12

one

Spencer~Gemini

"Are you decent?"

I glanced up from my gym locker to see a girl covering her eyes with her gloved hands. Her winter jacket was covered with droplets of water that were once snow.

Suddenly I realized I was shirtless.

"Olivia, what the hell?!" I yelled as I quickly grabbed my shirt and covered my chest.

"I always thought the boy's locker room would be all sexy, but it actually just smells like feet in here." Olivia removed her hands, her almond-shaped brown eyes twinkled with amusement. Her voice showed she was stifling laughter.

I awkwardly wriggled into my shirt and shoved my wrestling gear into my gym bag, "Haha very funny."

She burst into giggles. "You should be grateful that I came in after all the guys left," She whipped out her phone, "so Chipotle?"

"Chipotle."

"Wait!" A voice called out, Djal appeared around the corner, his ebony skin glistened with sweat,"you guys are going to Chipotle without me?"

"Well at least you're completely dressed," Olivia joked. I rolled my eyes. "Come on," I put my hand in Djal's shoulder and led my friends out.

~~~

Naturally, Djal, being Djal, got a salad, making Olivia and I look like pigs.

"You know you'll die if you eat those," Djal insisted.

"Well, I would rather die fat than starving," I took a bite out my burrito as I collapsed into a chair while Olivia stole one of my tortilla chips.

"Fair enough. So did you finish that history paper?"Djal stabbed at his salad.

"No, I thought it was due next week."

"It's due this Friday Olivia!"

I laughed as Djal and Olivia argued. I zoned out and ended up watching the crowd walking in, mostly some classmates, a couple families here and there. A couple walked in and sat at the next table.

We come here every Wednesday after practice. It's become a tradition ever since we started high school. The slight dingy smell of Mexican food, the bright lights, the calm environment. I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

Suddenly, I felt a strange burning sensation on my wrist. I pulled my sleeve and wristband down where I saw a weird symbol that looked like the roman numeral for two, but with the tops and bottoms curved. As I glanced up, I saw Djal's hand covering his neck as he grimaced. Olivia shifted uncomfortably in her seat as I saw her reach towards her ankle.

"You guys felt that? The burning?" Both of them nodded before we heard the scream from behind the counter. The cashier had ran into the backroom. The couple's eyes now both glowed red and a had black slits instead of pupils, like a snake's eyes. Instantly Djal ran towards the door,"It's locked!" as he pushed against it . The sound triggered the couple and hissed at our group. Glancing at Djal and Olivia, I could tell they were terrified.

"You gotta be a leader, protect your friends,"The little voice in my head said.

"Exactly how do you plan to do that, though? Fend yourself with your geometry textbook?"

Olivia sank down under the table gripping her ankle. Djal shrank against the door as the couple advanced, slowly morphing into a pair of humanoid snakes with pine green skin and beady red eyes. Ugh, reminds me of last week's match. That school seriously had a sanitation issue.