Dinner Time

“Excuse me, Ms. Barrett?”

“Yes, Kevin?”

“I don’t feel well. May I go to the bathroom,” Kevin asked.

Ms. Barrett smiled as she faced the chalkboard and paused. “No, Kevin. Walter and Matthew are already in the bathroom. 

Kevin sighed and rubbed his forehead. “No. Matthew is in the principal’s office. And I don’t know where Walter is.”

“How would you know that, Kevin,” she asked, turning around to face the class. 

The students turned their heads silently to face Kevin. “And where’s Steve,” the teacher asked. 

“Right here,” Steve said, raising his hand. 

“No, not Steve with a V. Steve with a P,” Ms. Barrett said.

Kevin rubbed his head again and rested his face on the cool desk surface. 

“Ms Barrett? Kevin is sweating,” Patty said, studying Kevin as she slowly nudged back away from him. Her fingers curled in disgust. 

“I think it might have been lunch. I don’t feel so good,” Kevin said.

“Go to the bathroom, Kevin,” the teacher said. 

Kevin got up and muscled his way to the door holding his stomach. 

He ran down the hall, face wretched in pain but it melted to a smile. He ran down to the far side and kicked the door in to see Walter, Matthew and Stephen. Kevin slapped high fives with the boys and shot the fists in the air for victory. 

“What did you tell her,” Stephen said. 

“I had bad lunch.” The boys giggled. “Patty thought I was gonna barf in the class. So funny.” 

“This is so awesome! We skipped class,” Matthew said.

The boys hopped around the old bathroom that was missing lightbulbs. It looked like it hadn’t been updated in years. Matthew said that the bathroom was off limits because it was under construction for the last decade. Walter decided to push the door open last week and it was open. At that moment, it was their mission to break in during class. 

“How long do we stay,” Walter asked.

“Who cares?”

“Yeah, no one comes in here dude,” Stephen said.

“I mean we gotta go back eventually,” Kevin said. “If Ms. Barrett finishes Math and we’re not all back then we’ll be in trouble.”

“Don’t be a negative Nan,” Matthew chuckled. “We’re in the Old Bathroom!” 

The kids bounced off the walls and kicked the old stalls 

“Guys, what do you think is behind that old window grate,” Kevin asked.

“It’s locked shut. I was in here before,” Walter replied. 

“Really,” Stephen asked. You didn’t tell me.”

“I had to check to see before we launched the mission right,” Walter said with a shrug. 

Stephen held unto the stalls and kicked off like a gymnast. 

“Oh man. I can stay here forever,” Matthew screamed.

“I FEEL LIKE HAVING KIDS FOR DINNER!”

The kids froze and looked up as the deep voice filled the air. Where did that voice come from? The room was empty. Was it the locked window?

The boys’ hearts started to thump fast as silence filled the space. Their legs were frozen.

Then the voice entered again low then grew. It laughed and laughed, louder and louder. 

The kids scurried over one another towards the exit and raced down the hall towards Ms. Barrett’s class. They ran to the edge of the desk, breathing hard and ragged. Their voices overlapped one another. 

“Calm down, she said. “One at a time.”

“Ms. Barrett we were in the Old Bathroom no one is supposed to go into and we were playing around and then we heard this big voice that said it felt like having kids for dinner and then it kept laughing and we ran out of the room and now we’re here,” Walter said in many breaths. 

Ms. Barrett remained seated and frowned a little with a look a skepticism. 

“It’s true, Kevin said. 

All right,” she said calmly. “Go sit down. The rest of you, take out your book reports.”

Ms. Barrett leaned back in her chair and smiled to herself as she surveyed the class. The class had no idea what to expect next.