Anna was beyond relieved to have survived throughout all her classes and was now heading to the cafeteria. The problem was she had no idea where she should go.
"Are you lost?" a deep voice asked behind her.
She turned around, seeing a tall man with his hands tucked inside the pockets of his black hoodie.
Anna took two seconds taking in his words and then shook her head. "Well, yes, I don't have quite the slightest idea where I'm going." She laughed quietly noticing she was alone with the man in the middle of the hallway.
"I'm actually going to the cafeteria," he said. "Where are you going?"
"Cafeteria."
The man grinned. "Follow me."
He began walking away slowly intending for her to follow him. She looked at his back as if stunned for a moment but shook her head, starting to follow him. She might be still lost but she was good at asking directions and was pretty much sure she could memorize the ways in short time.
"I'm Andrew, by the way."
"Anna."
"So I guess you're new around here. Freshman?"
She laughed. Did she look that young? "Sorry, no. I'm a transferee and I'm Junior. You?"
"Senior. I'm not surprised. You have no idea who I am."
She cocked an eyebrow. "Why? Are you some famous actor from a movie?"
He grinned. "Well, not exactly but somewhat treated like that. I'm a member of the football team."
"Oh," was all she said.
Few students had come in sight and she focused her eyes around her, trying to recognize the surroundings so she wouldn't get lost anymore.
"You wanna spend lunch at the table with us?" he asked when they entered the cafeteria.
"Well, uhm," she stuttered, "I don't know."
"Come on."
"Red!"
The familiar voice called to her senses. She turned her head to see Jake, rushing towards her.
"Hey." She smiled. "Wait, did you just call me Red?"
Jake smirked, wrapping an arm around her. "You're my Little Red Riding Hood, aren't you?"
Anna frowned, pushing him away. "What? I did not say that. Nor did I agree."
Jake laughed. "Let's go get your lunch," he said, not taking any response from her and dragging her away quickly.
"Wait," she said, stopping him, remembering that she forgot to thank Andrew.
Jake turned around, seeing Andrew standing there looking so out of place and confused. "Oh, hey, Andrew!" he greeted, "What's up?"
"Doing fine," Andrew replied, grimly. He just turned to Anna and winked before turning around and making his way somewhere.
Anna felt completely ashamed of herself. She didn't even thank him. Mentally, she told herself she would thank him if by chance they bump into each other.
After getting their lunch, Jake pulled her to a table where there were people talking to each other. As they walked, she heard girls laughing from her right. She turned her head to see a group of girls looking her way with looks of disgust and hatred on their faces. She instantly felt self-conscious, feeling the flow of prejudice drawn among their stares.
