Newcomers

Table Talk

Cody pulled his lunch out of his bookbag and walked alongside Frankie to the cafeteria.

"So you're talking to Seojun now? Way to go, I almost didn't think you had it in you." She teased, applauding him in a joking manner.

Cody rolled his eyes. "Shut up Frankie, it's not like we weren't talking. I just didn't know what to say." He said.

"Uh huh, sure Cody." She said.

"I'm sad y'all took the tour without me, Seojun said he had fun though." She added.

Cody was surprised. "You guys talk?"

"Uh yeah, we've been texting each other like all weekend." She replied like it was obvious.

"Really? Did he say anything about me?" Cody asked.

Frankie's face formed a mischievous smile. "Why do you wanna know?"

Cody choked and his voice cracked when he spoke. "No uh- no reason, just curious." He spluttered.

Wow, nice save Cody. You're SO convincing.

Frankie shrugged. "He said you turned very red for some reason, that's about it."

"That's about it? Does that mean he said something else?" Cody asked.

Frankie thought for a moment. "Nah. He didn't."

"Oh okay." Cody replied. He wasn't sure if he should be relieved about that or not, but it was whatever.

Did I really turn that red though?

Cody and Frankie sat down at a round table with Billy, Timmy, and Wes who were already engaged in some conversation of their own.

"I think we're a little too chill about the fact the parrots can talk." Timmy said.

"Yeah, like they have no lips. How do they make "b" and "m" noises?" Billy asked.

"You don't have any lips either and you manage to do it." Timmy replied.

Wes choked on his milk and covered his mouth, trying not to laugh.

Billy's mouth opened wide in surprise at that. "Bro…"

"See, you're good." Timmy continued.

"Stop it!" Billy laughed.

"Should I tell Timmy he doesn't really have any room to talk?" Frankie asked.

Cody looked over to Timmy and Billy who were still at it and then back to her. "Nah."

"Aw man." Frankie muttered.

"It's all fun until someone actually gets offended and I'm not about to watch that." Cody said.

"Yeah, true." Frankie agreed.

As the kids were enjoying their lunch, they heard loud noises from the cafeteria doors.

Everyone at their table looked over curiously, wondering what was going on.

Seojun and four other guys were walking over from the gym and were playing around in the hallway. Seojun escaped a headlock from one of them and said something to them, pointing to the inside of the cafeteria. The guys lightly punched him and clapped his back and off they went. Once they did, Seojun put his hands in his pockets and walked into the cafeteria.

"Oh, it's the new kid. I haven't met him yet." Billy said.

"Everyone who has P.E. with him says he's a beast, dude! George says coach is trying to get him to join a sport, but he seems kinda reluctant about it." Wes said.

"I mean, he's only been coming here for two weeks. Maybe he just wants to get used to it first." Timmy suggested.

"Yeah, maybe." Billy agreed.

Said new kid walked over to the table after getting a lunch tray. "Um, do you mind if I sit here?" He asked.

"Nah, it's cool." Billy said.

Seojun set his bookbag down and sat beside Billy, close to Frankie, and diagonal to Cody.

"So what's your name dude?" Timmy asked.

"Seojun." He replied.

"So-june?"

"Seojun."

"Se-jin?"

"Seojun."

"Su-john?"

"What?" By then, Seojun stopped trying and focused on eating his tater tots. His nose wrinkled when he ate one, but he continued anyway.

"What do you think of Griffin Rock?" Wes asked curiously.

Seojun paused and glanced over at Cody who almost flinched at that.

"It's fine. Kind of loud, but not busy like where I'm from, and you can see the stars at night on a regular basis." Seojun explained.

"Wait, you can't see the stars where you're from?" Billy asked in surprise.

Seojun shook his head. "Not always, the lights are very bright and it's often cloudy at night." He said.

"Damn, that sucks." Frankie said.

Seojun shrugged. "Eh, kind of, but I'm used to it." He replied.

Seojun couldn't seem to get a bite of food without somebody interrupted him with another question.

"So are you gonna join a sport this year?" Billy asked.

Seojun shrugged. "I'm not sure, it sounds like a lot." He said.

"It can be, but it's also fun. You have an outlet to get some energy out and on a team you make close friends you might not have had otherwise. Plus in some sports you can be aggressive." Cody said.

"Huh. Maybe I'll think about it." He said.

Cody hadn't realized he was smiling at him until Seojun smiled back and his face lit up again.

"Um, are you okay?" Wes asked, looking at Cody's face with concern.

So it really is that red.

Cody drank the last of his milk. "Yeah, I'm good."

Seojun smiled even wider from the other side of the table. From the looks of it, he was close to laughing. Frankie was already doing that though.

Cody stick his tongue in his cheek and rolled his eyes. "Really?" He said.

Frankie snorted. "Sorry, I could help it." She said.

Soon after, the bell rang and the table scattered.

Seojun took some of the food he hadn't gotten to eat and got up from his chair.

"What's your next class Seojun?" Frankie asked.

"Math, you guys?"

"We're in Social studies right now." Frankie said.

Seojun nodded and took a bite of pizza. "Okay, see you later." He walked off quickly, disappearing down the hallway.

Frankie turned to Cody soon after. "Geez, he was right. You really do turn super red, man." She said.

"Thanks, I didn't notice." Cody said sarcastically.

Frankie giggled. "Come on, let's go, Mr. Peterson might already be marking us absent." She started pulling him along and he followed.

Why did I turn so red though? That was so awkward. What did Seojun think? Geez, he probably thought that was weird. Noble...

By the time they got back, Cody was too lost in his own awkwardness to focus properly on the work he was supposed to be doing.