• The Plan

    Everything was in place. I had been preparing for this day for a long time. I quickly swept my gaze around the kid-packed cafeteria and located my partners in crime. They were all in position and ready for action. The signaler glanced at me for the cue. I shook my head; not yet. I peered intently as more kids filed into the already-full lunchroom. The volume increased. Watching and listening carefully, I went over the plan in my head. That central table was crucial. It was occupied by people who barely had an intelligent thought in their brains. In order to be a success, we had to make that table explode (metaphorically, of course). It was getting louder and louder. They were all eating their lunches now. I would have to give the signal in the split second between when all of them were eating and when they were roaming around. This would require intense concentration. Suddenly, I snapped around and held up three fingers. The signaler nodded quickly, and passed the silent signal along my partners. The thought resounded through their heads. Three seconds until attack.
    One of my partners launched it too early. No matter. It was early by only 2 seconds. The steaming hot slice of pepperoni pizza flipped through the air. I watched it in awe for a split second, and then launched my own bullet. A second before everyone else’s missiles landed, the early attacker’s projectile landed squarely on a kid’s head at the center table. Then, the other pellets landed- most of them finding targets.
    For a fraction of a second, nothing happened. Thoughts raced through my head. What if nothing happened? What if the kids only shrugged and kept eating? What if? What if? What if?
    The kid who got hit first got up slowly. He whipped around and roared, flinging a carton of milk into the general area of which the pizza came. As if his retaliation was a cue, the entire cafeteria plunged into chaos. The central table went absolutely wild, hurling food everywhere. Other tables joined in as they became splattered with milk and tomato sauce. The walls and floor were quickly covered with food and milk. Styrofoam trays, empty milk cartons, and skin from various kinds of fruit littered the floor like a covering of leaves in autumn. The plan had worked. The food fight had begun.
    Success.