Beauty & The Freak || Eddie Munson

Chapter 1

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Sitting alone at a table in the cafeteria, I reached into my backpack and pulled out my bible. I set it down on the table in front of me and flipped it open to no page in particular. The loud noises made the cafeteria the worst place to read. At least reading gave me something to do other than awkwardly stare at the surrounding cliques.

Staring down at the page, I sighed. Sometimes I wondered why I even wasted what little free time I had at school reading this. My finger trailed over the words as my eyes tried to follow along. I paid little attention to any of the words that I saw. I should be preparing for our service at church, but instead I was zoning out and thinking about other things.

Over the years, I had grown used to sitting alone at the lunch table most days. Who would want to sit next to a girl holding a bible? The stares and mutters underneath bystanders' breaths were enough to tell me ‌I stuck out—and I hated it.

Sighing, I rested my elbow on the table. The cafeteria was nauseatingly loud. Sometime the noise was too much. Students obnoxiously laughing. Friends hollering at one another. Staff yelling at the students to settle down. The sounds of silverware scraping against trays. The squeaky wheels of the lunch barrels being pushed around. So many differing noises to focus on.

I was thankful when I glanced up to see Chrissy Cunningham sitting down across from me. We had talked a few times in class, but we never sat together for lunch. It was unusual for her to be approaching me. She was the nice cheer captain who talked to everyone—but me. She only ever talked to me when she needed something. Like to borrow my notes for class.

"Are you actually reading that?"

"Uh, yeah." I slid it a little closer to me. Sometimes when others asked about my bible, and why I read it, I felt a sense of urgency to protect it even though I knew nothing was going to happen to it.

I had not been reading it all. She didn't need to know that.

"Why?"

"I'm supposed to be studying for church."

"Oh." Chrissy had a look in her eye. I felt like she was judging me for my choices.

"It's important to be prepared for church."

Chrissy probably thought I was a complete weirdo. Who sits and reads their bible at lunch? With her sitting across from me, I was beginning to feel a little self-conscious about my routine. Maybe I shouldn't read at lunch. There was surely a better time and place for it. But I loved reading it, no matter where I was. There was so much to learn from it at any given time.

"I'm sure it is."

"I can put it away if it bothers you."

Since I wasn't reading a single word of it, Chrissy sitting down with me gave me the perfect opportunity to stop pretending like I was.

"It doesn't bother me."

I couldn't help but wonder if it bothered her, and she was just trying to be nice about it. The more I thought about it, it probably bothered many people—but nobody ever approached me about it. I still felt like others avoided me because of it.

"I was almost finished, anyway." I shrugged, closing it and stuffing it back into my backpack.

"So, I have a question for you." Chrissy sat up straight and watched me.

"Is everything okay?" I wondered.

"I'm supposed to be meeting with someone after school to buy something from him. I don't know him, so I want someone to come with me."