The Freak

11:30am

Ace was still hunched awkwardly, half turning the janitor's words over and over in her head, when Bender began whistling.

Slowly the rest of the group joined in, even Allison. Ace sat up, stretching as the door banged open again.

"Alright Ladies, that's thirty minutes for lunch!" Vernon announced.

"Here?" Andrew asked.

"Here." Vernon nodded.

He frowned, "Well I think the cafeteria would be a more appropriate place to eat lunch sir."

"Well I don't really care what you think." The teacher shot back.

"Uh, Dick?" Bender started, "S'cuse me, Rich. Will milk be made available to us?"

"We're extremely thirsty, sir." Andrew said.

Ace nodded, "I have a low tolerance for dehydration sir, so does Claire."

"When we end up dehydrated," Claire shook her head, "It gets pretty gross."

Bender stood up, "Relax, I'll get it."

"Ahh, ah, ah, grab some wood there bub. You think I was born yesterday? I'm not letting you wander around these halls." Vernon looked around the room for a moment, before pointing to Andrew, "You, and... Ms. Franco, there's a soft drink machine in the teachers lounge."

Ace sighed, standing up, and dropping her lunch bag onto her table as Andrew began to collect change from everyone.

"Let's go, hurry it up." Vernon half yelled.

Andrew started behind him toward the door, and Ace followed but not before looking at Bender and tapping the bag.

He nodded, getting up as soon as Vernon was out the door.

"He's going through your lunch." Andrew pointed out as they started down the hall.

"I know. I told him to," She shrugged, "I always bring him lunch. Never seen 'im eat if I don't."

He frowned, "He makes you bring him lunch?"

"I choose to bring him lunch. He's my friend. I'm not gonna let him starve." She itched her hand through her hair.

"He's a criminal."

"So?" She shrugged again, "He's a criminal, you're a Jock, I don't give two shits what stupid catagory people are shoved into."

"So let me get this straight, I'm the Jock, He's the Criminal, Allisons a basket case, Claire's a prom queen and Brian's a brain. What are you then?" He asked, tucking his hands into his sweatshirt pockets.

Ace grinned, "The Freak. Or the Reject. Take your pick, they call me both."

"So, you don't eat lunch with people in the cafeteria, why would that make you a reject?" He frowned.

"I don't eat with anyone. I don't do friends, or rather, no one here like me."

"People always talk to you in Chem."

She tucked her hands in her pockets, mirroring him, "Don't know if friends count when its 'can I have your homework' 'what did you get for 22' and 'I didn't know freaks could do school'."

"That's not cool." Andrew said softly.

She shrugged, "I got used to it. I sit in that library during lunch cause it's too noisy in the caf, I have to sit in there when I'm 'too disruptive' in class, and I spend some weekends there for said 'disruptiveness', it's rinse and repeat."