Truant Officer arrives

Patrick had just opened his mouth to say something when he saw a white van slowly turn down the street. "Run!"

The other kids looked behind them and gasped as they bolted after Patrick, pushing Lauren to the ground in the process. The little woman groaned as she staggered back to her feet. She was angered that they ran before she could use Patrick's phone, but she was also confused as to why those brats ran away in the first place.

This confusion only lasted a few seconds as she heard a vehicle pull up behind her. Turning around, Lauren saw a large white van with the words "School System Truancy Officer" written on the side.

"That explains it." Lauren muttered to herself as the driver's side door opened and a policewoman stepped out.

Suddenly, Lauren realized something. She could easily ask the officer to borrow her phone and call her landlady, and be relaxing in her bath again in no time!

"Excuse me, Officer," Lauren began politely, "I was wondering if I could borrow your phone please? See, I got locked out of my apartment, and I need to call my landlady to get a spare key."

"Sure, kid." The policewoman said skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "But first, why don't you tell me where you're friends went? The friends you were playing hooky with instead of being in class?"

Class? Hooky? Friends? Kid? What in the world was this woman babbling about? As Lauren finally connected the dots, the little woman turned neon red as she realized that, much like the kids in question, this policewoman thought that she was an actual child!

"Oh, no, no, no, no!" Lauren said, waving her hands out in front of her as she shook her head. "I'm not a kid. I know what this looks like, but I'm actually a twenty-two-year-old adult woman. I'm just really small for my age."

The policewoman stared at her for a few seconds, her skeptical expression not changing. After about a minute, the officer shook her head.

"Honey," she began, "I've heard all kinds of malarkey and nonsensical stories in my ten years of being a truant officer. And that was easily the most ludicrous lie that I've ever heard in my life."

"It's not a lie!" Lauren shouted, stomping her foot. "I am an adult!"

"Oh, really?" The policewoman asked skeptically, irritation in her voice. "Then why don't you prove it?"

"P-prove it?" Lauren stammered, gulping a little.

"If you really are an adult," the policewoman explained, "then you surely must have a form of ID on you."

"Of course I have an ID!" Lauren snapped. Then weakly she added, "It's just in my apartment. So, if I could just borrow your phone and call - "

"Young Lady, I'm tired of this little game!" The officer said sternly as she grabbed Lauren's wrist and lead her to the van. "I'm taking you back to school, and then you're going to tell your principal where the other delinquents went."

"Wait! Stop! This is all a big misunderstanding!" Lauren shouted as the officer placed her into the van before sliding the door shut.