Cloverfield Magic

Chapter 2 - Bad Blood

"So, are you going to ditch us every lunch period now for your creepy goth boyfriend?" Kory needles with fake brevity as the group leaves the lunch line with their trays of mystery meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

Issac ignores the jab. "I think he's interesting. Maybe he could join us? He's a bit weird, sure, but I don't see why you guys are so against him."

"Issac! No way! As your friend, I'm warning you - I heard he kills animals for fun," Trent argues back.

Issac thinks of Rowen's aluminum lunch box and decides now was probably not a good time to bring up the animal bones. Part of him felt guilty at the idea of participating in Rowen's ostracization, but the other boy certainly wasn't making any effort to fit in.

"I really don't think he's as bad as you guys are making him out to be," Issac defends hesitantly.

"Fine. your funeral. Go and keep sitting with him if you want, but we're sure as hell not letting him sit with us." Kory warns.

"What are you guys, five?" Issac bites back irritability. "Fine. Have it your way."

Rowen no longer looks surprised when Issac slides down next to him again, as Issac has done so several times already in the past few weeks.

"Sitting with me again? What's the occasion? Did your friends put you out?" Rowen asks.

"No. They're just being dumb," Issac grumbles. The two are silent for a bit as they slowly pick at the unappetizing lunch.

"You know, people are probably going to start saying stuff about you if you keep hanging around me," Rowen warns quietly. Issac opens his mouth to retort but Rowen cuts him off. "You might think that you don't care now, but Cloverfield is small, and the people here are pretty stubborn once they make up their minds. You're still new, so people are still deciding how to treat you. Don't make your life harder than it has to be."

"Well, it doesn't look like you're taking your own advice," Issac frowns.

Rowen just shrugs. Issac looks back hesitantly to where Trent and Kory are sitting inside the cafeteria and spots the two hunched over and whispering conspiratorially before turning back to look at Rowen who was now scribbling something illegible into his red journal.

To spite his judgmental friends, Issac decides to stay put for the rest of the lunch period instead of hopping back and forth between tables like he typically had. Honestly if he thinks about it, sitting in comfortable silence, listening to the birds chirp, and watching Rowen draw funny shapes and squiggles in interesting patterns wasn't too bad.

Rowen was interesting, and Issac found his patience with the other boy rewarding whenever Rowen opens up about his strange hobbies. Issac found himself genuinely enjoying himself. If nothing else, Rowen was a new and interesting distraction.

But, despite it all, some part of him missed the normalcy of hanging out with Kory and Trent. As he listened to Rowen explain the history behind the symbols he was adding and subtracting from the complex patterns, Issac questioned what he was even doing with his life anymore.

+

Issac begins making his way to Rosie's book club after the final school bell rings. He had originally planned to drop by Kory's movie club, but Rosie had cornered him during class and insisted.

"It's a book about two best friends that protect the world from supernatural creatures! It's my favorite book. I think you'll like it too!" Rosie pressed.

"Ok, ok," Issac agreed.

Stopping by the bathroom on the way to Rosie's club, Issac is confused when he walks in on a group of guys crowded around the handicapped stall, whispering and holding back laughter.