Officer Dave

"It has been so long since that officer pursued those people. Do you think he caught them?" Joe asked.

"I don't know, but it's taking too long. I hope he is okay," Henry said.

"Should we go? I mean, we haven't seen the officer for a while now," Cassie asked.

"We should wait a little while, if he is not yet back, then we can leave," Casper responded.

The group nodded. It had been more than fifteen minutes since the incident happened and the police officer from earlier wasn't back yet.

As the minutes ticked by, the group, most especially Cassie, grew impatient.

"Alright, let's leave," she said as she stomped her feet.

"I think that police officer might be in trouble," Henry said as he took his phone from his pocket and dialed emergency services. "I should have called emergency services sooner than this."

"Wait, Henry, look the officer is here and he's with his police friends," Joe said while pointing at the officer.

Henry hung up the phone as he looked up.

"I don't see them with anybody," Henry said.

"Maybe they have already apprehended them," Joe said.

"Or maybe they escaped," Cassie said.

Officer Daniel and two other police officers came towards Casper and his group.

"These are the people those hooligans were following," Officer Daniel said to the blonde police officer by his side.

"Hi! I am Officer Dave, this is Officer Daniel and this is Officer Jude," the blonde officer introduced.

"Hi!" The group greeted back.

"We are going to be asking you guys a few questions, okay?" Officer Dave said with a kind smile.

Panic immediately hit the group, well, more accurately, panic hit Joe.

"You want to question us? But we did nothing. We're the victims here, those hooligans were the real criminals. Please don't arrest us," Joe shouted as he began panicking.

His loud shouts drew attention from all over as people were wondering why he was shouting.

"No, no, no, you misunderstand me. I am not arresting you. It is a standard process to question both the victims, okay?" Officer Dave said.

Casper, Cassie, and Henry had looks of embarrassment on their faces. They used their hands to cover their faces.

'Why is this idiot panicking?' Cassie asked herself internally.

"Ooh! Sorry!" Joe said as he coughed lightly. His face was red from the sheer embarrassment.

Officer Dave chuckled lightly at Joe's flustered reaction.

"You don't need to worry or be scared we are not arresting you; unless you're a bad kid and up to no good," Officer Dave's tone changed from a friendly tone to a serious tone.

"No, sir! I am a good kid, sir! You can ask my mom. I have never done anything bad, well, except for taking a cookie from the cookie jar,"

"But that was when I was still a little boy. I swear, I no longer take cookies without my parents' permission," Joe said nervously.

 "Oh! There was this one time I forgot to keep the dirty dishes in the sink, but I swear it was only once."

"Are you going to arrest me for that? Please don't arrest me. I won't be able to survive in prison. I heard bad things happen to people there. I... I heard that stuff goes down in the shower, please don't send me there," Joe said on his knees.

He held firmly onto Officer Dave's uniform as he wept, with snot coming out of his nose.

Officer Dave and the others had uncomfortable expressions on their faces as they looked at Joe.

To say that Joe was overreacting was an understatement.

'What is wrong with this kid? Why is he being overly dramatic?' Officer Dave thought.

'Is this kid alright? Why is he overreacting?' Officer Daniel thought as he looked around in embarrassment.

Officer Jude just looked at Joe's display with an unamused look on his face.

'I wish the ground would swallow me up. This dude is so embarrassing.' Cassie thought as she stepped away from Joe. It was as if she was trying to deny knowing him.

'This is so embarrassing' Henry thought as he covered his face in shame.

'People are looking. Why the fuck is he overreacting?' Casper thought as he looked around. He quickly looked away as he saw people looking at them with a weird expression.

"Uhm... It was just a joke. No need to overreact, It was all a joke," Officer Dave said as he had a weird look on his face.

"Ooh! Sorry!" Joe said as he jumped to his feet and wiped snot and tears off his face. He had a look of embarrassment on his face as he realized he had overreacted.

'This is so embarrassing. I can't believe I overreacted a bit,' he paused for a while before correcting himself.

 'Okay, okay, maybe I overreacted a lot. God, I'm so ashamed of myself,' he thought.

"So... I am going to ask you guys some questions. Is that okay?" Officer Dave asked.

"Yes, sir," Casper said.

"Go on," Henry responded.

"Ask away," Cassie said.

"Okay," Joe muttered, his voice low with shame. He was still embarrassed by what happened earlier.

"So, do you guys recognize any of those men?" Officer Dave asked.

"No,Sir," they all responded.

"Can you tell me what happened? Please make it as detailed as possible." Officer Dave said as he took out a notepad.

"Well, after school was dismissed for the day..." Henry said as he began recounting today's event.

"So, you noticed them while you guys were shopping for groceries?" Officer Dave asked as he typed away.

"Yes, sir," Henry nodded in agreement.

Officer Daniel allowed Henry to continue with his story while occasionally stopping him to ask him questions.

It took a while for Officer Dave to finish asking Henry question. The others were by his side occasionally chipping in when he forgot to add something.

"Alright, that's all, thanks for the cooperations." Officer Dave thanked them.

"You're welcome," they said.