The Beaten and The Ginger

2. Trouble in the Lunchroom

     Simon trudged out of his fourth period class, that seemed to drag on forever. He doesn't have any friends in that class and Ralph isn't in it either. What's worse is that Roger, who is probably worse than Jack, sits next to him in that class. 

     He made it to the lunchroom and went up to the line to get his food. As he went through the line, he tried not to make eye contact with the lunch ladies. They were nice, but making eye contact was one of the most awkward things on the planet for Simon.

     Piggy was sitting at Simon and his usual table in the lunchroom, which was in the corner. Simon walked over there, careful to make sure he didn't step off anything or trip. That would just give Jack another reason to make fun of him.

     "Hey Simon, how was fourth period?" Piggy sounded tired when he asked the question.

     "Same as usual," Simon replied, exasperated. "Roger made sure to make extra fun of me today. How was yours?"

     "Jack tripped me immediately as I walked into the room and I fell right on my nose and lost my specs. I had to crawl around on the floor to find them again. Everybody laughed, as I probably looked so stupid."

     "How was second period with Ralph?" Piggy was the only one who knew about Simon's crush on Ralph and Piggy was the one who cyber stalked Ralph to find out things about him. 

     "Boring. Ralph never talks in second period. I think he's failing math, so that's why he pays attention most of the time."

    "Ralph always pays attention in class. He's better than Jack and his mean friends." Simon was quick to defend Ralph against anyone as Ralph was the only reason he managed to get up and go to school. Even though Jack and his gang bullies him.

     "All right. Sure."

     Simon heard loud cheering, and he looked up to see what it was about. Jack was smirking and walking over to Piggy and Simon. 

     "Sure you need to be eating all that food, fatty?" Jack took Piggy's tray away from him and took his corn dog. "After all, you should really consider your health or you might get diabetes." Everybody in the cafeteria laughed at Jack's jokes. Roger walked over and whispered something in Jack's ear, and laughed.

     "Just leave us alone, Jack. What did we ever do to you?" Piggy's confidence to actually say something to Jack shocked Simon.

    Jack stopped laughing and bent down to their level, "Watch your back, fatty. Or else someone might stab a knife into it. Maybe they'll stab it into your stomach and rid you of your fat." He then looked at Simon. "You should watch out too, faggot." Jack whispered the last word and turned around and walked with Roger back to his lunch table to tell everybody what he said.

    But as he walked away, Simon couldn't help but have a feeling of dread as he realized Jack knew. He knew Simon was gay. Did Jack also know that Simon had a crush on Jack's best friend, Ralph? He ignored Piggy as he tried to talk to him, pondering whether or not Jack knew and if he would tell anyone.