The group gathered once again in the cafeteria, huddled around the now slightly crumpled piece of paper like it was the most important object in the world—which, at this point, it probably was. Maya held it carefully, her eyes scanning every word again, while Leo leaned over her shoulder like he might discover something new just by staring harder. Ollie was already mid-guess about something unrelated, Owen looked like he had accepted that things were officially out of control, and Zara rested her chin on the table, somehow managing to look both uninterested and involved at the same time.
“We’re running out of time,” Maya said, her voice sharper than usual. “If Miss Lampshade is actually doing something… we need to figure it out quickly.”
Leo nodded. “Exactly. Which is why we should stay together.”
Maya turned to him immediately. “No. Splitting up is faster.”
Leo frowned. “Splitting up is how people get into trouble.”
“Not if we’re efficient,” Maya replied. “We cover more ground. We find more clues. We stop her faster.”
There was a pause.
Leo didn’t like it.
But he also didn’t have a better plan.
“…Fine,” he said reluctantly. “We split up.”
And just like that, Operation: Definitely Spies became Operation: Definitely Separated.
Leo headed straight for the teachers’ lounge, moving quickly but trying to look casual, which resulted in a walk that was neither quick nor casual. When he reached the door, he grabbed the handle.
Locked.
Leo narrowed his eyes. “Of course it is.”
He looked around, then kicked the door.
Nothing happened.
He picked up a nearby 800-page math book—because for some reason there was one just sitting on a bench—and smacked the door with it.
The door did not react.
“Unbelievable,” Leo muttered, rubbing his arm.
He stepped back, thinking. “Window,” he said to himself, nodding like this was a brilliant idea.
He turned—
—and stopped.
Under the doormat, something slightly shiny caught his eye.
Leo bent down slowly, lifted the mat, and stared.
A key.
There was a moment of silence as he processed this.
“…Seriously?” he said.
He picked it up, unlocked the door with ease, and stepped inside.
The teachers’ lounge was empty.
Too empty.
Leo closed the door quietly behind him and began looking around. Papers, mugs, books—everything seemed normal at first. But then his eyes landed on something on the wall above Miss Lampshade’s desk.
A chart.
He stepped closer.
And read.
TOTAL NUMBER OF STUDENTS: 510
HYPNOTIZED: 400
Leo froze.
For a moment, everything clicked into place.
“510…” he whispered.
It wasn’t a time.
It was a number.
The total number of students.
His eyes widened. “She’s not planning something,” he said quietly. “She’s already doing it.”
He turned, ready to run and tell the others—
The door opened.
Leo froze.
Miss Lampshade walked in.
Without thinking, Leo dove behind her desk, crouching low and holding his breath like this was a life-or-death situation—which, in his mind, it absolutely was. He stayed perfectly still as Miss Lampshade stepped further into the room.
She walked straight to the chart.
Leo watched carefully from below, barely daring to move.
Miss Lampshade picked up a marker and added something.
Then she paused.
“…Strange,” she murmured. “I thought I locked the door.”
Leo stopped breathing entirely.
Miss Lampshade looked around briefly, then shrugged like it wasn’t important. “Hmm.”
And just like that—
She walked out again.
The door closed.
Leo stayed frozen for three more seconds.
Then he slowly stood up.
He turned toward the chart.
HYPNOTIZED: 403
Leo stared at it.
“…That’s not good,” he said.
Leo moved quickly toward the door, his mind already racing ahead to the next problem. If Miss Lampshade had locked it before, then obviously it would still be locked now. Of course it would be. That’s how doors worked—especially suspicious doors connected to possible hypnosis plans. He slowed just slightly as he reached it, narrowing his eyes like the handle itself might be part of the mystery.
“Alright,” he muttered under his breath, already preparing for difficulty. “Locked. Definitely locked.”
He reached out cautiously, as if the handle might do something unexpected, and wrapped his hand around it.
The door opened immediately.
Leo froze.
He stood there for a second, still holding the handle, staring at the now-open doorway like it had just personally offended him. “…Okay,” he said slowly, clearly not satisfied with how easy that had been.
He glanced back at the room once, then at the door again, as if expecting it to suddenly change its mind and lock itself out of spite.
It didn’t.
Leo shook his head. “I’m not thinking about this,” he decided, without wasting another second, he ran.
The hallway was chaos—but organized chaos. Lines of students walked perfectly straight, their movements so synchronized it made Leo uncomfortable again. He dodged past a group of fourth graders walking in an impossibly straight line, nearly crashing into them before swerving at the last second.
“Sorry!” he called, even though none of them reacted.
He turned a corner—
—and ran straight into Maya.
They both stumbled backward, crashing into an eighth grader who was somehow still doing math while standing.
“Watch it!” the eighth grader said without even looking up.
Leo grabbed Maya’s shoulders. “She’s hypnotizing the school!”
Maya blinked. “What?”
“She’s already done it,” Leo said quickly. “There are 510 students. 403 are hypnotized.”
Maya’s expression changed instantly.
“…That makes sense,” she said slowly.
Leo nodded. “And the paper—Room 11, Friday—it probably means she hypnotized that class first.”
Maya crossed her arms, thinking quickly. “That explains the behavior,” she said. “The silence. The coordination.”
Leo exhaled. “Exactly.”
There was a pause.
“…I still don’t know what ‘hamburger’ means,” Leo admitted.
Maya shook her head. “We’ll figure that out.”
Leo looked around. “Where are the others?”
Maya hesitated. “I saw Ollie and Owen earlier,” she said slowly. “They were… talking about algebra.”
Leo froze.
“…That’s not normal,” he said.
“It was very not normal,” Maya agreed.
Leo facepalmed. “They’re hypnotized.”
Before Maya could respond—
Zara walked past them.
Both of them turned.
Zara was holding a thick, heavy science book. Not just holding it—reading it. Actively. Walking and reading. Her eyes were focused. Her posture was straight. She even turned a page.
Maya stared.
“…No,” she said quietly.
Zara continued walking like this was completely normal.
Maya slowly looked at Leo. “I don’t think I will ever recover from seeing that.”
Leo nodded. “Yeah,” he said. “That’s definitely worse than the hamburger.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke.
Because now—
This wasn’t just a mystery anymore.
This was a problem.
And most of their team…
Was already part of it.
🌀 What Just Happened?
- The team split up to search for clues around the school.
- Leo discovered a chart showing that 403 of the school’s 510 students were already hypnotized.
- Miss Lampshade nearly caught Leo hiding in the teachers’ lounge.
- Leo and Maya realized the hypnosis was already spreading through the school.
- They discovered Ollie, Owen, and even Zara were acting strangely—and might already be hypnotized.
📚 What’s Next?
➡️ Continue to Chapter 10 – The Vegetable That Saved Everyone
Comments (0)