We Hate Our Problem Children, Don't We?

Prologue: Wait, Who Are You?

Prologue: Who are you?

Celeste

As I was walking into the lunchroom, I swept my eyes across the entirety of the dull grayish walls and sticky floors.

Today was Brunch day in the cafeteria.

Yuck.

Luckily, you're allowed to bring lunch from home. But, unluckily for me, both of my parents are vegetarian.

So, instead of a turkey and cheese sandwich on whole wheat grain bread, I instead get PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY on whole wheat grain bread.

I hate peanut butter.

How many times have I told them that I didn't like peanut butter? Have they ever listened? No!

Maybe I should just start packing my own lunches...

Abruptly, I noticed a boy sitting alone at one of the lunch tables, all alone.

How strange.

The boy looked slightly bigger than the rest of the second graders here. Well I suppose that isn't really fair since I am smaller than everyone else here.

Curse my intellect.

He also had very dirty blood hair that looked quite squished on one side, leading me to believe he fell asleep in class.

Out of burning curiosity, I strived over to his table and gracely sat down across from him.

"Did you fall asleep in class?" I asked, staring right into his eyes.

His eyes are practically black.

So, I leaned just a small bit closer so that I could see the hue more accurately.

"Are your eyes black? That's so cool!" I exclaimed. "Does that mean you're evil?" I smiled and put my finger on my lips. "No, you couldn't be evil. Besides, the concept of what is good and what is evil is flawed so..." I trailed off and looked up back to him.

"Oh, wait," I noticed the small bits of a golden brown in the middle, leaking into the rest of the iris. "Oooohhh, they're very dark brown. Superb!"

He looked at me strangely and I half sheepishly, half confidently said, "Oh sorry, my mother says that all the time. I am pretty sure it means cool."

Looking mildly uncomfortable, I watched as he rubbed the back of his neck, no longer meeting my stare.

"Um, yeah I guess they kind of look black, haha," he said, kind of chuckling.

"Why did you laugh?" I asked, cocking my head.

"What?"

"I asked why you laughed, the words you said were not funny or anything," I stated very matter of factly. "So, why did you laugh?"

Slight shock widened his eyes as he said, "I, I don't know. Maybe I just kind of laugh at weird things? I guess?" He shrugged his shoulders, drawing spirals on the table.

"Why don't you have lunch?" I asked, pointing to the empty space in front of him.

"Because I hate Brunch for lunch."

"Heyyyyy! Me too!" I offered up my hand to give him a high five and when he just looked at my hand quizzically, dropped it into a handshake.

"Oh, I'm sorry, how very rude of me," I said, smiling at him. "Of course I should have introduced myself. My name is Celeste-"