Homeroom 23

Chapter Seven: The Right Side of My Neck

Unsurprisingly, dinner was not the most cheerful meal of the day. Despite the entire class being insanely hungry due to the fact that we were not fed lunch, no one seemed to be too excited about eating. Noah, in particular, was definitely the most affected out of the students. I sat picking at my food in silence while Anthony patted his back and tried to comfort him. Even though he never talked, our lunch table still felt emptier without George.

Ms. Liams was sitting in her usual spot at the corner of the room, and it looked as if she had edges years in the span of a day. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her hair was a mess. She didn't even say anything to the rest of the kids when they started throwing food at each other.

Despite their food fights, it wasn't as if the popular kids were happy about the news either. They were acting nothing like they usually did, except for a small handful of kids; that handful being Xavier, Samantha, and Matt. Don't get me wrong—even they weren't as cheerful, loud, and obnoxious as usual, but that's not exactly a very high bar to reach. The rest of the kids seemed to only be throwing food in order to keep a semblance of what they considered normality in their now entirely flipped world. One boy in particular had his head completely resting on the table, and yet was still grabbing food from his tray and flinging it across the room. I unintentionally took note of Mellany, who was sitting next to Ava in a circle of other girls who appeared to all be whispering about something. I also subconsciously took notice of Daniel who, for the most part, seemed to be ignoring me just fine. That's what annoyed me so much about those types of boys, one second they can be so nice to you, and the next—it's like you never existed.

Dinner was doing a perfectly good job of making everybody miserable and dampening the room, when it decided to up its game. Mr. Murrey along with two Campus Security Officers (I don't know why he insisted on taking them wherever he went, as if they actually did anything except stand there and look threatening.) Ms. Liams instantly straightened up, the kids in the front of the room suspended their food throwing, and even Noah managed to pull himself up to look at Mr. Murrey.

Mr. Murrey nodded at everyone as if nothing was wrong and it was just another normal day, and brought himself to the front two lunch tables, where the majority of students sat, and positioned himself in between them. Unlike when Xavier gave speeches, he didn't feel the need to stomp on the table or pull out a convenient metal utensil. He knew we were all watching him, so he went right on with what he needed to say.

"I know you must all be very distressed and worried about everything that has happened, but there have been changes you need to be aware of." His voice boomed over the cafeteria, and a wave of hope went through the students. Has he decided to let us go home? "You are all to stay here until the person responsible has been found," he continued, and the small flame of hope burnt out. "But, there will need to be a change around here to make something like this work. For one; there will now be lunch served in the cafeteria. Just like breakfast and dinner, attendance is mandatory."

Mr. Murrey stared intently at one of the boys at the table in front of him, who was waving his hand frantically in the air. Of course, I knew the boy was Matt Bennet, so I wouldn't have answered him if my life depended on it, especially if I was trying to give a speech. But of course, Mr. Murrey didn't know Matt Bennet—and if he did it wasn't well enough—because he called on him.

"Young man in the blue," he addressed him, which for some reason made a couple kids snicker. "What is your question?"

"Mr. Murrey," he asked innocently. "Do you have back problems?" A couple kids covered their mouths, and some just let their mouths hang open agape. They must've heard whatever Matt was doing before, but Mr. Murrey sure hadn't, because he just looked perplexed.

"What did you just say to me?" He asked sternly, but he honestly looked more confused.

"I was just wondering if your back is in pain because of the giant stick up your ass!" The rest of the lunchroom erupted into laughter at that, and I have to admit that even me and Anthony were laughing (Noah was still laying on the table.) I noticed both Daniel and Xavier giving him a high-five as Mr. Murrey began turning red with rage. I'm still convinced that if I was at one of the front two tables I would've seen steam coming out of his ears. When he finally un-scrunched his face enough to say something, he could only manage a single word.