Sagas

{6} Magnetic pull ~ P

My eyes almost popped out when we arrived at the dining, I stood rooted to the floor, taking in the scene before me. The room was filled with students, about forty of them, both male and female, seated and hanging around the table. Some were still in their uniforms and some of them in night wares, chatting loudly and laughing as they dug into plates filled with all kinds of food. The chandelier was on and the room was well-illuminated and looked bigger than it did earlier.

There was so much food on the dining table I immediately understood why they all looked so healthy. The meals were lined up in separate dishes and set like a buffet. There were also several drinks, and to my surprise, there were about three wines as well.

I suddenly felt cold, despite the hoodie I had on, and I knew it came from within and not from the air conditioners in the room.

"These are all SS3 students?" I asked looking around at the unfamiliar faces of the people I would spend an entire year with. No one had taken notice of us yet.

"Yes, they are all our classmates." She answered. But faces were missing in the room, the prince, the girls from earlier and the head boy.

"This is what it looks like during meal times. Some of the prefects are not here because, they come in a bit late." She responded to my unasked question. "Let's get something to eat." She added.

We went further into the room and it didn't take long for eyes from every corner to start turning our way. I was a bundle of nerves at this point and kept my head down, walking behind Peculiar.

"That's her right?.... The new girl?" Whispers and questions flew into my ears from different directions and soon everyone was aware of my presence.

"My goodness... How is that a person?"

The whispers went on but I kept my eyes fixed on the floor.

"You pick your plate and cutleries here and then proceed to take whatever you want." She said taking a plate from the set on the table and collecting her cutleries.

I did the same and watched as she went over to the lined-up meals. It was like a feast, there was Chinese rice, spaghetti, stew, beef, chicken, chips and egg sauce, and fruits; Apples, peeled oranges, pineapple and watermelon were all on display. I was already salivating at the aroma and face of the food and realized how hungry I was.

Peculiar took some spaghetti, stew, chicken, and one red apple.

"Go on and take what you want." She encouraged me.

I tried to ignore the eyes on me, and went ahead to some Chinese rice with beef.

"Is that all you want?" She asked looking at my plate.

"Yes, I'm good," It felt unreal seeing so much food for just dinner, with lots of remnants everywhere on the table. These were people who probably had no idea what it felt like to not have several alternatives of food available to choose from.

She scanned the room with her eyes, looking for empty seats. "Come with me." She said when she found two empty seats.

I noticed she didn't look at the head of the table where there were about ten vacant seats.

"Who are those for?" She followed my eyes in the direction of the vacant seats.

"Those are for the head girl and head boy along with some other prefects."

She led the way to a space in the middle of the table.

"Hey Chris, stop drooling, it's disgusting." She said to a boy as we passed him, and he looked away embarrassed.