The bottoms of the legs on the desks were removable. We took them off and spun them like tops.

A gym teacher saw me playing with it and casually asked what it was, where I got it, which of my friends had them….very calmly, like a regular conversation.

Suddenly he marched us over to another gym teacher, they dragged us all to the VP’s office screaming about vandalism and felony charges, the works. In the end all we had to do was screw them back on and bring in a note saying we’d confessed to our parents, but the most valuable lesson I learned in middle school was never trust authority figures, never admit friendships to outsiders, and stay FAR away from loud alpha sports guys, because they don’t grow out of it in adulthood.