The Serpent Queen

Esqueleto | Part Two

The next afternoon at lunch, the school bell rang as students filtered in and stood in the queue for their food or sat down at their tables. Phoebe had gotten hers and sat down beside Miguel. He just sipped from a small carton of juice and leaned casually in his chair.

A few minutes later Eli and Demetri came with their trays and sat down. Ever since yesterday she had been in a chipper mood and nothing would rain on her parade. She noticed that Eli wasn't wearing a heavy jumper today, instead he wore a dark red and blue stripy polo shirt.

"Hey, guys." She smiled.

Suddenly the guidance counsellor of the school, Mrs Blatt decided to interrupt the students' lunch in the cafeteria with an announcement with a microphone. However, not one student was interested in what she had to say. Instead, they were all on their phones.

"Cyberbullying is no laughing matter. Sending a cruel message to someone online can be just as hurtful as saying it to their face. I'm not gonna name names, but the other day a mother called me up because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity."

Phoebe glanced up from her phone screen when she heard the whispers from other students. She knew who this was about. "The kid right there! The kid with the weird lip." They were just some of the whispers that floated around as the entire cafeteria turned their heads towards their table. She looked to Eli, who looked like he wanted the earth to swallow him whole. He looked so embarrassed. He covered his lip with one hand and tilted his head down, in a bad attempt to hide.

Putting her phone in her pocket, she decided to half listen to the teacher. One of her hands slipped under the table and found Eli's other one. She squeezed it lightly as a subtle physical gesture to comfort and support him. She leaned closer to him, "Don't cover up your scar. You'll draw more attention to it that way. You have nothing to be ashamed of."

Eli turned his head in her direction and looked at her. He smiled a little under his hand and slowly brought it away from his face. Underneath the table, Eli boldly slipped his hand inside hers, intertwining their fingers together.

Phoebe felt it and smiled at him.

The counsellor continued, "But today, our goal here is to make this school a safe space for all students...."

Miguel shifted in his seat not letting on to Phoebe, Eli, and especially Demetri that the former two were holding hands under the table. "You know, if you're sick of getting bullied, our karate dojo's looking for recruits."

"Yeah, right, you hear that, Eli? A little karate training and you're gonna kick some major ass." Demetri said in his usual sarcastic tone. This time he added a karate chop for a little flair.

Phoebe sided with her bestie, "He's serious, Demetri, all right? Our sensei's the real deal, and l'm sure we could get you both discounts."

"Our?"

"Yeah...don't tell my parents."

"Fine, I won't. But as enticing as that sounds, I think we'd rather spend our afternoons playing Crucible Control than getting hit in the face."

"What's that?" The girl asked.

Demetri was about to answer when Counsellor Blatt decided to announce something else to the cafeteria, annoying the students, "Oh, and one last thing. While we're all looking forward to the Halloween dance, let's make sure our costumes are culturally sensitive. For example, instead of 'sexy nurse', maybe try 'gender-neutral hospital employee'. The cafeteria laughed at that idea. "Instead of a geisha..."

For the rest of lunch, Phoebe and Eli held hands and it felt right for both of them. Both had butterflies in their stomachs instead of food and they wouldn't go away.