KICK 'EM BEFORE THEY GET UP!

(4) big kid day.

you stepped into work feigning confidence, semi-ready for your exam. you were a bit peeved about what happened to your notes, which you still didn't know the whereabouts of. you spotted mahaulney across the room and moved quickly to your superior's office, surprised you managed to slip by without him noticing. opening the door to the office, your boss had his feet up on his cluttered desk as he was on the phone, speaking loudly. it sounded like he was getting a complaint by the woman's voice on the other end of the line. you closed the door behind you and waited awkwardly in front of it, not wanting to interrupt.

after a few minutes of scanning around the room to pass the time, your boss finished his conversation and aggressively slammed the phone into its holder. "these ol' women an' their noise problems. anyways, whaddya need, afton?"

"here for my promotion, uh—exam, sir."

"already so assured, huh? i like it! let's get to it, then."

you nervously sat down in front of the desk, your palms becoming clammy. reality started to sink in and you felt immense pressure. your boss noticed your distress and attempted to help, "ya wan' a water er sumthin'?" gulping harshly, you shook your head, "no, no. i'm good. i'm ready to start."

"take the rest of the day off. you earned it," you exited the room and smiled cheerfully, "have a good day, sir." you'd just finished your assessment and needed something to do now that you had a free day. of course, you could sit at home and rack your brain over how many wrongly answered questions may have prevented you from passing, but where's the fun in that? oh, i should go pick up michael! making your way to your car, you became excited to spend the day with your oldest. with him being a teenager and fresh into high school, you understood that things could be a bit hard for him.

when you arrived, he was ecstatic. he beamed and ran straight towards you, getting scolded by the secretary in the front office. "sorry, ma'am!" you chuckled as you held him in your arms in a hug. though happy about your appearance, he was full of questions.

"mom, what are you doing here? i thought you were working? why'd you pick me up?"

"i'm off early! today is a you day, so what you wanna do, kiddo?"

he thought for a mere second before settling as the two of you walked back to your car, "let's eat. anywhere but fredbear's, though. i'm tired of that place."

"alright, then. let's go to... bob's big boy?"

"no. i'm 14, mom! i don't wanna eat at some stupid kids' place."

michael dragged you to an expensive restaurant you'd never heard of. they cooked steaks, porkchops, fresh vegetables... all things william's diner never made. it was a nice change of pace, you had to admit. the two of you sat down in the establishment and the first thing you took notice of was how quiet and clean it seemed to be. the loudest noises were those of silver utensils scraping glass plates.

again, a nice change of pace from the screaming children, pizza on the floors, and stench of vomit perpetually plaguing the air. he ordered the same thing he did everywhere, despite having so many new options, "a kids' chicken tender meal with fries, please." you giggled to yourself, finding it amusing that he refused to go to a family diner, yet still decided to order off of the children's menu. you simply ordered a medium well steak with some broccoli.

"soooo... tell me about school, tell me about your friends!"

"seriously?"

"uh, yeah! i wanna hear all about 'em."

"well, if you insist..." michael started off on his tangent, "there's gus, there's john, and there's hunter."

"uh huh..."