pretty boy » flamingo

2 | losers belong in the library

"I swear to God, Peyton. Touch my chips again and you'll lose your finger."

He made a face as Finley swiped her unopened chip bag from his hands and stuffed it in her bag. "I'm hungry."

"Then buy something!"

"You're kidding, right? There's nothing edible in that cafeteria and you know it."

I was chewing my sandwich, back against the brick wall, listening to the two of them bickering. Any other day I would've joined in, perhaps helping Peyton annoy Finley by playing keep-away with her brown lunch bag. Today, however, I sat in silence, lost in thought, not particularly into whatever they were doing.

It was about five hours later, and the three of us were on our lunch break. The courtyard was huge, and many people liked to sit outside, especially on a nice day.  We usually liked to sit around the corner, our backs against the brick walls. It was farther off from the others, but we liked it like that. It was one of the only places we could eat in peace.

But peace wasn't exactly the right word. Not when Finley was busy pelting Peyton with apple slices less than two meters feet away.

"Lauren, tell her to stop!" I turned my head when he called out for help, feeling my vacant look being replaced by a forced grin.

"You started this. I don't feel like being a food target today."

"Take her food, why do you have to steal mine?" Finley cried, chucking an unpeeled tangerine at my head and missing.

"Hey!" I put my hands over my tray protectively. "Don't!"

Peyton matched my grin with one of his own, a more genuine one. He was one of those people whose smile was easygoing and lit up the room without trying. I used to sit in front of the mirror for hours trying to smile as pretty as he does, but I guess nature plays favorites.

"I dunno. That sandwich looks kind of good." He whipped out his hand and snatched my last sandwich slice and stuffed half of it in his mouth before I had a chance to complain.

"Hey!"

"Sorry. Couldn't resist." He shrugged, mouth so stuffed with bread it didn't sound like an actual apology.

But instead of laughing like I would have any other day, I felt irked. It could have been something to do with the fact that my lunch had been taken from me without remorse, but I didn't know if that was the case. They did this every day.

But shouldn't that be enough of a reason to be annoyed? Maybe I just wanted to eat my food without it being whipped from my hands.

I got up and heaved my bag over my shoulders, jerking my head quickly towards the exit. "I'm gonna go. See ya." 

Peyton's smile disappeared so quickly I almost felt bad. Almost. "Wait, Lauren—"

"See you guys." I nodded, another quick jerk, towards Finley, who was also staring at me. I felt two pairs of eyes following me as I walked off and around the corner, aware of how silent it'd gotten at our spot.

To be honest, I had no idea why I was so irritated. My friends hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, and it was perfectly normal for us to steal food from each other. A stab of guilt hit me as I imagined Peyton's embarrassed expression again, feeling the sudden urge to go back there and make it right. I knew I couldn't; it was a mistake an apology couldn't really fix.

Or maybe I just sucked at apologies.

The courtyard was still moderately full of people, but I opened the door and stepped inside. With fifteen minutes left until my next period and no idea where to go, I decided to head over to the library.