The Dating Game

Chapter Seven

Justin

Chaz and Ryan were too idle to flee the hell that was school for lunch period so our only substitute was to stay in school, and fill our stomachs with the "barf" that was deemed as food.

Despite the "lavish" lunch hall with multi-coloured tables and chairs, the food was most certainly repulsive, and no matter how much colour and money the school splashed out on with the setting, it would not provide the absurdity of the food any extravagance.

I was sat on an intense yellow bench at a rectangular table seating only four (with one space left over next to Chaz) with a purple tray in front of me. On the tray was supposedly my lunch; candidly, it was a "warm crusty roll filled with chicken, cheese and bacon" according to the lunch board behind the dinner tables that were miserably piling and slopping the food onto people's dramatically-coloured trays. My "warm crusty roll" was concealed beneath the melted cheese that was toppling precariously over the edges of it.

"Dude, just eat it. It's going to get cold," Chaz ordered, stuffing the end of his crusty roll into his mouth. "Damn, that's so hot." Just then, Rachel strutted on by, her hips swaying theatrically to an absent beat. "But so is she," said Chaz, virtually drooling over Rachel's backside in her tight jeans.

Deciding to bite the bullet, I picked it up, ignoring the grease from the cheese rubbing off on my fingers; I took a huge chunk out of it. It took awhile for me to swallow it down and when I did, I rubbed the crumbs off my lips with the back of my hand.

Ryan had his head bowed, doubtlessly tapping away on his phone and probably texting some girl. He had discarded the remains of the cheese on his tray. Chaz, on the other hand, was tucking in greedily into his roll (all three of us had had the same considering the minimal options on a Wednesday). He was blissfully unaware of the sudden outburst from a sophomore girl in the corner with someone who was meant to be her boyfriend.

"You slept with her!" she bellowed.

Even most of the dinner ladies had diverted their attention from the food-plonking to the potential-termination of a "relationship". Consequentially, some food plummeted down into the vegetarian options and also the salad – not that those weren't much better meals, either, but still. The option for lunch was now officially gone.

"You're being too dramatic, calm down," said the guy, ginger hair falling into his rolling eyes. He was speaking normally because the whole lunch hall has hushed. He still had his tray in his hands.

The girl screeched and stormed off, abandoning her tray on the table and staying as far away from the guy as possible. She weaved through the tables, stomping her feet on the floor with every step and rounding up to our table. A girl was passing behind us – since Ryan was staring – and the girl made it her intention to barge straight into her, knocking her backwards. The brown paper bag that the other girl was clutching was on the floor by my feet. The girl continued out of the lunch hall, a friend scurrying behind her – avoiding the girl now on the floor. I picked up the russet bag that was by my feet, containing the innocent girl's lunch when I held it out to her, finally seeing who the girl was.

She had material bracelets up both her wrists, only visible through the holes in this knitted jumper. A Coke lid was attached to some measly piece of string, hanging down from her neck. Her skirt had risen up slightly so she forced it back down her legs on her thick tights. She sat up, her legs open slightly but the skirt hiding anything whilst I was absentmindedly gaping at her.

"Juliet," I breathed. I still hadn't snapped out of it yet.

Chaz leaned back all the way on the bench, gripping the end of the table so that it trembled slightly. He was staring at both Coke Girl and I from behind me but I was ignoring his alien stares. Instead, my arm was still stationary in the air, grasping the small, russet bag in my left hand.