Firsts

First Food Fight

I absolutely love drama class. Apparently, having only a few options for entertainment with one of them being 'put on one-woman shows for your mother' has it's advantages in an acting class. Combined with my early love of Broadway, I'm easily the most enthusiastic kid in that class. Julia and I got paired with another kid, Brandon, to do a skit that should be finished and presented to the class by next Monday. We're going over to Brandon's house tomorrow to work on it.

In drama, I've made a lot of new friends, and my obsession with Broadway is not only accepted, it's actually the usual in this club. Julia and I talk on our way to first lunch, which, luckily, she has, too. I'm no longer quiet, which Julia notices.

"Thanks for finally joining the conversation," she remarks, teasingly.

I just grin and launch back into the topic of how annoying it is that a lot of people only know Idina Menzel as Elsa, one of my favorite things to complain about. Apparently, it's also one of Julia's favorite things to complain about, too, because I get a lot of feedback instead of the usual nods and "uh-huh"s from my mother. I'm glad to have met her and wonder why my mom would keep me locked away from such a wonderful world. I think back to Julia's earlier comment. Maybe she's right about my mom talking crap all these years. Or maybe not.

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to get mashed potatoes, jello, and salad dumped on your head? Trust me, you don't want to know. I wipe potatoes off of my forehead and out of my stinging eyes, only to find myself looking up at the popular girls I ran into in the hallway. The lunchroom erupts into laughter. My face burns and Julia's furious, food-coated face looks blurry. I beg the tears not to come, and I almost lose it completely, but a boy speaks up.

"Amber, that's not cool. It's her first day."

I look up to thank him, but become speechless. One word comes to my mind. Gorgeous. He's tall with his dark hair spiked up and bright green eyes. He's wearing a black t-shirt under a letterman jacket and blue jeans.

"Ashton," Amber whines. "It was an accident! Look! I got some on my sleeve." She holds out the sleeve of her white jacket, and points to the tiniest speck of potatoes. "Can you get me some napkins?"

The boy, Ashton, grabs a handful of napkins, but moves to me, instead.

"Here," he says, bending down and wiping off my face. "I'm sorry about that. Either my girlfriend is really clumsy, or just a huge jerk. I love her, so I'm hoping it's the second one."

My heart sinks when he says the world girlfriend, but shatters completely when he says the word love and gives her an adoring look. He stretches out his hand to help me up, and I grin stupidly, even though I know I have no chance. He hands me the rest of the napkins, then turns to Julia, helping her up. We thank him, I blush, and he turns back to his girlfriend. Julia and I silently walk to the bathroom, pretending to be completely unaffected, but as soon as the bathroom door closes, the Amber-bashing starts.

"Can you believe her? It's only your first day, and already you've had someone's lunch dumped on your head! I mean, it's not like you just moved. It's literally your first day of school ever! Plus, I thought this sort of thing would be below Lizzie and Jade, but this just proves that they'll literally do anything for her!"

By the time Julia finishes, her face is bright red, and she's breathing heavily. I look at her, covered in food, salad dressing dripping off the edge of her long nose, her face as read as the tomato stuck to her shirt, and crack up. I can't help it. I just laugh and laugh, and, within a few seconds, Julia and I are both gasping for breath.  

"You know I'm right," she says, trying to keep a straight face, but I give her a look, and she can't quite hold it together. 

Julia and I manage to get most of the food out of our hair and off our skin, but decide to wear out gym clothes for the rest of the day. We make it back to the lunchroom in time to buy a bag of chips and a soda each. Julia and I check our schedules. Unfortunately, we'll be split for the next two periods and won't meet back up until eighth period Home Ec. Before we go our separate ways, me to my Trig. class and her to her English class, we run into Annabelle. 

"Oh my gosh, Skylar!" she says, wrapping her arms around me. I gingerly hug her back, confused. "I'm so sorry about what happened in the cafeteria. That was just awful!" 

I turn to Julia. "I'm just lucky to have a friend like Julia. She's really helpful and we have a ton in common." 

Annabelle extends her hand. "Hi. I'm Annabelle. Skylar's staying with me and my mom right now." 

Julia smiles warmly and shakes Annabelle's hand. 

"Nice to meet you." 

And with that, Annabelle walks past us, Julia turns right, and I head straight on, all by my lonesome, hoping I can face a trig class alone.