The Unknown

Chapter I

MIA

Music: Hit the Showers! from Parodius Da! SNES

I'm sure we have mentioned several times before how grateful we are for the time of day that is lunchtime.

That still hasn't changed.

Ever since we transitioned from middle school to high school, it's gotten a lot harder to find time in the day where we can all get together and socialize. This is partly because our campus is so much bigger, so most of us just migrate to some area close to where our 1st hour is and chill out there until the bell rings in the morning. Also, school starts even earlier than it did in middle school, so half the time, people are tired and just don't want to talk at all. Or they just let an older sibling or parent drive them here right before 1st hour begins, which is actually the case for a couple of us. Also, we got incredibly screwed in terms of classes; hardly any of us have any classes with each other. For instance, I have Shanna and Mackenzie in 4th hour (choir), Sean in 2nd hour (history), and Skylar in 1st hour (orchestra) and that's it. We also barely get any time to interact with each other in said classes.

Thankfully, in high school, lunchtime is a bit longer and you have a lot more freedom as to where you can sit. My crew has found a nice table near the middle of the cafeteria (or, I'm sorry, the "commons") that we've been sitting at together pretty much every day since the beginning of the year.

And today, let's just say I have some exciting news to share with them.

Midway through 5th hour (math) is when my lunch shift is. After walking down to the cafeteria and getting a tray of food, I make a direct beeline to my table. We're in our standard seating arrangement. I take a seat between Sean (my boyfriend) and Mackenzie (my foster sister, it's complicated). To Mackenzie's left is one of my favorite people ever, Shanna. Across from Shanna is Avery, and to Avery's left is Elle, Sam, and Heath, in order. The only other person in our group, Skylar, doesn't have this lunch shift. As for Luke, he moved away about two weeks ago. He didn't have this lunch shift either.

As I take my usual seat at our table, Mackenzie and Shanna immediately catch on to my excitement. "Alright, Mia. The smile on your face isn't normally this big. What's up?" Shanna asks, sharing my grin.

"My English teacher just assigned me to write a short narrative, and I have the PERFECT idea!" I exclaim, letting the joy that's been building inside of me all day show.

"Aw, really? You get to do that in English?" Sam pouts. "My English teacher has us working on sentence structure and grammar correction and all that crap."

"Hey, I find Mr. Russel's lessons interesting," Heath replies defensively.

"Heath, no offense, but you find the dumbest shit interesting."

"Well, maybe my brain just works differently than the rest of yours," Heath sighs, rolling his eyes.

"Isn't anybody going to ask what my idea is?" I ask, slightly impatient.

Avery places her hands on the table, looks in my direction, and gives me the biggest fake-smile she can muster. "So, Mia, what's your idea?" she asks, pretending to be polite.

I decide to take what I can get. "Thank you for showing some interest!" I exclaim sarcastically. "Basically, it's gonna be about these two detectives who work for this organization that investigates the supernatural side of crime."

"Did you get that idea from Supernatural?" Sean asks.

My grin returns and I narrow my eyes. "Maybe."

Mackenzie sighs. She's never been too thrilled with my fandom obsessions. "Mia. That show is stupid."

"Actually, it has a lot of accurate information relating to a wide variety of paranormal happenings," I reply.