SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET

   Having never been in trouble in his school career, Jase had no clue what in-school suspension meant.

   The office assistant smiled her way-too-cheerful smile and asked him to follow her. She took him to room 122. It was full of old desks, stacks of resource books, and a box of newspapers. A broom was propped in a corner. The windows had streaky brown paint on them, lest any sun sneak in and cheer the room. SIT DOWN AND BE QUIET was printed on the whiteboard.

   Jase rubbed his nose hoping to delete the musty odor emanating from the stacks of books.

   Three kids sat among the books. Their eyes were dull and sunken, at least that’s what Jase thought. He wondered how long they had been here. He imagined they were healthy looking kids long ago, before their banishment to in-school suspension. 

   “Have a nice day,” insisted Joy as she turned to go back to her sun-filled office.

   The adult in the room was enormous. He stood in the back, beefy hands on mammoth hips. His immensely round cheeks pushed his eyes upward, into his protruding brow. He sneered at Jase, showing his larger than huge teeth.

   “Boy! Sit!”

   Jase sat.

   “Don’t just sit there, boy! Get out a book and get busy.”

   It was at this moment Jase decided he would never tell a teacher “no” ever again. Not ever again. He watched the clock and counted down the time to lunch. He never thought he would look forward to the cafeteria, but a morning spent in gloom with Mr. Doom was enough to make mystery meat taste like steak.

Excerpt from Battles Buddies, book 2 in The Chronicles of Crumberry. Coming soon!

Follow Jase Freeman, from The Wish I Wished Last Night (Elk Lake Publishing), just a kid trying to figure it all out and stay out of trouble at the same time. Can that even be done?

Special thank you to all my reader friends who have enjoyed this project and have shared it with others! God bless!