The One Who Ran Away

Chapter Two

Jo scanned the lunch room and frowned. She marveled at the cliché situation. Not a single open lunch table. The new girl in town and not a single lunch table to sit at. Jo scowled and made her way towards the back of the cafeteria with her red tray. She could feel eyes on her, watching her, judging her. She finally made it to the back wall without a problem and she turned to sit. She slid her back down the wall and carefully, yet ungracefully, dropped to the ground.

Jo stared down at her food. This Monday's lunch consisted of popcorn chicken salad, whatever that was, applesauce, chocolate milk, and a dinner roll. Jo speared a piece of lettuce, wary of the little chicken chunks hiding among the green leaves.

"The chicken isn't that bad, you know," a voice above her informed her. Jo looked up into a pair of dark brown eyes. Chocolate strands of hair fell into the owner's eyes. She hastily pushed the hair back behind her right ear. She was leaning over Jo, gazing into her salad. The girl smiled brightly, squeezing her eyes shut, scrunching up her nose and showing her top teeth.

"Name's Addie. What's yours?" The girl stood up straight and popped her hip out as she crossed her arms. She continued to smile brightly, and her grin seemed to be contagious. Jo smiled back. "Josephine. Call me Jo."

"Nice to meet you, Jo." Addie said. "Why don't you came sit with me? The floor doesn't look too comfy," she grimaced. Her cheery face dissolved into one of disgust as she looked down at the linoleum floor. Jo confirmed Addie's guess and stood up. Addie motioned for her to follow and led Jo to a central table in the far right of the room. Jo noticed only a few people occupied the table. Addie took her seat next to a cute blonde girl and motioned for Jo to sit on her other side. Jo gratefully took the seat and surveyed the tiny group of people.

Three girls and two boys, including Addie. The two girls couldn't have looked more different. The cute blonde had sparkly blue eyes and not a single scrap of makeup on her face. Jo didn't wear any of that stuff either and so she gave the girl a smile. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a low messy bun. A few tresses of hair fell out, framing her round face beautifully. She wore a simple, plain black t-shirt and Jo thought she could see jeans. The other girl wore a different style. Her long, wavy, light brown curls looked styled and reached down her back, almost touching the seat underneath her. She wore a pretty lime green sundress that matched her green eyes. Her makeup looked absolutely perfect and Jo wondered if this was her "lazy day" outfit.

The blonde smiled back at her, but Jo could feel the brunette's eyes scanning her. Jo didn't honestly care if her jeans, black tank top and loose red and white plaid didn't meet her standards, but she hoped the girl would end up being polite at the least. Eventually the girl smiled, a shy smile albeit, but a smile all the same.

"Jo, this is the table. Table, this is Jo," Addie said by way of introduction.

"Gee, way to introduce us, Ad," one of the boys across the table said. Jo noticed that the two boys sat together while the girls took the other side of the table. Except for the brunette girl.

Jo took this opportunity to study the boys. The boy across from her could only be described as plain. Brown hair, brown eyes, classic average person. However, the smile he threw her way shocked her. When his face had been inert, it had been plain. Now that he was smiling, his face was lit up. Two, deep dimples made an appearance and his eyes lit up. Jo had never seen anyone's face light up like that. It was a pleasant transformation. The other boy had inky black curls that went every-which-way. They fell into his cobalt blue eyes and over his ears. He gave her a smirk and continued to eat what looked like a salami sandwich brought from home. Jo frowned at him.

"I'm Luke," the brown haired boy finally introduced himself. Jo gave him a smile. Her heart beat was louder than she expected as he gazed at her, his brown eyes piercing her.