Echoes of the Void

Ch. 6

Warning: This chapter includes some mild violence

Once we walked back into the classroom, everyone turned to stare at us. We glanced at each other and then went to take our seats. As I sat down, I could hear the people around me start to whisper to each other, specifically about me and Ramona. I didn't have to be listening to know what they were saying. Nasty rumors tend to spread from nothing here and I knew that's what everyone in the room was trying to start, a rumor. I rolled my eyes and then shot a glare at one of the students sitting behind me after overhearing a particularly vulgar comment about why Ramona and I had taken so long to get back to class. I normally would've called them out or done something to scare them into shutting up, but I was still too drained from what had happened earlier to care. As soon as the bell finally rang, signaling the end of the period, I quickly gathered up my things and walked with Ramona to the cafeteria. As the two of us entered the cafeteria, the smell of the disgusting slop the lunch ladies called meatloaf hit me like a truck. I instinctively covered my nose and walked over to the table furthest from the lunch line, where coincidentally my sister and C.J. were sitting at. As soon as I took a seat across from Willow, I folded my arms on the table and hid my face in the gap they created. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" I heard Willow ask, most likely guessing that I had no intention of moving from my seat. I raised my head to look at her and shook my head, then immediately put my head back down. Although I was starving, I did not want to take my chances with the toxic sludge that the lunch staff had claimed to be meatloaf. I felt a hand rest on my shoulder and looked up to see Ramona as she sat down next to me, "are you sure Luna? You haven't eaten anything all day and you need to regain your strength after what happened earlier," she said. Willow glanced up from the book she was reading and frowned slightly, "what happened earlier?" she asked, probably assuming that I had done something. Ramona and I shared a look, "nothing important," we said in unison after a few seconds. Willow gave us a suspicious look then shook her head and went back to her reading. I let out a small sigh and brushed Ramona's hand off my shoulder, "I'm fine babe, really. Besides, I'm sure I'd be worse off if I had what they're serving us today. Have you seen that slop? I'm pretty sure by now that the lunch ladies are trying to poison us," I said, a small smirk forming on my face when I heard C.J. and Ramona laughing. Ramona let out a small hum as she dug around in her lunch bag and then pulled out half of the sandwich she had packed, "here love, if you don't want to eat the school's lunch, then at least have half of my sandwich. You can't just decide not to eat, you need the energy," she said. I sighed, but smiled a little and took the sandwich half that she gave me, "thanks doll," I said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek.

About halfway through the lunch period, I noticed several kids gathered around one table. At first, I didn't pay much attention to it, not really caring about what was going on. I figured that one of the more popular kids was bragging about something that they got on one of their trips or was showing off a good picture of themself. It wasn't until one of the kids, Morgan, came over to the table that I started to care about what was happening. Morgan marched up to our table and slammed her hand down on the table, which made Willow jump and drop her book. Willow gave her an annoyed glare and opened her mouth to say something, but C.J. stopped her before she could start anything. I grumbled a bit to myself and crossed my arms, "what do you want, Morgan?" I asked in a bitter tone, getting myself prepared for whatever insult she might throw my way. Morgan had this smug grin on her face that made it really hard for me not to hit her, "oh nothing, I just wanted to see if what Sandra was saying was true," she said. A slight frown appeared on my face as I leaned back in my chair, "Morgan, half of the things that come outta that chick's mouth is total bullshit and the other half is delusions about how great she is," I said. Ramona, despite not really knowing the full extent of Sandra's character, stifled a laugh as she covered her mouth with her hand. I glanced at her then brought my attention back to Morgan, "what's the queen of lies saying about me this time?" I asked. Morgan chuckled lightly, "I'm surprised you haven't heard this yet, it's made its way around the lunchroom pretty quickly. Anyway, Sandra's been saying that you and the little freakshow here were screwing in the bathroom last period," she said. I narrowed my eyes as my frown grew and I stood up, "why in the hell would she think that?" I asked in a slightly aggressive tone, making her flinch slightly. She quickly composed herself and crossed her arms, "she says she was in the stall while you two were having your fun," she said.