The Principal Rushed In and Asked, “Who Does This Green Backpack Belong To?”

The principal stormed into lunch and yelled.

“Who owns a green backpack?”

Principal Garrett’s face was red, not pink, not flushed, red like he’d been holding his breath underwater for two minutes.

He burst through the cafeteria doors so hard they slammed against the walls. The entire room went silent.

Three hundred students froze mid-bite. He stood there scanning faces, chest heaving.

Then he screamed it.

“Who owns a green backpack?”

Six hands went up. Mine was one of them.

Big mistake. Two security guards appeared behind him, Officer Banks and Officer Reyes, both with hands on their belts.

Principal Garrett pointed at us.

“You six with me now, leave everything!”

I looked at my best friend Kareem.

“What the hell?” He mouthed.

But I couldn’t answer. I stood up with the others: Priya from art class, Leo from varsity basketball, two freshman girls I didn’t know, David, and Guian with his ever-present headphones.

We walked toward the principal like we were heading to our own execution. Three hundred students watched us go, and nobody made a sound.

We followed Principal Garrett down the main hallway. The security guards walked behind us, blocking any chance of running.

Not that I’d run. I hadn’t done anything wrong.

My green backpack was just a backpack, a JanSport bought on sale at Target last August. It was nothing special and nothing illegal.

But Principal Garrett’s face said otherwise. He walked fast, not looking back, his dress shoes clicking against linoleum like a countdown timer.

Click, click, click. We passed empty classrooms, past the library, and past the gym.

Where were we going? The principal’s office was in the other direction.

We turned down the science wing, past chemistry labs and biology rooms with their posters of DNA helixes and periodic tables. We went past the teachers’ lounge where I could see Ms. Holloway drinking coffee through the window.

She looked up as we passed. Her expression shifted from casual to concerned when she saw the security guards.

We kept walking. Principal Garrett pushed through the doors at the end of the hall, the ones that led to the auxiliary building.

This part of the school was barely used, just storage rooms and the old auditorium they’d condemned after the ceiling leak last year. Why were we here?

Principal Garrett stopped in front of room 142, the old drama storage room. He pulled out a key and unlocked it.

The room was dim, just one overhead light that flickered when he hit the switch. Metal shelves lined the walls, filled with old props and costume pieces covered in dust.

There was a table in the center with six chairs arranged around it.

“Sit!” Principal Garrett said.

His voice had dropped from shouting to something lower, more controlled. Somehow that was worse.

We sat. The two security guards stood by the door.

Officer Banks crossed his arms. Officer Reyes pulled out his phone and started typing something.

The principal paced in front of us, back and forth, back and forth. The freshman girls were crying quietly.

Priya gripped the edge of the table. Leo’s leg bounced nervously.

David had his headphones around his neck now, his face pale. I tried to make eye contact with any of them, tried to find some clue about what was happening.

Nobody would look at me. Principal Garrett finally stopped pacing and turned to face us.

“One of you brought something to school today, something that doesn’t belong here, something dangerous.”

My stomach dropped. Dangerous?

What could be in a backpack that would cause this kind of reaction?

“We’re going to do this the easy way or the hard way.” Principal Garrett continued.

His voice was steady now, almost calm. That scared me more than the yelling.

“The easy way is someone confesses right now, tells me exactly what’s in their backpack and where it is. The hard way involves police searches and everyone’s parents being called, so I’m going to ask one more time.”

He leaned forward, hands flat on the table.

“Who brought it?”

Nobody spoke. The room was so quiet I could hear the fluorescent light buzzing above us.

One of the freshman girls was shaking. Principal Garrett straightened up and nodded to Officer Banks.

Officer Banks stepped forward and pulled out a notepad.

“We’re going to ask you each some questions, one at a time, starting with you.” He pointed at Leo.

“Come with me.”

Leo stood up slowly, his basketball jersey hanging loose on his frame. He followed Officer Banks into the hallway.

The door closed behind them. We could hear muffled voices through the walls but couldn’t make out words.

Principal Garrett stayed in the room with us, arms crossed, watching. Officer Reyes stood by the door, still typing on his phone.

The minutes crawled by. Five minutes, ten, fifteen.

What were they asking Leo out there? The door opened and Leo came back in.

His face was unreadable. Officer Banks gestured to Priya.

“You’re next.”

Priya stood up, her hands trembling. She followed Banks into the hallway, and the door closed again.

I tried to catch Leo’s eye, but he was staring at the table, jaw clenched. What had they asked him?

What had he said? The waiting was torture.

My mind raced through everything in my backpack: books, notebooks, pens, my calculator, a half-eaten granola bar, and my gym clothes that probably smelled terrible.

Nothing dangerous. Nothing that would warrant this.

Priya came back after twenty minutes. Her eyes were red like she’d been crying.

Officer Banks pointed at one of the freshman girls.

“Your turn.”

The girl stood up so fast her chair scraped against the floor. She was shaking badly as she walked into the hallway.

I could hear her voice through the door, high-pitched and scared. She was talking fast, words tumbling over each other.

Then it was quiet, then more talking. She came back in after fifteen minutes, looking devastated.

Officer Banks pointed at the second freshman girl. She was crying before she even stood up.

When she came back, Officer Banks looked at David and me.

“You two, let’s go.”

We both stood. David’s hands were shoved deep in his pockets.

We followed Officer Banks into the hallway. Officer Reyes joined us, leaving Principal Garrett alone with the other four.