My girlfriend, Sarah, and I were volunteering as tutors at the local private middle school. Today was a relatively slow day, for whatever reason. Only a few kids milled about the school's slightly dingy cafeteria. Some of them were working on homework, like they were supposed to do. Others were just chatting, some bugging each other, occasionally shrieking, like kids do, and getting up and running around the rickety metal chairs and tables. Sarah and I were sitting, waiting for any students who decided they needed help with their homework. She was checking her phone. I had a book open on my lap but had stopped reading a good ten minutes ago.
Sarah looked up at me, then around at the kids, then back to me. She sighed audibly.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Oh, nothing," she muttered and went back to scrolling through something on her phone. She looked up again, though, suddenly. "I was just thinking, you know, it's funny how little these kids actually have to do, right? No stress or anything."
I shrugged. "I mean, I guess. They've got tests and stuff. And homework. That's why we're here."
"I know, I know. It's just so... so easy, you know? Wouldn't it be great to just do the stuff they have to do?"
"You did, once," I pointed out. "Then you grew up. Now you get to be in college. That's not so bad, eh?"
"I guess." She went back to her phone. I looked at my book again for ten seconds, read nothing, went back to scanning the room. It was four. We had about another hour, then we could catch the bus back to campus.
I noticed, suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, a little girl standing and looking at Sarah and me as though she was expecting something. I scraped my chair around. She was small, of course, but one of the older kids. Maybe seventh or eighth grade. She was wearing the school uniform, a blouse and jumper with a little red sweater over it.
"Homework help?" I asked.
She shook her head. "I just overheard you."
"Overheard us? Overheard what?"
She had a mischievous little smile on her face. "You were talking about us."
"Talking about you ...?" Then I remembered what Sarah had been saying. "Oh right. Sorry. She didn't mean it. We know you guys have all sorts of stuff to do. You're busy. Sorry. Can we help you with anything?"
She shook her head again. "I don't need anything. I think I can help you, though."
Sarah finally looked up. "With what?"
"Do you want to be our age again?"