𝐆𝐋𝐔𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎𝐆𝐄𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑 || #𝟏

Chapter 31

Lilac lets out a huge snort, looks at Lilliana and my suspicion is confirmed. Without Lilac knowing, I stand up, pretend as if I'm going to talk with Ms Smith and I sneak a glance at her phone.

They're talking about me. And it's not in a good way.

-- ------ --

Our project is due next week, and so far, Lilac has made absolutely no contribution. Along with that, she now sits at Alexis' table at lunch now. I've texted her four times to start her part on the project, and she's always left me on read. During class, she sits significantly far away from me, and smack in the middle of Alexis' friend group. Luke has offered to help me with my project numerous times, but I feel bad for getting him to do it, especially considering that he has his own things to worry about.

"She still hasn't done anything?" Lorelei asked, looking at me concerningly.

I nod my head, poking my fork in my lunch. "She hasn't even been on the google doc, or replying to my texts. She's left me on read the whole time, and at this point, I think I'm going to have to do her parts as well. We have to present this in class, how will it look if she has no idea what our topic is about? Either she'll get in trouble, or I'll get in trouble because the teacher might think that I didn't collaborate with her."

"That sucks," Luke says. "Are you sure you still don't want me to help you with it? I don't mind."

I smile, putting my hand on his shoulder. "It's alright, I'll pull through. That reminds me, what's your project with Tyler about?"

He shrugs, "it's about which surface has the most bacteria. I didn't come up with it, Tyler did. Turns out that he has some sort of an obsession with bacteria. He has all the gear as well, I'm going over to his house this weekend to finish the experiment and then I'll type up the conclusion."

"I wish one of you were my partner," I sulked. Emily, Lorelei, Aubrey and Alice look at me regretfully, while Abigail and Jolene press their lips into thin lines.

I forgot to mention, Abigail is a new addition to our group. It turned out that Jolene and Abigail once bumped into each other, and really hit it off. Jolene invited Abigail to hang out with us, and for the most part, she's okay. Except for when she starts singing Hedwig's Theme and takes out her wooden wand, and starts yelling 'riddikulus!'

One day, I got fed up so I yelled back, 'Avada kedavra!' But somehow she resurrected herself back to life (apparently she has a horcrux) and started chanting the killing curse at me. Emily absolutely hates it when this happens, so she's started bonking her on the head whenever she decides to become a witch.

"There once was a boy called Harry-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Emily screeches, "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE."

Thankfully, her yells cannot be heard over the bustling cafeteria. However, it's enough to snatch the attention of Alexis' table, which is conveniently next to ours. They all look at us weirdly, and Emily decides to explode even more.

"I HATE HARRY POTTER!" She admits.

"What?!" Abigail cries, "but I like it!"

"YEAH, NO KIDDING YOU SING IT EVERY SINGLE FUCKING DAY-"

"Alright," Lorelei soothes, "let's not swear... Let's all calm down, and we can talk this out calmly like mature-"

"WHO THE HELL DARES THE SWEAR IN MY CAFETERIA?" Mrs Child booms, making everybody in the large room silent. "THERE WILL BE NO SWEARING IN MY CAFETERIA, BECAUSE FIRST OFF I I DON'T FUCKING LIKE IT-"

"She's swearing right now," Alice mumbles under her breath.

"IT IS OFFENSIVE TO ME! SO YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SWEAR IN FRONT OF ME!"

Iris stands up, straightening herself out. "You just swore."

Mrs Child boggles at her, her eyes growing like saucers. "HOW DARE YOU TALK BACK TO ME YOU BRAT-"

"I don't think she should be calling kids brats-"

"I, DONNA CHILD WILL NOT STAND FOR THE DISRESPECT IN THIS CAFETERIA RIGHT NOW! YOU GET DETENTION BECAUSE YOU TALKED BACK TO ME! YOU GET DETENTION BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE YOUR HAIR, AND YOU GET DETENTION BECAUSE I DON'T LIKE YOU!"

"ALSO," a cook screams from inside the kitchen - making an announcement. "WHO IS VEGAN HERE?" Nobody in the room raises their hand, and the cook 's anger gets more intense, her face turning red. She raises her stick-like arms, takes off her chef hat, throwing it to the ground and revealing her short, white hair. "WHY THE FUCK AREN'T YOU VEGAN YET?"

She takes out a pink ukulele, prepared to sing. Many students noticeably cringe, slamming their hands on their ears. But before she can start singing, the school principal has stormed in on the cafeteria, and takes the cook out - dragging her with her hand. Her ukulele gets left behind, and Mrs Child takes this as the perfect moment to pick it up, and start singing.

"When a child is born, it's all a dReaAmmm-"

"BOO!" Alexis screams, "BOO!"

Her whole table follows after her. Mrs Child looks mortified, and retreats back to the kitchen. Later, she comes out with a pile of detention slips and hurls it at Alexis' table.

"I swear," Aubrey simpers, "this school is crazy."