Premonition

Chapter 3

It took me a good two hours to fall asleep last night, which doesn't really surprise me. I don't sleep much anymore. It's awful.

The school day was nothing noteworthy. I showed up at 7:00 A.M., wanted to shoot myself in the face the entire day, and headed to the cafeteria at 2:11 to meet my friends. I told Lucía to meet here, too. I wonder if she'll show up.

I sit atop a table (yes, I sit on the table) and wait for my friends. Will is first.

"Hey Saturn! How's it going?" he greets me with his famous smile. I smile back, but my smile is much more pathetic.

"It's going alright. I had to spend the night at Eli's again," I inform him. His smile immediately softens. It's a sad smile now.

"Another fight, huh?" he asks, and I don't reply, because I know he already knows the answer.

Mira is next to arrive. As soon as she reaches Will and I, she looks me up and down.

"You did not sleep well last night, did you?" she quizzes, partially joking but also being dead serious. I again don't reply, I just chuckle slightly. I really don't want to talk about last night.

Sora shows up next and now we are just waiting for Eli and Lucía. I then remember I haven't even told Mira or Will about Lucía yet. Oops.

"Hey guys, er..." I mutter, "I met some girl yesterday, her name is Lucía. I told her she could hang out with us today, 'cause she's new to school and doesn't have any friends. Is that okay?"

Mira looks at me nervously before looking at Will, who's grinning.

"Sounds great!" he beams. Mira turns back to me and nods.

"Sure, whatever."

It is then when Eli finally shows up. He's almost always the last one to arrive.

"So..." starts Sora, "when is Lucía supposed to get here?"

"I don't know," I say with a shrug. "I told her to meet us here."

Almost as if she was directed by someone, Lucía makes her way over to us from the locker section of the school as soon as I finish my sentence. She looks incredibly nervous.

"Sorry I took so long...!" she cries out before she even reaches us. "I got a little lost..."

"No worries," I flash her a soft smile. She smiles back as she finally reaches the group.

"U-Um... hi everyone!" she announces herself. "I'm Lucía, and I, um, I'm new here! My pronouns are she/her and... I'm a senior! I met Saturn in German class and he kindly offered to let me hang out with you guys, because I don't know anybody here."

Everyone is calmly listening to Lucía, except for Eli, who I notice is looking around the room for something. Only God knows what.

Our friend group quickly goes around and introduces themselves to Lucía. She intently listens, as if there will be some sort of quiz on this later on.

"We're, uh, going to piss around at Target for a bit," Eli tells her. "Want to come?"

"Sure-! I'd love to-!" Lucía quickly responds.

"Alright, well, we have to take two cars because there's six of us. So, um, do you wanna drive with me or Will?" Mira asks. "Oh, erm, unless you can drive yourself."

"Unfortunately, I don't have a parking pass yet," Lucía shakes her head sadly. "But, um... I'll drive with whoever!"

"I-I'll take you," Mira offers, and this interaction makes me realize how painfully awkward this whole thing has been.