The Great Greene Heist

Dr. Kelsey gathers all the candidates into his office to explain the problem with the scoring machine. They will have to wait until the dance that evening to hear the results. Keith suspects that Jackson is responsible and meets Wilton at his locker to confirm that they removed all the scoring equipment from the shed. When Wilton opens his locker, it is empty save one ballot with the message, “Keep it. There are 371 more where this came from” (183). Dr. Kelsey also suspects that Jackson is up to his old tricks, and he briefly considers canceling the election. However, the Sinclair donation has already been deposited in his account and he might finally get the chance to expel Jackson from Maplewood.

The team meets in the back room of Basilone’s Lock and Key to review the plans. Megan feels guilty for pretending to like Lincoln, but Jackson tells her it is just one dance. Hashemi clumsily gathers the comm equipment and drops a laptop battery on his foot, but he makes certain Megan can hear him say he can still dance. All members of the team will have a flip phone, plus a hidden mic, which Hashemi will monitor remotely from the van. Charlie confirms that each Student Council candidate will have a gift waiting for them upon arrival and that he and Ray have secured the Robot in Disguise. Jackson reminds them all the signal for a Code Red before everyone leaves for the dance.

Jackson arrives at the dance in his brother’s suit sporting his signature red tie instead of the bowtie. Before going inside the gym to see Gaby, he tells Charlie he needs him to “run point” or be in charge since Dr. Kelsey will be watching him closely. Gaby waits at the table where the Botany Club has flowers for all the candidates, and Jackson is stunned by how beautiful she looks in her dress. Jackson nervously helps Gaby pin on her chrysanthemum corsage, and they watch Omar clumsily try to play basketball in his tuxedo. Jackson is interrupted by Hashemi’s voice in his ear mic, and he leaves Gaby to get in place. Charlie leads the team through check-in as Hashemi tests the tracking technology. Once everyone is in place, Jackson signals, “Hash, tell Ray to deliver the package” (191) and the vote counting machine is delivered to the office. Keith arrives with his date Alyssa and collects his large rose boutonniere discarding the one she gave him. In the office, Bradley delivers a large red rose to Dr. Kelsey, who is looking for Lincoln. Bradley offers to keep watch in the office while the administrator goes to the gym.

As students gather in the gym, Keith confronts Jackson, asking if he is scheming to do something with the election. Jackson denies the accusation, claiming it would be nearly impossible for Hashemi to rig the election results in a short amount of time. Keith’s confidence wanes as he suggests Jackson’s crew might try to switch the ballots, but Jackson walks away and wishes him luck, leaving Keith spiraling. Convinced of Jackson’s treachery, Keith drags Wilton into the hallway to confirm that Victor bubbled all the replacement ballots. He has the keys to the office and copy room and plans to sneak in and replace the legitimate ballots with their false ones. Wilton, weary of Keith’s petty bravado, refuses to help and threatens to join Gaby’s side.

In the copy room, Lincoln feeds the ballots into the machine, though he is distracted by thoughts of dancing with Megan. Dr. Kelsey left him with strict instructions not to print the results and keep watch over his copy room key. Hearing a tapping sound, Lincoln grabs the key and runs to the main office to find Megan waiting for them to have their dance, but Lincoln cannot leave until the machine is finished counting the votes. Megan pushes her way into the copy room to see for herself. Lincoln is distracted by her beauty but notices she has a jacket draped over her shoulders with a red lapel flower and he hurriedly feeds the remaining ballots into the machine. Megan asks for the key to lock the door and places it in her pocket. When Lincoln asks for the key back, she reaches into the pocket and puts a key in his hand. Too distracted with his anticipation of dancing with Megan, Lincoln does not notice Keith carrying a bag toward the office.

As Megan and Lincoln move away from the office, Hashemi alerts the team over the mics and Charlie reports that Dr. Kelsey will not let Jackson out of his sight. Charlie asks Bradley to create a diversion while Megan stalls Lincoln. Bradley throws himself into the snack buffet, spilling red punch everywhere. While Dr. Kelsey investigates the accident, Charlie and Jackson slip out the door, and when they pass Megan, she hands Jackson the jacket. Charlie praises Bradley’s effort but Jackson reminds him of Rule Number Five, “Focus today. Gloat tomorrow” (202). As Jackson and Charlie are moving quickly towards the copy room, Keith works to make the ballot switch. When he hears voices, he hides in the supply closet. Keith hears Jackson say, “Switch out just enough to tip it in Gaby’s favor. And hurry” (203). Feeling satisfied he caught Jackson doing exactly what he thought he would, Keith plans to replace Jackson’s ballots with his, but when he escapes the closet, his key for the locked door does not work trapping him in the copy room.

