The morning goes by agonizingly slow. The first three textbooks teachers had passed out hang on my back and already make it ache.
I walk into the lunchroom and get in line to buy my lunch. I grab a tray and put the only decent food on it- chicken nuggets. After paying for my food I look around the lunchroom trying to find a familiar face. I spot Carolyn's dark hair and start to walk over to her table. I stop when I notice that her table that seats twelve is full. This is why we don't hang out away from school.
I walk around a little more and I spot the 'nerd' table. Only Josh, Ryan, Greg, Derrick, Will, and Sean sit there, leaving half the table open. I see Ryan happily eating some sushi, and I feel a little jealous missing out on the Japanese delicacy.
Suddenly Liam comes into my peripheral vision. He walks towards Ryan's table with one hand holding his lunch tray and the other one hanging loosely by his side. As he walks by he uses his free hand to slap the Tupperware that contains Ryan's sushi off the table, the sushi spilling out onto the floor. Ryan's friends stare at Liam in shock, and Ryan clenches his fists while Liam bursts out laughing. He doesn't even stop to give Ryan a second glance and starts to walk past me.
"What's your problem?" I say with a raised voice, clearly aggravated.
"Is Ms. Jenny sticking up for the nerds?" Liam mocks in a toddler voice.
"Grab a baseball Liam and shove it up your ass" I say and walk past him. It takes everything inside me to not flip over his own tray.
Ryan stares at me with wide eyes as I sit down next to him.
"You didn't have to do that" he says, his voice deeper than I expected.
I look at Ryan and the rest of his friends and wonder why the school has targeted them to pick on. They range from average looking to actually attractive. I guess it must be their lack of interaction with everyone else.
"Liam's a dick and I can't stand that. I had to do that" I respond to Ryan. I shove my tray of chicken nuggets in front of Ryan. "Here" I say.
Ryan's eyes drop down to the food and then back to me, eyeing me along with the rest of his friends. "Is this a joke?" he asks skeptically.
I feel bad that no one has treated these guys right in the last three years they've been here. "Of course not. Eat" I demand.
"What will you eat?" Ryan asks.
I know I'm sacrificing my lunch by doing this since the change in my bag isn't enough to get another lunch.
"I'll just eat when I get home" I say.
"Thanks" he says with a small smile.
He turns to his friends. "This is-" he begins to say while pointing to Josh.
"I know who you guys are. We've been going to the same school for the last three years" I say.
"True. But that can't be said for everyone else" Josh comments.
"I'm sure they know your names. They probably just act like they don't to be jerks" I say.
"It still hurts" Ryan says. His voice sounds sad, but when I turn to look at him his face is deadpan; he's staring at me and gauging my reaction. It makes me feel a little uneasy.
"Just think that these idiots will plateau once they get out of high school. You can't act like a dick in real life and expect to get or keep a real job" I say.
"True" Derrick agrees and nods his head.
After this discussion with the boys, I think they warm up to me a little. We talk about our schedules and it turns out I have physics with Ryan. Soon the bell rings and it's time to go to my next class.
