The Kids Are Cannibals [On Hiatus - See Desc]

Chapter 4

Mrs Georgia's arrival snaps me out of my thoughts. She walks in with Lara, who has circles under her eyes. It looks like she tried to cover them, but I guess the tears washed the concealer away. "Have a seat sweetie, and make sure to drink water, it will lift your mood" Mrs Georgia says while petting Lara on the back, who slowly makes her way to the nearest free seat.

Some kid who arrived not long before them, asks, far, far too loudly "did someone die?" upon seeing Lara's face. The teacher scolded the boy with a ferocious glare, before answering "don't be silly. Lara just had a bad sleep last night. Her sister called to check up on her. Lara will be staying, because one bad day isn't an excuse to skip class, and any good student would agree. Nobody sees you cry at school, Bobby, because you're not here half the time, so don't be impolite. When a student attends every class, you'll see their bad days, because we all have them. Now I can't wait to see your overdue papers after class today. You brought them, didn't you?" She says in a single breath, like a fiery dragon, asking the last part like she is 100% certain he did not bring in those papers.

Bobby only sinks into his chair in response and mumbles some excuse under his breath. I catch Lara's gaze and give her the most genuine comforting smile I can muster, and I am surprised when I find it isn't fake at all. I really do feel sorry for her. But I need to let this go. This is the last day that I meddle in Lara Gale's affairs.

•°•°•°•

Four O'clock comes by, and I walk out towards the parking lot. I haven't got much studying to do that I can't just do across the weekend, so I might head straight home and enjoy my Friday night.

I wave goodbye to some friends as I walk towards the street, but some kid catches my eye and races towards me. I reluctantly stop- my bag hanging off one shoulder, I wait for him to reach me.

"Hey Bobby" I sigh internally, when he catches up, but give him a friendly smile. "Anna, Hi, I have a question" He says, still trying to catch his breath (which is sad, because he ran for about five seconds straight). I wait for his question. "So" he begins, after he's done breathing heavily.

"Is it true what they say?"

"What who says?" I ask.

"You know, uh..." he looks around him suspiciously before whispering to me "Coffee Pouch".

The code word. Looks like I have a new customer. "What do you need?" I ask, slipping my other arm through my bag strap, more comfortably. "I don't know the rules exactly, you know, about what you are willing to do for people" he fidgets nervously with his orange curls, which are way too short to fidget nervously with. "But, I have ten bucks and my HSIE homework is way overdue. If I don't hand it in by Monday lunch time, they said they'll mark it as a fail, and my parents will kill me if I fail for being overdue one more time" He pulls a rolled up paper out the side of his backpack, and awaits my answer.

"You have the weekend to finish it. How much is left that you can't do it over the weekend?" I ask. He stares at his own shoes as he admits; " Well, it's less about time, and more about that I haven't a clue on what to do. I missed every HSIE class last week. I don't even know what HSIE stands for!". I click my tongue on the roof of my mouth in disappointment.

"I'll need fifteen. It's going to be hard to purposefully get half the questions wrong. And I will have to, or it will be extremely obvious that it was not you who did it" I say. He looks up and meets my eyes, staring at me as if I am Jesus Christ himself. He nods enthusiastically, "I can give you ten now, and five on Monday morning. I swear I will get here early" He says, holding out the blue ten dollar note towards me, as well as his papers. I shake my head, gently pushing the hand with the money in it towards his chest. "Give it all on Monday, I don't take deposits, don't worry" I say, taking the papers out of his hands- and I think he might have fallen in love. "You know, you were always cool and kind, but this is the coolest and kindest thing you ever did." He praises me, and my ego goes all the way up to my head, and I feel like a Queen. This is what I live for. The fame, the praise, the love, the undying respect. I am the exact person everyone wants me to be. I know them all back to front, and they don't know me at all. "Thanks Bobby" I smile, swinging my bag around and putting his homework in it. I can still finish this over the weekend. What's six more pages of work that I already did two days ago? "See you Monday!" he says as I swing my bag back over my shoulders and turn to walk off "Health Society and Its Environment." I call out as I make distance, but keep eye contact. He looks at me puzzled.