The SVE Club

17. Spaghetti

"Defacing and destroying school property, dress code violations, fighting in front of the school-"

"That's enough, Lisa," Mrs. Hayes interrupted the assistant principal. She regarded Midas, who sat across from her again. "That's quite a laundry list, Mr. Aldridge. What should we do with you?"

    Midas clutched his armrests, his knuckles white.

    That rat, Miss O'Brian! he thought. She waited for me to make more mistakes so it would sound like I'd broken more rules!

"Well, as for the dress code violations," Mrs. Hayes was saying, "I'm assuming that you're referring to his mask, right Lisa?"

Miss O'Brian nodded indignantly. Her glare easily matched Midas'.

"Well, Midas, it is against the dress code," Mrs. Hayes admitted. "Do you think you could do without it?"

Midas shook his head, his muscles tensing. "No way."

Miss O'Brian huffed and stalked over to where Midas sat. "He's just being obstinate, Mrs. Hayes. I'll remove the mask myself." She began to reach for the mask.

Midas dodged her hands, jumped out of his chair and scooted it between him and the woman. "Don't you dare," he breathed.

"Move this chair, Midas!" Miss O'Brian ordered, trying to pull the seat away from him.

"That's enough," Mrs. Hayes shouted, standing up.

Midas and Miss O'Brian froze.

"Lisa, you've overstepped your authority, as per usual," the principal huffed. "You may step out for the time being."

"But ma'am, I-"

Mrs. Hayes silenced her with a waggled finger and a raised eyebrow. She pointed to the door.

Miss O'Brian stood erect, nodded curtly and exited the room.

Mrs. Hayes sat back down. Rubbing her temples, elbows on her desk, she said, "I swear, Midas Aldridge, I've gotten ten grey hairs for every day you've been here so far."

Midas scooted his chair back to its original position and sat down.

"So... what are you gonna do with me?" he asked. "Detention again?"

Mrs. Hayes shook her head, still clutching her head and staring at her desk. "I can't punish you for saving the school. And the dress code thing- well, I'm guessing something unpleasant might happen if you removed you mask, am I correct?"

"Yeah."

"Then I'm willing to make an exception in your case," she said. "Just try and be careful around ol' O'Brian. She's new and doesn't really know how things work around here."

"As for detention," she continued, "That would put a wrench in your plans for SVE club, wouldn't it? But I can't leave you off the hook; Lisa would erupt. So how about-"

Suddenly the door burst open so quickly it banged against the wall. Midas and the principal both jumped and turned to stare at the individual in the doorway.

Taro stepped into the room. His face was covered in red sauce and he was breathing heavily.

"Mrs. Hayes," Taro said urgently, "I would like to apologize for eating all of the spaghetti the lunch ladies have made so far today."

"Again?!" Mrs. Hayes yowled. She slumped in her chair with a sigh and turned to Midas. "Meet my other headache, Taro Sone."

"Hey, Midas," Taro said with a quick nod. He looked back to the principal. "I brought the money to compensate for my... um..."

"Appetite?" Mrs. Hayes asked with a frown.

"Sure. Yeah. Anyway, here it is," Taro said, setting some marinara stained dollars on the desk. He dug into his pocket and fished out some quarters and dimes and set them carefully on the bills.

Midas gaped at the pile of money on the table. "How much spaghetti did you eat?"

Taro thought for a moment. "Well, I was in there for about five minutes, so I'd say..." He paused to count on his fingers. "About three of those big pots." He held his hands out to show how big.

"But why?" Midas wanted to know.

Taro scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "I needed the money. There's a few kids that like to bet with me on how much I can eat." He shook his head and laughed. "They've lost a lot of money."

"So this is their money?" Mrs. Hayes questioned, motioning to coins and bills on the table.

Taro nodded. "Yeah."

Mrs. Hayes considered this for a moment. "Fair enough," she finally said, scooping away the money and throwing it into a desk drawer.

Meanwhile, Midas was standing up to face Taro. "You wanted to join SVE, right?"

"Yeah?" Taro answered with a confused grin.

    "You're practically a human black hole. Can you change your ability to this... eating thing?"

    Taro shrugged. "Sure."

Midas shook his sauce-covered hand. "Welcome aboard, then."

Taro laughed in disbelief. "That's great and all, but I can't come to the meeting today. I think I have detention." He turned to Mrs. Hayes. "Right?"

Mrs. Hayes bit her lip. "No, I'm not going to give either of you detention. Sit down, boys, and I'll tell you how you can redeem yourselves."