SCHOOL PRINCIPAL NOTICED A 9-YEAR-OLD GIRL TAKING LEFTOVERS FROM THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA EVERY DAY AND DECIDED TO FOLLOW HER

She studied him for a moment.

“Principal stuff? Badly behaving teachers? Or one of your kids?”

The way she said it—one of your kids—made something tighten in his chest.

He set his fork down.

“There’s a student. Mia. She’s nine, quiet, keeps to herself. She’s a good kid.”

Audra nodded, waiting.

“Today, I noticed her taking leftover food from the cafeteria,” he said. “Not just extra snacks, which is okay. We encourage that if the kids have longer days. But Mia? She was collecting food. Collecting unwrapped sandwiches, grabbing apples kids didn’t touch, stashing milk cartons in her backpack.”

Audra frowned.

“Was she eating it later? Like… keeping it for later, I mean?”

“No,” he shook his head. “It’s like she was saving it.”

“I asked her about it,” he said. “She told me her mom works hard, and sometimes they don’t have enough to eat. And that might be true.”

He exhaled, rubbing his temples.

“But, Audra, I’m telling you, something about it felt… off. Like she wasn’t telling me everything.”

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