The Risk of Falling

Chapter Eight: Friends and Friendships

"There's an unidentifiable black slime on my mac and cheese."

I glanced over at Jillian's tray and found the offending speck. I lifted the bowl and peered at it before putting it back on her tray. "It's a piece of charred fat from the ham pieces they threw into it. It's fine."

"How can you say that?" she demanded as we slowly moved a spot in the line. "What if it's some type of animal excrement—human or otherwise—or a fungal growth that will contaminate me with some kind of undiscovered strain of disease? Even if it doesn't, it’s just gross."

I rolled my eyes at Jillian who made a helpless, disgusted face. "Then don't eat it. Tell Mira to get you a new batch."

Her hazel eyes rounded behind the lenses of her thick, black, square-framed glasses. "And risk losing a finger or a hand? I swear, the people who ever complain about lunch get abducted into a some secret room where Mira chops them up for soup the next day."

The image didn't agree with my rumbling stomach and I made a gagging expression at her.

I adore Jillian but she was a whip-smart, crazy woman with a feisty personality and no brain-to-mouth filter.

"I think you said that one too loud. Mira's looking right at you."

We both turned at the familiar, laughing voice and found Ryan behind us, on the other side of the metal rail that guided the line, grinning broadly.

Jillian snuck a glance at the cafeteria manager who was forcefully flinging a large spoonful of stiff mashed potato on someone's plate a few spots down behind us. The woman, despite her small stature, was known to strike fear into the hearts of many lunchers in the cafeteria with just her pitbullish expression and complete lack of humor. She was currently looking at us with her beady eyes.

"Relish what time you have left with that hand, Jill. Won't be long," I teased her, earning a smack on the arm from her as I burst out laughing at the panicked expression on her face.

"Ryan, there must be a legal complaint I could make against someone mentally and emotionally torturing me with my deepest phobia," Jillian complained as she gave me another smack on the arm for good measure.

I stuck my tongue out at her. "And there must be one for battery and assault. Right, Ry?"

Ryan just laughed and shook his head. "Okay, enough you two before you seriously hurt each other.  I have to get in line to get food anyway. I'll talk to Mira and plead your case with her, Jill."

"Oh, good," I said with an excited smile. "Mira worships  you, Ry. She'll give you her firstborn in the next life if you asked."

Ryan attempted a stern look at me as we got to the till. "I'm not interested in anyone's firstborn but my own."

"I didn't realize you were thinking of babies now, man."

We looked behind Ryan and found Luke standing there grinning. 

Ryan, who must've recognized the voice, groaned and turned around to greet his friend. "Ah, Luke. How's it going, man?"

"Good," Luke answered as he clapped Ryan's back. "I must be missing some exciting conversations here if you guys are talking about body parts, legal complaints and firstborns."

I smiled. "Don't worry. None of those are related to you in any shape or form."

His eyes met mine and they were a deep blue sparkling with humor. "I'm glad to hear that. I'd like to keep my body parts, my freedom and my firstborn."

"Hi, Mr. Hedenby," Jillian greeted, watching Luke curiously. "We didn't realize you lunched here too."

I almost jabbed Jillian on the ribs. Of course we all knew that he never lunched in the cafeteria but Luke just smiled and glanced up at the menu overhead.