Dr. Kelsey works to clean up the mess in the gym and notices Jackson is missing. He asks Mr. James to help him search for Jackson, but first retrieves his key from Lincoln who is enjoying his dance with Megan. Gaby and Charlie approach Dr. Kelsey asking if the election results are finalized. The group makes their way to the office as Dr. Kelsey replaces his key on the ring in his pocket. However, when he goes to use the key to open the copy room, he notices the key is unusually shiny and sharp. Just as the machine counts the final ballots, Bradley arrives with a bouquet for Gaby. When Dr. Kelsey reads the election report, he is happy to proclaim Keith’s victory and relieved he will not have to swap the reports. Gaby takes the news in stride, but suddenly everyone in the room begins to sneeze, including someone in the closet. As Dr. Kelsey opens the closet door revealing Keith holding a wad of ballots, Charlie snaps a picture with the MAPE. A confused and flustered, Dr. Kelsey calls for Jackson Greene who is reportedly in the bathroom. Keith tries to explain himself, but once Lincoln sees the evidence, he declares the election nullified and Keith ineligible to run in this election or any in the future. Lincoln will conduct a formal investigation but declares Gaby the unofficial winner. Keith protests, but Lincoln reminds him it is allowed by the bylaws.

The team locates Jackson cornered by Mr. James at the flower table. They try to use secret hand signals to learn if Jackson could dump the cell phone before being caught. Jackson also still has the main office and copy room keys in his pocket. Once Gaby realizes they are all wired, she snatches Bradley’s earpiece and speaks to Jackson just as Dr. Kelsey leaves the office headed to the gym. Jackson gives a Code Red alerting all team members to immediately dispose of any evidence. Gaby takes control by sending Bradley to stall Dr. Kelsey and asking Jackson to signal which pocket contains the phone and keys. Gaby takes Charlie’s jacket and runs towards the gym.

Bradley does his best to stall Dr. Kelsey by annoying him, but he finds Jackson in the gym and demands he immediately empty his pockets. Jackson protests, claiming it is a violation of his civil rights, but Dr. Kelsey reminds him that they agreed after the Mid-Day PDA that he could search Jackson at any time. Out of nowhere, Gaby runs in shouting the news of her victory and throws herself into Jackson’s arms covertly slipping her hands into his jacket pockets. Dr. Kelsey reprimands her for public display of affection. Gaby apologizes, reminding Dr. Kelsey he has a lot to explain to the superintendent about what transpired with the election, especially since Charlie has photographic evidence. The administrator relents but still demands Jackson empty his pockets, revealing nothing of interest save a tiny Bluetooth device which he claims is Samuel’s, the owner of the suit. Jackson gives Dr. Kelsey an awkward hug.

Jackson congratulates Gaby on, “the best pull I’ve ever seen” (219). He asks if she likes her bouquet that he had specially made to make everyone sneeze. He explains how they used the boutonnieres as tracking devices. Charlie suggests Jackson is violating Rule Number Nine by telling Gaby all the secrets, but Jackson says she deserves to be a member of the crew after her move to snatch the phone and keys. Gaby wonders if she really won, or if there are ballots still at large, but Jackson says he and Charlie never touched the machine. While in the copy room, they replaced the lock so that when Megan switched the keys, it would ensure Keith’s capture. The original copy room key is in Charlie’s jacket pocket. Hashemi explains that Keith stole the key when Victor double-crossed them. Charlie explains to Hashemi they always knew Victor would betray them and Jackson never intended to swap the ballots. Hashemi is frustrated that they made him do all the hard work rigging the machine for nothing, but Megan and Jackson assure him that his work was valuable, as he can use the skills later. Megan asks Hashemi to dance while Jackson and Charlie review the photo of Keith on the MAPE. Jackson erases it, saying it is enough that Dr. Kelsey thinks they have the photo evidence.

Gaby asks Jackson to dance, and Charlie tells him it is time to admit the truth citing Rule Number Seventeen, “Once you’re part of the crew, you have retroactive access to all past cons” (223). Jackson informs him there is no Rule Seventeen but admits to Gaby he cannot dance. His deal with Katie involved him retrieving her phone from Dr. Kelsey’s office in exchange for dance lessons so he could ask Gaby to formal. He never took the lessons and regrets the entire incident. Gaby chides him for breaking the rules, but he claims it was for a good cause. She invites him to her house the next day for merengue lessons and pasteles for dinner. The two are close enough for a kiss, but Gaby rushes to the dance floor with Bradley. Jackson pulls Dr. Kelsey’s key ring from his pocket, which he swiped during their hug, and realizes it holds a key to the office prompting him and Charlie to begin to plot a way to get back at Dr. Kelsey for taking the money from Mr. Sinclair. They plan to hack into his computer and siphon off money to fund all the clubs, the student newspaper, and the Student Council. It will be the duo’s biggest heist yet.