The Wallflower And The Jock {on hold}

3. When In Doubt, Start A Food Fight.

3. When In Doubt, Start A Food Fight.

 

  I ignored the stares that were directed at me as I looked for a place to sit.  Brent was already with his clan, as I would like to call them, because they never went anywhere alone. Seriously. 

   I tried to ignore Sarah, the queen bee of our school, as she whispered something into Brent’s ear and laughed, whilst flipping her hair in a way that could definitely crack her neck.

   I actually kind of wish it would right now.

   “Hey Zoe! Over here!”

   I made my way to the person calling my name, Selena, my best friend (I have friends too, you know), who was sitting with Layla, my other best friend. That was us. The trio. They were the only people who would befriend me after Brent rose to popularity and sort of well, left me down the social ladder.

  But I didn’t mind.

   Lunchtime rolled around pretty quickly.  I was really hungry, seeing as I didn’t get to eat my breakfast.

   “Listening to boring teachers seriously gave me an appetite.” I said.

  Selena turned to face me. “I know right! I couldn’t concentrate on anything that Ms. Belle was talking about because I was too busy thinking about food.” 

   Layla just rolled her eyes and laughed at us.  But before I could enter the cafeteria, I felt a really heavy body knocking me over.

   “Woah. Didn’t see you there, loser.” I looked up to see Keith Green smirking at me. Selena and Layla helped me up, but that didn’t make me less mad. The old Zoe would have brushed it off and moved on with her life, but that wasn’t me anymore. 

  “Hey! What the hell is your problem?” I yelled at him. Oh God. Big mistake, now everybody in the hall was looking at me. 

  Keith turned around to face me, with an astonished look on his face.  

 “Me?” He said, pointing to himself.

  “Yes, you. You knocked me over, and you don’t even have the decency to apologize?” I spat at him. Through my peripheral vision, I could see Brent making his way towards us. Great. He’s probably just going to insult me.

  “What’s happening here?” he asked. I just stared at Keith.

  “Nothing’s happening. Fine, I’m sorry. Let’s go, Brent.”

  I watched him turn around towards the cafeteria. My friends looked a little worried, but they just carried on like nothing happened.  It was only when we sat down that the silence was broken. 

  “Can I just say that you are freaking awesome?” Layla said as she grinned triumphantly. 

   Selena followed, “I am so proud of you.”

   I just laughed at their words.  I stood up to get a drink, when I suddenly felt something very hit me from behind.  I touched it. It was sticky. Very sticky.

   I looked to see Keith and the clan laughing at me.  I walked over to them and grabbed the milkshake that was on the table.  I took off the lid and poured it on his head. 

  Oh, the look on his face.

  I’m pretty sure that time paused at that very second, and I locked eyes with Brent. He looked shocked. And then, just like that the second was over. 

   And then I heard someone yell, “Food Fight!”

   Two things to remember when you’re in a food fight. One, do not stand in the middle of the cafeteria without throwing anything, and second, aim properly. Specifically not at the principal, who is very short-tempered, and a complete neat freak.

  In other words, do not be me.

***

  I guess cleaning the cafeteria was better than being suspended on the first day of school. But cleaning the cafeteria with the people you hated? Most certainly not enjoyable.

  “This is all your fault, loser.” Sarah said. I rolled my eyes, leave it to Sarah Miller to insult me while I was removing lasagna from the walls.

  “Can you just please shut up? I don’t want to do this any more than all of you do.” I replied, irritation clear on my voice.

  Brent, clearly seeing that this was not going to end well, intervened, “Hey Zoe, why don’t you come with me get a mop outside?”

Dropping my rag into the basin, I avoided eye contact with any of them as I followed Brent out of the cafeteria.

  “Okay. What was that?” he asked, the second after the cafeteria doors closed.”

  “What was what?” I said, not making eye contact with him.

  He crossed his arms.  “Today. Everything. What was that? The old Zoe wouldn’t have done any of that.”

  “Well nobody took the old Zoe seriously.” I said, and added as an afterthought, “Besides, if this actually works, if they start seeing me as someone that they shouldn’t mess with, instead of someone who can’t even stand up for herself, then maybe you can actually talk to me when there are people around.”

   He stepped forward, taking both of my shoulders, and stared into my eyes. “I’m sorry okay? This sucks for me too. But I thought that you understood.” He stepped back and put his hands back down.

   I tried not to mind the tingling sensation on my shoulders where his hands were, just seconds before.

   I took a deep breath. “I do understand. But I hope you know that if our roles were reversed, I never would have done what you’re doing now.”

   I turned towards the janitor’s closet, where I removed the mop from the side.

  Almost inaudibly, I heard him say, “I know.”

A/N: So there it is! I hope you guys like it, because I am quite proud of this chapter. That's three hours of staring at my computer and typing some words right there. Anywhooooo, hope you guys can spare a little time to click the vote button, it would mean so much :) Thanks :)