Stairs to the stars

Chapter 7

Jeff finally finished shoving my shoe in my foot, and after that we left to the cafeteria. What does this idiot want with me? I'd rather spend my time alone rather being with this guy. I don't hate him, or like him. I just don't want to be with anyone right now.

We kept on walking to the cafeteria. No, it was more like he was dragging me there while I was struggling. Half way I gave up escaping and walked with him, he's way too strong, no matter how hard I pulled he just calmly pulled me along. It was like I was a doll being dragged by a little girl.

As we finally reached towards the cafeteria I started to pant a bit. I practically jogged because I noticed that Jeff was fast when he walks, as he had longer legs than mine. "We're not eating here, so come on!" Jeff demanded. Wait... We aren't eating in the cafeteria? I had blank confused expression glued to my face and I simply stared at him. He looked at me and smiled. "Remember I said I reserved a place for us, Ali?"

Oh yeah... Where is this 'Place'? I wondered"Ok, fine just take me there." I grumbled, allowing him to drag me, again. He had another smile on his face, which made me smile... a bit! We soon went through a red door that had a gold rim around it. I was curious about this door but never got the chance to ask.

The inside was massive, and bright, with red carpets, golden furniture, luxurious sofas, coloured windows, a huge flat screen T.V and chandeliers! Freaking crystal chandeliers! I froze and my mouth dropped to the ground. What kind of school was this?! I quickly snapped out of it and looked at Jeff. He reserved this place? How? Why?

Suddenly a man came up to Jeff  and me and asked "Bonjour, madam and monsieur. I am assuming your names are Jeff and Alice?". I looked at Jeff, not knowing what to do. "Yes we are" Jeff answered seeming amused at my expression. The man smiled and answered "Please follow me.". I did what I was told, still shocked how expensive this place looked. There were a couple of other students, but I recognised none of them.

We were led to a table for two, and on that table there were some silver dishes that were covered with round lids. I didn't even know what you  were supposed to call them. Suddenly a man out of nowhere pulled a chair and looked at me, clearly expecting something. I stared blankly back at him. After noticing he wanted me to sit down, I walked towards him and awkwardly sat on the chair. "Um...Thanks?" I said. Without saying a word, he bowed and left.

I looked around and saw a couple of students. I saw around 15 - 30 students. Suddenly another man appeared next to me. He grabbed the handle to the dish lid, and guess what was in there. There was a lobster, a lobster. Ok, this is way too much for me. I'd prefer normal food, you know pizza or a hamburger. The man lifted the other lids and showed me all the luxurious food.

"Umm......" I could not get any words out of my mouth. I looked up at Jeff and said "I pass". He simply looked back and smiled. "Oh yeah, sure, just remember if you're not eating it, you're going to waste a lot of money" He answered. How expensive can this lobster be? It might be a cheap one. "How much?". "$160 for the lobster, and the other dishes are $80 each." He answered.

What!? That'll go over $300! I groaned. This guy had money to burn."You mean I have to eat all of this? Your kidding me right? Right?" I practically shouted at him. Although he didn't look like he was kidding, all he was doing was just sitting there, smiling... Creepy. So, all I need to do is just eat everything on this table and I won't be paying, seems harmless enough.

Oh, but there was one problem, I don't know how to eat a lobster. Maybe I'm suppose to slice it? No, how about hitting it? Or am I suppose to eat the shell. "Pft... Hahahahahaha!" I suddenly hear a burst of laughter from Jeff, and I put my head down and blushed.

"What's so funny?!" I asked, looking down at the intricate patterns of the silk tablecloth, of course, knowing why he is laughing. It took a while for him to settle down. "Don't you know how to eat it?" he asked. "Well is it my fault not being able to afford these kind of meals?!" I shot back. "No, no, of course not." He replied, still chuckling a bit. "It's just amusing to see someone like you once in a while."

I kept on staring at him and looked at the red lobster. Suddenly I remembered something. "Oi, why did you do that earlier in class?" I asked, finally getting his attention. "Did what?" He inquired, I twitched, as if he 'didn't know'. "Don't play dumb, you know what you did during class." I said, with a hint of frustration. "Oh that!" He exclaimed, idiot. "I did that to get you in detention." He said bluntly.

I should've known that, but I didn't say anything. Ok, back to figuring how to eat this metal-like lobster. There then was an awkward silence but I didn't couldn't care less about it, but it looked like Jeff didn't like it. Instead of sitting there like the jerk he is, he came to my side, leaning behind me putting me between his arms, hands leaning on the edge of the table. "Should I teach you how to eat this lobster?" he asked.

"Hey, back off, I can find a way to eat this myself." I said stubbornly. But he just ignored me and grabbed my hands. He lowered his head next to mine and started controlling my hands, like a puppet. 'Ugh, I can't shake off his hands!' Once again I gave up pathetically, and for the same reason I couldn't fight back when he dragged me to this place, I'm weak.

I just stared at the lobster being crunched, crushed, snapped, by my hands, that were controlled by Jeff's hands. Finally, he got out most of the meat out of the lobster, and my mouth drooled. Realising that I was drooling I quickly wiped my mouth before anyone could see. A few seconds too late, "You have terrible table manners, Ali~" He teased, poking my cheek playfully. I turned my head and quickly bit his finger that was poking.

No effect. Instead, he just pulled his finger and ruffled my hair, "Naught girl~" he mocked. He went back to his side of the table and started eating the lobster. I did the same, and I'll admit it was the best thing I've ever tasted in my life. My face grew bright with delight and I couldn't stop smiling.

I stuffed all the meat in my mouth and my eyes glistened with joy. I looked at the side dishes and tried some as well. The cream soup was nice and warm, and the salad was crunchy and moist, the potato chips were soft and salty, and the other side dishes were 5 star well made.

Eating the last bit of meat, I was stuffed and couldn't move an inch! "How was the meal, may I ask?" Jeff questioned. I stopped smiling, covered my mouth with a napkin and adverted my eyes, "It was 'OK' I guess..." I replied. "Do you have a TV at your place?" He asked. Where did this come from? "Why do you care for what I have?" I asked. "In any case no I don't have a TV, in fact the closest thing that relates to modern technology is probably this phone." I said.

I pulled out my phone and showed it to him, the he nodded telling me that he understood. "Anyway I'm leaving now, thanks for the meal." I said. As soon as I reached the door Jeff grabbed my wrist. "What is it this time?" I moaned, "I was hoping to spend the whole lunch with you." He said. I was about to reject the favour but then came this word. "Secret" he says.

I hate this boy now, I just can't see any reason why a girl wants to jump on his arms. Then someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned and saw a woman. Wow she was beautiful, her face looked so fragile, her