The Bubblegum Problem by Amanda Bratsch

Mr. Adams was insane. That was one thing he knew for sure. Why else would he have become a middle school principal? 

Mr. Adams hated his job. Every day when he got to school, he would mark off a day on his calendar which, rather than featuring images of puppies or flowers or celebrities like a normal calendar, displayed pictures of various types of bubblegum. Mr. Adams LOVED bubblegum. At the end of his bubblegum calendar, on June 11th, large red letters screamed out, “RETIREMENT DAY!” 

Today was June 10th. Mr. Adams should have felt ecstatic about this, but in actuality he was upset. Not because he didn’t want to retire, rather because of the end of the year speech he would have to give to the entire student body that morning. 

He would have to tell the jerky eighth graders how he would miss them and the insanely happy seventh graders how much they had improved over the course of the year. But worst of all, he would have to tell the annoying little bratty sixth graders how special he had made his last year at the school. Blah, blah, blah. None of this was true. Mr. Adams was not looking forward to giving this speech.

And on top of that, he had lost his belt and his pants kept on slipping down. Talk about embarrassing!
Mr. Adams stood backstage, practicing his, “I’m actually nice and love you guys” fake smile. Before going onto the stage, he reached into his pocket for a piece of bubblegum. Finding nothing, Mr Adams panicked and made a beeline for his office. He dug through his desk drawers, searching for his emergency stash of bubblegum. Finally he uncovered it. He popped a piece of BlubboTM bubblegum in his mouth.Catching a glance of the clock, he broke the rule he had been most adamant about enforcing and ran in the halls. Panting, he made it onstage just in time. 

But, instead of being greeted with applause, instead he was met with uncontrollable laughter. Glancing down, he saw why. He was onstage. His pants were in the hallway.  Worst of all, grinning and waving at him from the audience was Maisie, the school’s number one troublemaker. But what was that in her hand? Mr. Adams squinted in the bright lights and finally understood. Flapping through the air like a proud flag in the wind was his belt.