There's Something Against Us

Chapter 11

I trail behind Steven as we walk to his locker after class. When we reach number 209 he quickly undoes the lock and swings it open, revealing the Billy Fury posters again. Maybe I should decorate my own locker - I have plenty of magazine clippings stored away that I could use.

"Do you want to borrow my notes from earlier?"

He continues placing books on the upper shelf, switching his eyes between his bag and his locker.

"Sure." A book slips from his hand, making a loud smack as it hits the ground. I crouch down immediately to pick it up, as does he.
Gently, I pick up the heavy textbook and place it in his hands.

"I'll copy them in study hall after lunch." His fingertips skim the tips of mine as he lifts the book from my hands.

He has soft hands...very soft, actually.

"Thanks." He says as stands up and squeezes it between his Wilde book and what appears to be a music magazine. To be specific, it's an older edition of the New Musical Express.

I wipe my hands on my skirt as I rise to stand just a few inches below him. He is very skinny, but also sort of tall. Much taller than Johnny and I - that's for certain. A loud squeak erupts as he shuts the locker door.

"The cafeteria is a meat infested nightmare." His tone of voice is flat, as if reciting by matter of fact. It's meat infested? That sounds awful. They don't serve vegetables?

Once we reach the bottom of the stairs and turn the corner, he pushes against a large double door, holding it open as I walk in behind him.

The room is huge, but there's so many people and so much noise that I can't believe anyone would want to eat in here. And that awful smell - it's the stench of dead pigs...probably cows and chickens too. Steven was right.

The two loud track team boys from my other classes are the first familiar people I see - except now they're surrounded by nearly ten other boys who are just as loud, and probably only talking about sneakers. On the table adjacent to them is the blonde girl I met in the bathroom, and next to her that weird kid - the one who introduced himself to me. Ted.

As I recognize him, he looks up at me, too. His eyes skim me up and down, and immediately I turn away from him.

Steven takes us to a table near the corner so we are as far as we can possibly be from the kitchen. The smell of ham doesn't exactly go away, though. I pull out my cheese sandwich and an apple. Not so surprisingly, Steven has yogurt again.

My apple crunches as I bite through its red skin. When I glance back up, Johnny and Angie are barreling towards the table. There's three other people walking alongside them, though. Great.

I do recognize one of them. He was the big-eared boy Johnny was speaking to in Mr. Saul's class on the first day.

"Hey guys," Johnny immediately looks to Steven, and Steven at him. It's an awkward exchange, and I get the feeling Steven isn't so excited about the extra baggage.

This is uncomfortable.

I don't say anything as Johnny, Angie, and all their friends sit down. The only girls at the table are Angie and myself. She smiles at me, and after I finish swallowing the chunk of apple in my mouth, I smile back.

"Oh, um - Mike," Johnny turns from big ears to another black-haired boy, "Brian," he gestures towards his last mystery friend, "James.."

Wait - Mike? His name sounds familiar. No... I hope he isn't the same Mike that Steven and Johnny were fighting over.

Johnny faces me now, "This is Mara."

I try my best not to look like a deer in headlights. If my flaming cheeks are any indication, at the very least I look like a clown.

I clear my throat and stretch out my cheese sandwich in Johnny's direction. Thankfully, he's sitting directly across me. On his right is Angie, and on my left is Steven. No one is sitting to my right, but since the table is circular it doesn't make it too awkward.

"The whole thing?" Johnny eyes are widened - and over a sandwich!

"Yeah, I'm not that hungry." Truth be told, I'm really not. It's hard for me to eat when I'm nervous.

"Thanks mate!" He undoes the plastic wrapping and starts taking bites out of it.

After I gauge his reaction, which is thankfully positive, I turn to Steven. His eyes are fixated on his yogurt - and only his yogurt.

"How'd you meet Johnny and his loyal sidekick veggie-boy?" The words pierce through my ears.

Steven sets his spoon down.

I meet Mike's eyes, terrified that he was actually asking me that question. He's smiling in my direction, his eyebrows raised in question.

"I met Johnny in astronomy class. And I don't know who veggie-boy is."

Mike starts to laugh, and so do James and Brian. I look to Johnny and Angie for help, but they are both apparently so preoccupied with their lunch that they can't be bothered to notice anything else.

"He's right next to you eating yogurt," Mike takes a bite of his blood burger, "All he eats is his veggies." He stops to swallow, "Right, veggie-boy?"

Steven says nothing. His eyes meet mine for a fraction of a second, and all I see is disappointment. He stands up, throws his yogurt in the trash behind the table, and begins to walk out of the cafeteria.

I'm surprised to see Johnny glaring at Mike now. It's shocking to see him do anything. Big ears just seems satisfied that he made Steven so uncomfortable that he actually left.

"That isn't funny." My voice drips with icy seriousness, "I don't eat meat either. Are you going to call me veggie girl?"

The table is silent.

Mike scoffs at me and continues eating as if I've said nothing. His friend James looks at me, too.

"Why? Do you hate all meat?" The boy I've never even seen until today asks me. He snickers with Johnny's other friend, Brian.

What does that even mean?

"I don't know how many times I have to ask you guys to stop that." Johnny is done eating now, doing just the bare minimum for his friend. And for me, if I'm even his friend.

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A/N:

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