Author's Note: I apologize for what comes next. I've spent part of the day listening to young children sing the Spongebob Squarepants song and I thought for some reason it might be funny to add into the story. I used to do this kind of thing in my lunch hour when I was in high school (although we used to sing the Hanukkah song…). The only explanation I have for this is that the kids are starting to get cabin fever…
As always, keep on reading and reviewing! The feedback thus far has been great! Just remember that praise is good, constructive criticism is okay but please NO FLAMES. Flames are mean, and mean people suck… hehe…
6:30 PM
"Are you ready kids?" asked Shannon as she got up onto a chair in the middle of the mess hall.
"Aye aye, Captain!" the other kids answered back, as the rest of the Joes who were eating dinner looked towards the children with looks of confusion drawn across their faces, their parents included.
"I can't hear you!" she told them.
"AYE AYE CAPTAIN!!!!" the kids screamed back.
"What are they doing?" Flint asked Lady Jaye.
"I have no idea," she said, her face registering both interest and confusion.
"Oooooooooooohhhh…." Shannon drawled out. "Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?"
"Spongebob Square Pants!" the other kids chanted.
"Absorbent and yellow and porous is he!" A.J. chimed in.
"Spongebob Square Pants!"
"His nautical home must be something you wish!" A.J. and Shannon yelled together.
"Spongebob Square Pants!" the others answered.
"Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish!"
"Spongebob Square Pants!"
All the kids began to sing together. "Spongebob Square Pants! Spongebob Square Pants! Spongebob Square Pants! Spongebob… Squarepants!" Only Cassandra didn't sing along with the kids, but not because she didn't want to- she just didn't know the words to the song.
"What the hell was that?" Scarlett demanding, trying to hide the fact that she was ready to burst out laughing.
"The Spongebob Square Pants theme song," Shannon answered simply, a look of innocence plastered on her face. "It's a cartoon show."
"It's been on TV since we were little but it's one of those theme songs that everyone knows," A.J. added.
"It kinda sticks in your head," Abby chimed in. "And then it takes hours to get it out. My dad was humming it while we were making dinner one afternoon and he yelled at me for getting it stuck in his head."
"We could have sung something even more annoying," Kaelin told Scarlett. "We could have started singing the 'Song that Never Ends.'"
"Oh, there's an idea!" Shannon exclaimed happily as a mischievous glint flashed through her eyes.
"NO!" Danny told her quickly. "The last time you started singing that, you had me singing it for the next three periods in school. Rob Carney thought I was on some serious drugs during gym because I couldn't stop singing it."
"Hehe. And I missed this?" Cole teased.
"Be happy you did."
"Are you kids almost done eating?" Scarlett asked them.
"I am," Annie said. " This stuff is even worse than what my school cafeteria tries to pass off as a 'healthy meal.'"
"Now I remember why I bring my lunch to school every day," Abby added.
"Anybody up for a game of manhunt?" Beth asked.
"Hell, yeah!" Abby said.
"Beth, we can't go outside, remember?" Dave reminded her.
"Oh. Yeah," Beth said sadly.
"You could play it inside," Scarlett offered.
"No you can't," Abby said. "Manhunt is the outdoors, in the dark, team version of hide and seek."
"Oh. Well, there's plenty of other things to do inside," she told them.
"Hey, Danny still owes me a rematch of that poker game," Hallie said with a devilish grin on her face. "Come on guys, I'll race you to the rec room!"
Carla shot her a strange look as she followed her out the door. "Hallie, what are you up to?" she asked her.
"What are you talking about?" Hallie asked her innocently.
"Since when are you so agreeable about not getting to do what you want?"
"I want a rematch," Hallie told her. "I'm not lying."
"You want to get out of this building as much as I do," Carla pointed out.
"And the rest of us too," Danny's voice said from behind her. Carla and Hallie whirled around to see their friends standing behind them.
"What do you have in mind, oh fearless leader?" Chris asked Danny. The others looked expectantly at Danny.
"Since when am I the leader?" Danny asked his friends, who were now clustered around him.
"You just are," Cole said with a shrug.
"Come on big brother. How do you plan to break us out of here?" Shannon asked.
"Break out is such a strong phrase," Danny said. "I prefer to call it leaving quietly."
"Whatever you want to call it is fine- how are we going to do it though?" Annie asked.
"That is the question," Emily said.
Danny closed his eyes as he tried to come up with ideas to help he and his friends sneak out of the building. "Follow me," he said, walking down the hall.
"Where are we going?" Cassandra asked.
"To the outside doors," Danny said simply.
"That's the big plan," Alicia said, obviously unimpressed. "We're just going to walk out?"
"The place is surrounded by MP's," Cole told him. "We'll never get past them."
"Not to mention that we're supposed to be watched by our parents tonight. I'll bet most of them already noticed that we left," Kaelin added.
"Most of the MP's probably don't know us from a hole in the ground," Danny said. "If we walk out in the open from the building, the MP's probably won't make too much of a fuss. As for our parents… well, they're not our parents yet. They have no reason not to believe what I told them- that we were going to the rec room."
"Yeah, but if any of the Joes do catch us we're screwed," Matt said.
"I wonder if maybe there's a back entrance that goes out towards the fields," Danny asked, more to himself than anyone else.
"We haven't left the building since we got here," Kaelin said. "How are we supposed to know what door leads where?"
"Trial and error I guess," Danny said with a shrug.
"That's the brilliant plan?" Alicia said, still unimpressed. "Danny, I think you're starting to lose your edge in the brilliant plan department."
"Just follow me," Danny said. "If anyone asks, we're just exploring."
"Yeah, exploring escape routes," Cassandra said under her breath.
Annie shot her a confused look. "Did you just make a joke?" she asked Cassandra.
Cassandra shrugged, not really knowing the answer to Annie's question.
The group approached a door at the end of the hallway and they all looked expectantly at Danny as he peeked out the door. Just as quickly as he opened the door a crack, he let it close. "It goes right out to the flight deck," he told them. "It's swarming with MP's and Joes."
"We wouldn't make it three feet out the door," Abby reasoned.
"Well, let's go find another door," Cole said.
"You know, you kids have to learn a very important lesson," a voice said from behind them. "When planning daring escapes, always watch your backs."
To be continued…
Author's Note: Oops… looks like the kids got caught… But who did they get caught by? Keep on reading and reviewing! Stay tuned for more!