Ifoundmyselfstandinginfrontofthelocalpolicestation,myheartpounding
likecrazy.“Wow,thisisn’texactlywhatIsignedupfortoday,”
Ithoughtnervously.
Earlier,
I
had
been
wandering
around
the
neighborhood
park,
minding
my
own
business,whenIstumbleduponagroupofteenagershuddledtogether,whispering
liketheyhadsomebigsecret.
Curiositygotthebetterofme,andbeforelong,Iwaspartoftheircircle,eyeing
thecontentsofamysterious-
lookingbox.“We’renotdoinganythingbad,”saidone
oftheboys,hisvoicefullofmischiefandbravado.“It’sjustalittlefun,youknow,like
a…lesser
-
knownschoolproject.”Iraisedan
eyebrowskepticallybutdecidedtohang
around,intriguedbytheairofadventure.
Soonenough,Inoticedsomethingwasoff.Theseweren’tjustordinaryschool
supplies;itlookedmorelikesomefancygaminggadgets,perhaps‘borrowed’froma
localstore.Justastherealizationhitme,apoliceofficerappearedoutofnowhere,
like
he
his
personal
time
machine
that
transported
him
straight
to
troublemakers-in-training.
“Alright,
kids,
let’s
see
what’s
going
on
here,”
said
sternly,
motioning
us
towardsthestation,whereInowstood.Thiswascertainlygoingtobeataleforthe
ages.Aswesatinthepoliceoffice,theirseriousfacesmakingmefeelsmallerwith
everypassingsecond,Icouldn’thelpbutthinkabouthowquicklythingsescalated.
Theofficerbegantoexplain,usingbig,official-soundingwordsthatseemedto
bounce
off
walls
echoes
from
a
bad
dream.
He
talked
about
how
actions
have
consequences,
and
even
smallest
illegal
activity
can
spiral
into
somethingfarbigge
rthanweintended.Iglancedaroundatmynew“friends,”their