Middle School Miniature

Part 24, Pineapple Gets The Boot

I wasn't really fine. 

I was tired. I was a bit panicky. I was unsure if coming here really was the best choice. 

Even after some of the rough treatment so far, I was starting to feel that I could trust Max. At least he seemed to have my safety as a priority in his head, otherwise, I would not have expected that crazy escape we made from his house to happen. Jordan was also an odd addition to the ongoing situation. He seemed like a good friend, but also, since we got here was either staring fascinatedly at me or playing video games. 

The guys were chilling out playing something on Jordan's console while I just hung out on the coffee table. It was like the life-or-death situation wasn't even happening. Jordan had pointed out that we might as well lay low here while they were searching the area and that gaming was fun and would pass the time. I guess he wasn't wrong and gaming was better in most ways than pacing and worrying, but I would have liked to come up with a more long-term plan, or just any plan really. 

"You think your parents would be okay with me crashing here tonight?" Max asked when they were in between rounds of the first-person shooter game that they were playing.

"Yeah, honestly doubt they'll even notice. It's Saturday anyway, and it's their date night. I normally get to buy a pizza and just relax while they are at dinner or whatever." Jordan said distractedly. 

"Cool, that's great! What kind of pizza are you getting?" Max asked.

I just sighed and hugged my knees, my attention to the conversation wandered. Not that I wasn't hungry, I was feeling quite peckish since lunch had been unfortunately skipped, but I felt anxious. Those people were out there looking for me.

I felt heavy gazes on me and I looked up to both giant guys looking at me in various states of question and concern. I shrank back a bit. The sky-scraper faces were especially intimidating when I was the center of their overwhelming gazes. 

"Mmm, what?" I asked on the softer side. 

"What?" asked Max leaning closer, "I didn't hear your answer."

"What did you ask?" I forcefully asked a second time.

Jordan responded by repeating the question, "Do you have any preference for pizza?"

I thought a moment. "My favorite is Hawaiian." I knew this opinion would either go great or horrible, but it was the truth. Jordan made a face even as Max nodded his head side to side in semi-support,  though I suspected he was just being nice.

"Gross, I'm going to overrule that." Jordan rescinded his offer, "Would you be fine with a meat lovers pizza?"

"Yeah, that's fine." I agreed. I wasn't that picky about the kinds of pizza I ate. I wouldn't be eating a lot of the pizza in comparison to the boys anyway, so I didn't feel like I had room to complain about the flavor. 

The game was paused and Jordan stood to call the [insert favorite pizza place]. Max slid forward and sat on the floor to get closer to me and be nearer to my height level. 

"you look kind of upset." Max started as he put his head on one of his hands. His eyes took in every one of my features they could make out.

"I'm not upset." I sighed, "I'm just... I dunno."

"Are you scared?" Max asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No." I droned with a tone that said, 'No duh,' and looked down to the left. The table grain had so much detail that I wasn't used to.

"Then what? Because you've been quiet and avoiding Jordan and me for a few hours now. Those weird suit guys are probably long gone by now and we have somewhere nice to stay the night. Everything is going pretty alright, there is obviously something you aren't telling me."