franzverse

1

"So," Tango mumbled, staring at his three closest friends, whom he invited for a sleepover on a gloomy, rainy Friday night. "You guys are probably wondering why I even called you here in the first place."

"Did you get new fairy lights?" Eleanor asked, not realizing that she was ignoring her friend's question. "This room looks like it came straight out of an Urban Outfitters ad. Good job."

"Yeah, but that's not what I'm concerned about right now!" Tango sighed, pulling his wolf hat off and running a hand through his bright orange hair. "The truth is, I want to know your guys's opinions on, y'know, everyone at our lunch table.

Things have changed over the summer at Franz Ferdinand High. Why was it even called that, by the way? The school was in Glasgow, not Hungary, or Austria, or wherever. Anyway, first of all, there were no more single desks; everything was mainly about group work. Second of all, lunch tables were assigned, and if you got paired up with your friends like the self-proclaimed Fantastic Four (Tango, Eleanor, Michael, and Jaqueline) were, you were lucky as hell. But, there were a couple outsiders that made their perfect lunch experience incomplete.

"That kid, Ulysses, freaks me out," Michael laughed, leaning further back into Tango's white fluffy bean bag. "He gives me that totally-was-arrested-before vibe."

"I feel like the girl Sophia and him would make a cute couple," Jaqueline suggested quietly, holding her lucky pen to her chin. "Their personalities seem compatible."

"Partners in crime who probably own twenty seven thousand lizards," Tango joked.

"The rest of them look normal, at least." Eleanor looked at Tango reassuringly, who was leaning against his wooden walls, slowly reaching towards the window to let more air in. "Why so stressed?"

"I don't know...Wait, you guys know I get nervous in bigger groups!"

"Yeah. Those kids seem so nice though! Have you talked to Lindsey? She really wants to make friends..."

"Not yet." Tango looked across the room, and he saw Michael choreographing something, but he didn't know what exactly.

"Victorious by Panic! At The Disco!" Michael shouted.

"Pop punk trash," Eleanor muttered. She turned around and yelled to Michael. "Turn the Young The Giant station back on! I was enjoying the  Urban Outfitters vibe."

"So Lindsey?" Tango gulped, trying to relieve the tension.

"Yes, she looks like a good companion. I also like the way she dresses," Jaqueline remarked.

"Who else is there?" Michael jogged back and flopped back into the bean bag.

"That girl Katherine who only showed up to lunch once."

"I feel like she smokes," Tango stammered, shivering.

"Nah, she would have been caught by now." Eleanor smirked, "and I sat next to her, she doesn't smell like smoke." 

"I saw her and Alex talking one day," Michael giggled, eyeing Eleanor. "They were standing really close."

She shot up, smoke nearly coming out of her ears. "What?!"

Michael burst into laughter. "You have it bad for him! Admit it!"

"Stop!" Eleanor snapped at him, unable to stop her face from becoming red as a beet.

"Hah, beets, bears, battlestar galactica. That's what you look like." Michael laughed again, referencing The Office.

"W-What about Gregor and Ivor?" Tango stuttered, the bickering between Michael and Eleanor intimidating him.