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Valerie's eyes shined brightly as she walked into the crowded cafeteria with her lunch in her hand.
She excused herself as she maneuvered through her fellow students and towards the table that her two closest friends sat at.
She watched as Demetri nearly jumped out of his skin as she unexpectedly plopped down in the chair next to him.
"A warning would have been nice." He scoffed, watching her roll her eyes at his dramatics before deciding to ignore him and instead focus on the boy next to him.
"Hi, Eli."
He smiled softly, his voice as quiet as his presence alone, "Hey, Val."
"Hey, Val." A deeper, more flirty and confident voice cut in, the smile clear in his voice.
"Hey, Auggie." Demetri switched the tone of his voice to sound more feminine.
He was met with deadpanned looks across the table. Hoping he'd earn at least one laugh, he looked at Eli for some back up only for the Moskowitz boy to shake his head.
"I was waiting in the hall for, like, five minutes. Why didn't you tell me you were already here?"
"I did." Valerie hummed, not at all phased by her boyfriend's inability to check his phone.
"Hey, look at this." Demetri nodded on the direction of a boy looking around for somewhere to sit.
Val, more than happy to make a new friend, gasped, "We should invite him over."
"No, we should not." August disagreed, reaching forward to take the carrots off her plate, giving her his grapes.
"Looks like we won't have to." Demetri said.
"Is it cool if I sit here?"
Demetri winced, "Ooh, table is really blowing up right now. I can put you on the wait list, but it's probably next semester at the earliest."
The boy frowned, stepping away as his cheeks grew red with embarrassment, "Okay."
"He's kidding. Sit." Val gestured to the empty chair in between August and Eli.
"Miguel." The boy in questioned let a small smile slip.
"Demetri." He introduced himself, "Eli. He's a man of few words."
