Learn To: Exist

after two

iii. 

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Just a really quick pre-author’s note, this chapter is a mixture of humour and well, some heavy topic so read simple and think deep; but once the jokes start kicking in then well, don’t bother trying to go full-retard reading them. And this is dedicated to (almost) the best person in the world because a character in my other book made a cameo in this and I did it because I thought it would be so cool. im so funny har har *presses applause button*

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Edith had snuck out of detention before Mrs Raj had the opportunity to blast her lungs out at her again. Shrugging it off as an okay thing to do since James was nowhere in sight, she decided that sneaking out of the room and hiding out at the cafeteria was probably the wisest thing to do. And it was partly because she was hungry and in desperate need for food too.

Pushing the wooden swing double doors of the cafeteria open, Edith was greeted with the ghastly smell of overcooked tomatoes. It was apparently the only type of smell the lunch ladies ever knew so it was no wonder that every student would, at some point in time, come out after lunch smelling as rancid as rotting tomatoes. Apart from the horrid stench and blinding ceiling lights the cafeteria had, it was a fairly good place to stay.

She made her way over to an empty bench, putting in extra effort to step over any pieces of food that were so conveniently left on the floor. The litter bins were horrendously full. And when I say litter bins, I actually do mean the floor. She grabbed a tuna sandwich and a cup of chocolate milk before settling down on the bench. Placing the food tray on the table, Edith took a quick glance around.

The cafeteria’s ambience was a monotonous repetition of mindless chatter. There weren’t a lot of student in here yet but most of them occupied at least one table. If half the student population of St Gabriel’s could generate this much noise, she didn’t dare think of what possible chaos might erupt from the entire student body being in the cafeteria at the same time.

“Are you joining the school’s drama club?” asked a familiar voice. Edith looked up and smiled at Felicity Jordan. They were in the same Biology class and although they weren’t lab partners, they got along pretty well outside of class.

She started peeling the tab off the sandwich wrapper, “Why?”

“Mrs Clarke is having try-outs afterschool,” Felix replied with a shrug of her shoulders. “It’s for the Winter Dance’s comedy sketch and we could really use the extra help.”

“And you’re planning the comedy skits, aren’t you,” Edith said with a light-hearted laugh. She enjoyed Felix’s jokes but as much as she wanted to have a good laugh to keep her mind off about her straining relationship with James, she just couldn’t bring herself to.

Felix nodded. “Yeah, but Fred sort of ditched me half-way through the planning of the show so it might be cancelled.” She had said the last part quietly but even though the cafeteria was disastrously loud, Edith could still hear the slight disappointment in her voice. “We had a fight but it’s nothing big, I guess. But hey, I’ll be doing a skit on the Queen delivering her speech as a rap artist so you should really come and watch!”

Edith smiled and took a bite of her sandwich. “I’ll be there,” she replied, her voice muffled by the huge piece of bread in her mouth. And although most people in their year were more concerned about which celebrity they fancied the most and whether or not that certain boy in the year above them had noticed them yet, Edith enjoyed acting so she was rather honoured when a drama prodigy had exclusively requested for her attendance at one of her skits. To say the least, Felix was the funniest and least cringe-worthy comedian in their school.