kids?" He said, just as the woman had. Except he sounded more confused than irritated. In fact, he just sounded plain curious.

Tiffany stepped forward, "Hello, we need your help to...um....find someone."

"Huh?" The man asked, confused even more.

Taehyung said boldly, "Sir, what is your name?"

The man seemed stunned at the sudden request but for whatever reason, actually told us his name, "My name is Jacob Stevenson."

"Do you manage the Riverside Mechanical Store?" Taehyung asked.

"...Yes," he confirmed, "What do you kids want?"

Tiffany explained, "My mom owns a bakery in the city. It was recently robbed and it has been concluded that whoever broke in managed to disable the keypad lock system that our shop uses...one that came from your shop!"

"You aren't implying...." The manager was stunned.

"Sadly, Mr. Stevenson, we are implying," Tiffany explained, "That the keypads sold at your shop were hacked into by the robber who broke into my mom's bakery. And I am implying that the robber came to your shop to get a replica of the keypad to learn how to hack into it as well." Tiffany spoke with sharp precision in every syllable. All of her anxiousness and anger over the situation was being poured into these words.

The manager became flustered from her powerful statements, "I'm very sorry...that has never happened with my store's products before!"

"Sorry?" Tiffany was completely taking out her anger, "That's all?! After all that we lost, all you give us is your apology?!"

The manager held his hands out in front of him, "I am so sorry miss! Is there anything that I can do!?"

"Yes," Tiffany said, "You can help us track down the robber!"

"How?"

"Tell us everything! Consider this an interrogation!" Tiffany then grumbled,

"Since the police won't do one..."

"What do you need to know?" The manager asked.

"Let's start with his appearance," Tiffany began, "What did he look like? What was he wearing? What was your impression of him?"

The manager explained the robber's appearance and clothing, saying that he seemed to be a normal young man, though a bit nerdy.

"And did he happen to mention any plans?" Tiffany asked the manager.

"Yes actually! He said he had just rented a new apartment in a complex with a roommate. I assumed this is why he was buying the keypad!"

"Um..." I piped up, "You do realize that you can't just install your own security system at an apartment that you rent, right?"

He scoffed, and ignored me.

"Did he say anything else," Tiffany continued, "Anything at all?"

"Yeah. He said that he was going to get a part time job at the movies."

"Bingo!" Tiffany exclaimed. She turned back to us, "We know where we're headed next!"

"You guys be careful!" The manager warned.

"Thanks, Mr. Stevenson," Tiffany said, "And thanks for all the info. Good luck with your business!"

.

.

.

Later in the evening, the sun was starting to set, we had rode the bus back home and all departed towards our houses.

Jimin and I happened to find ourselves going in the same direction. We walked together along the sidewalk to our neighborhood.

At first, we were both awkwardly silent. I looked up at the sunset on the horizon and listened to our feet on the concrete. I imagined how lovely this moment could be. If only things were different between us. If only I could hold his hand...

He suddenly spoke up, "That sure was an eventful day, huh."

"Yep!" I said shyly.

"But, you have to admit, it was kinda exciting."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," I said.

"It was definitely very different from my average evening," He said.

I panicked a little, why was he opening up all of a sudden!?!?!

Jimin continued, "Usually, I just go to basketball and do homework, this was like...a fun change."

I nodded. He was looking at me as he spoke and I shyly looked at my feet.

"It would just be nice to have a change. That's just what I think sometimes," Jimin said. As he said this, he was looking at the sunset, away from me.

"Yeah," I said softly, "I know exactly what you mean." The last bit I said in barely a whisper. I doubt that he heard me.

At a certain point, we had to go our separate ways. I walked the rest of the way to my house alone. Once I got inside, I did homework, ate dinner, and went to sleep.