Neteyam was lucky enough to have been able to pack his lunch that day. Lo'ak, however, was not. He sat at their table, a slight frown on his face, picking the m&m's out of Kiri's trail mix. "Eat the nuts," Neteyam whispered. "They'll fill you up better. Protein." Lo'ak shot him a glance. "Neteyam, that's, like, so gay," he whispered back, a smirk on his face. Rotxo snorted from across the table. Neteyam rubbed his face with his hands. "Why do I even try? Give me that," he snatched the bag away from Lo'ak and tossed it back to Kiri. "Now what am I going to eat?" Lo'ak whined, shoving his brother gently.
"You're going to hate this," Kiri laughed. "I have a banana for you-" Lo'ak made a face and crossed his arms over his chest as Rotxo cackled loudly. "What is that laugh, bro? I heard you from across the room," Ao'nung set his tray down on the table. "School lunch? Damn," Rotxo answered, pointing. "What even is that?" Tsireya asked, poking the pile of brown sludge with the tip of her fork. "Sloppy joe," Ao'nung grimaced. "For the protein." Lo'ak eyed Neteyam with a smug smile on his face. He opened his mouth to respond, but before he could, Neteyam stepped on his brother's foot with all of his strength. "Shit! Neteyam, my shoes-" "Shut up. Just shut up," Neteyam hissed, trying not to laugh. "Are you okay, Lo'ak?" Tsireya called softly, a worried look on her face. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. I just hope my brother," he glared at Neteyam furiously, "Didn't scuff my new shoes." Neteyam rolled his eyes. "They're fine. It's not like you could keep them looking new much longer anyways." "Liar! I take very good care of my shoes." "Yeah, okay, sure."
Ao'nung scoffed. "What's going on with you two today?" he asked, grinning. "Someone woke up ten minutes before we had to leave," Neteyam grumbled, eyeing Lo'ak pointedly. "Yeah, and someone thinks that even though we made it on time, it's still the end of the world." Neteyam looked at his brother in disbelief. "I had to speed on the way here! That means I have to get gas sooner. Do you have any idea how expensive it is? I should make you pay for it." "With what money?" Kiri asked innocently. Lo'ak's eyes flickered to Tsireya nervously. "I have money," he mumbled. "She's talking about money that you didn't steal from me," Neteyam added. Lo'ak threw his hands up in frustration. "Can you guys stop? Please?" Neteyam grinned. "Sorry, baby bro," he apologized, patting Lo'ak on the shoulder. "Yeah, whatever," he muttered, folding his arms across his chest in annoyance.
Lo'ak and Tsireya left the lunch table to go snag some food from the front office. Kiri and Rotxo were talking about something - rather, Kiri was speaking and Rotxo was smiling at her, listening deeply. Ao'nung was eating his lunch with a pained expression, and Neteyam was picking at his left-over Olive Garden pasta he had packed. "Is that any good?" Neteyam asked, looking over at Ao'nung. He shook his head weakly. "Why are you eating it?" "I told you. Protein." Neteyam blinked. "Why not just pack, like, a granola bar or something?" Ao'nung shrugged. "I also just forgot to pack myself lunch this morning. I went surfing before school." Neteyam nodded. "You must be tired, then." Ao'nung shook his head. "Actually, the cold waves wake me up better than anything. I feel more tired on days that I don't get to." "Oh."
Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked around and saw that same red head from a few days ago, the one who had butchered his name. "Hi?" he asked, confused by her presence. "Hi. Do you remember me?" Neteyam nodded slowly. She beamed at him. "Great! What's your third period?" Before he could respond, Ao'nung answered for him. "Statistics," he called across the table. "I- yeah, statistics," Neteyam answered, shooting Ao'nung a confused glance. The boy had already gone back to his pile of slop, staring determinedly down at it. "Oh. Cool." she smiled awkwardly and went back to her table. Neteyam watched her sit down with a group of 4 or 5 other girls, all of whom instantly started whispering behind their hands as she did so. "I know what's going on with you," Neteyam whispered to Ao'nung. The boy's head shot up. "You do?" "Mhm. You're jealous." Ao'nung blinked rapidly. "Jealous? Of what?" Neteyam grinned. "She came up to talk to me, not you. You're not used to that, are you?" Ao'nung's lips parted slightly in disbelief. "See? I knew it," Neteyam finished, watching Ao'nung scoff at him.
Neteyam headed to statistics when the lunch bell rang. About 20 minutes into class, that same redhead knocked on the door. She was carrying a camera. "Can I see Neteyam Sully for a moment? I need to interview him for yearbook." Her voice was soft and quiet. His teacher shrugged and motioned for Neteyam to go with her. He did, deciding to leave his belongings behind. "I figured your name wasn't really Taylor," she joked when they were outside the door. He scoffed. "Yeah, it's not. I said that because that's what Ao'nung thought it was." There was an awkward silence. "So are you friends with him, then?" Neteyam shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. Why?" "Usually his friends are... not like you." Neteyam made a face. "What does that mean?" "My brother is his friend. My brother is not at all like you." Neteyam blinked. "That's a pretty strong assumption. You don't even know me." She sighed. "Yeah, I guess I don't. But, maybe I will. I'm here to take your picture and interview you on your experience as a new student." "Oh. Me? Why not my siblings? Kiri probably has more to say." Serena placed her hand on his arm. "I want to interview you," she murmured softly. "Uh... okay..." he said awkwardly, not sure if he should pull his arm away or not.
"So. Do you play any sports?" She had her phone out and was recording their conversation. "Uh... yeah, I play lacrosse, and I'm trying out for the swim team," he answered hesitantly. "Oh really! Great. Where did you move from?" Neteyam blinked. "Egypt." Her jaw dropped dramatically. "Egypt? Do you speak Egyptian?" It took everything in him to not roll his eyes. "I speak Arabic, yeah." Her eyes widened. "I feel so stupid. I'm sorry," she laughed awkwardly. "It's fine," he muttered, scratching the back of his head. "What's your favorite part of our school so far?" Neteyam checked his watch. It has been around 15 minutes since she had pulled him out of class. "I don't know, probably how welcoming some of the students have been. Can I get back to class now? I don't want to be rude, it's just..." "Yes! I just have to take your picture."
When she was done taking pictures, she demanded to get his phone number. When asked why, she said it was so she could text him for direct quotes about moving schools. Although Neteyam had already told her plenty, he could admit he didn't know much about the yearbook making process, and gave it to her anyways. When he was back in statistics, he checked his phone to see that she had already messaged him.
###-###-####:
(###-###-####)
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(###-###-####) handsome (###-###-####) lolol
Neteyam didn't bother replying. He thought he looked like an ass in the picture, but didn't want to give her the opportunity to come back and take another one.
Kiri Sully:
(Neteyam) Has anyone from the yearbook come to interview you about your experiences as a new student?
(Kiri) no (Kiri) why
(Neteyam) I just got interviewed for like 30 minutes straight about it (Neteyam) I was just wondering
(Kiri) prob not a huge deal tbh (Kiri) rotxo offered to go to the pool w us after school and kinda show us what swim practice would look like. wanna come?
(Neteyam) Did you ask Lo'ak? If he's going too I kinda have to.
(Kiri) yeah he said he'll go if reya goes (Kiri) reya's going (Kiri) so is ao'nung
(Neteyam) 👍 (Neteyam) I think I'll just drop you guys off I need to do some homework I think
(Kiri) lameeeeee (Kiri) rotxo said he could bring us there if you take us home
