(Outdated) The King of Elements (part 2)

Chapter 59

With it being the day before Thanksgiving, the cafeteria was almost empty. The few remaining students were on their phones, no doubt trying to leave school early. Michael raised an eyebrow as he took a drink from his bottle of strawberry milk, looking up at Megumi, who gave a love-filled sigh as she picked around her food. She rested her chin on her hand, her food untouched. It was odd watching Megumi not eat her food, especially food from home. Could the impossible actually have happened? Did Megumi actually fall in love with food?

Swallowing a spoonful of lumpy mashed potatoes, he began. "Uh, Megumi?"

"Hm?" She looked up at him with sparkling eyes.

"Are you... feeling alright?"

"I'm feeling absolutely fantastic," she said, smiling wide. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's just that you're looking like you want to take your food out for dinner. I know that you have an obsession for food, maybe even an unhealthy obsession," he said in a low voice before clearing his throat, "but don't you think that this is taking it too far?"

"Huh? I have no idea what you're talking about?" she said with a large grin, as if she hadn't had a care in the world.

"Geez, it's like the whole school got a bad case of senioritis." Both Dre and Kim sat down at the table; Dre sat beside Keiko, who was too busy reading to notice, while Kim sat beside Megumi, who didn't even acknowledge her.

"I think we lost Megumi, guys," Michael said.

Dre looked over to her. "Lost? She's sitting right there."

"No. Not like that. Look, Megumi?" She raised her eyes at Michael. "Blueberry muffins are disgusting."

"Hey, everyone's got their opinion's right?" She went back to picking at her dressing.

Panic filled Kim and Dre's eyes as they looked at the group. "Dude, that's scary. Let me try. Hey, Megumi? Did you notice that Keiko is taller than you now?" He held up his hands to protect his face.

"She is?" Megumi asked as Keiko asked, "I am?"

He peaked through his fingers. "Yep. How does that make you feel?" he asked before snapping his fingers closed.

She looked over to Keiko and smiled. "Good for you. You deserve it." Keiko beamed at her.

"Yeah, she's tweaked." Dre ate a spoonful of dressing before his face soured.

A phone rung; almost as quick as a heartbeat, Megumi's cellphone was out. A smile crossed her face as she began furiously typing away. "Oh. I think she's a bit preoccupied with something else. Have you told them yet?" she asked Megumi.

Realization swept across Dre's face as Megumi looked at Kim. "Not yet. H-Hold on. Let me finish up this text." The four of them waited in silence at the clacking of Megumi's phone. She slid it back into her pocket. "Okay, guys. I have an announcement." She took a deep breath.

"You and Katherine are dating?"

Strawberry milk jetted out of Michael's nose at Dre's assumption and splashed across the table into Megumi's plate. Every eye, except for Keiko who was in an uproar at Michael, had turned to Megumi, who gave a shy smile. "Surprise?"

"Well, you could've given me a 'shocking news' warning before I drank my milk," Michael said as he wiped the twin streams of milk from under his nostril with a paper towel.

"It's not shocking news, it wonderful news," Kim said cheerfully. She reached over and hugged her. "Congrats, Megumi. How did it happen?"

"Well, it went like this. Katherine asked if she could speak to me in private, so I convinced my mom to give me the key to her room. We went over there after the virtual training. She originally was telling me that she read my emotions the last time I was over and that she found out that I had a crush on her because of that, but then that led to how she felt about me. She said that she didn't know, and I wanted test how she felt, so I kissed her."