Describing Happiness

Chapter Two: A Terrible Lunchtime

I have never felt so angry and frustrated in my whole entire life. What kind of person did that kind of thing? And what did I do to even deserve this? Dallin was a complete sadist.

It's nearing the end of second period, now, right before lunch. At this school, we have eight periods total; four each day, and they're all different unless you have a class that needs both days. I hope that isn't confusing. But my second period is German IV, and we weren't even doing anything since the old and wrinkly teacher had fallen asleep. Anyway.

It's right before lunch, and I've just experienced how exactly gossip spreads like wildfire. So far, I've passed through a lot of people in the hallway pointing at me. Some of them got to the point where they weren't even whispering anymore and they were just calling me rude, not-at-all-creative names.

"Hey, um..." Someone tapped me on the shoulder from behind me, interrupting my thoughts.

I turned around to look at them--it was a girl. "Yeah?" I guess I seemed frightening because she flinched at the sound of my voice... Oh, wait. I think I was accidentally glaring. After taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, I calmed myself and smiled politely. "Sorry. Did you need something?"

"Uh... You were kind of glaring into oblivion, so I thought I'd ask why that is." She seemed very sweet and kind as she returned a shy smile. 

I tilted my head slightly to the side, arching an eyebrow. "You haven't heard about me? At all?"

"... Was I supposed to?" The girl seemed confused, but she continued to try and maintain her smile. "But, um... I'm Emily Ryans."

To describe Emily Ryans, she had silky, light brown hair and a mousy look about her that seemed adorable. She also wore those hipster glasses that people were into, nowadays, and was actually considerably fashionable, if I do say so myself.

"It's nice to meet you, Emily. I'm Sophia." I held out a hand but she winced and didn't take it. I dropped it with an apologetic smile. "Ahh... Sorry."

Emily waved her hands, her eyes wide. "Oh, no, no! Uh, I just feel awkward shaking hands. A lot of disease out there, you know?" She laughed nervously. Honestly, I didn't know why she seemed so anxious, but I nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I understand." Silence filled the air between us, everyone else speaking excitedly or in hushed tones, and annoyingly I heard my name a few times.

Her hazel eyes darted anxiously around the room before they fell upon me. "Ah, um... Let's sit by each other at lunch- " She coughed before rephrasing that, "I meant, do you want to sit with me at lunch? I-I'm kind of new here, so..."

At someone asking me that... I felt kind of relieved. I was worried that I'd spend the rest of my high-school days all alone. I beamed at her. "I think I'll take you up on that offer."

Emily seemed to relax, no longer as tense as before, and when she smiled it seemed genuine. "The bell is about to ring, but I have to stop by my locker. How about I meet you in the cafeteria?" She nonchalantly pushed her glasses up her nose by pulling them up with the sides, and not the middle like you see in movies.

I nodded, forgetting about my anger because it seems that I've finally made a friend. "That's fine. I'll make sure to save a spot for you."

The bell began to ring before she could respond--the teacher was scared awake and dismissed us while breathing heavily. I gathered up all of my things, holding my notebook to my chest and tucking everything else into my backpack. Emily sent me one last smile while I slid on the backpack, then she walked out of the classroom.

I really hope she doesn't find out what the rumors are while she's at her locker. She'd probably no longer want to speak to me... With a shake of my head, I walked out of the door, my fingers curling and tightening around the edges of the notebook as I passed by others in the hallway, refusing to look them in the eye. It felt as if my name was being mentioned everywhere, but that feels conceited so I'm going to pretend that it wasn't.