THE THIRD P3RSON

•Chapter 12•

Ever since I was little I always made sure I was different from everyone else. People told me all the time how smart I was for noticing how if everyone is the same then no one would stand out. As I grew older, little by little, small things started to stick out to me. I noticed how no matter what I did at what age some people saw me as a average person who's always there. To some people, I don't hold any significance. I'm just there. It hurts to know no matter how much you change people still view you the same way because that's how they saw you and that's how they'll continue to see you.

Amy was home for breakfast this time. I was dressed and was looking forward to eating a big bowl of cereal before I left but seeing her at the table made me lose my appetite. Grabbing my bag by the door, I tried to leave before she started talking.

Again, the universe doesn't like me.

"Julianna, please refrain from doing whatever you feel like doing today. If it ruins your image, control yourself. I don't need another call home. I have other important things to take care of besides worrying if you're doing one of those stupid episodes again." Amy tells me. She doesn't even look my way.

"Sure." I laugh as I shut the door behind me. I'll get some breakfast on my way to school with my own money. I don't need to deal with what Amy said. Why should I?

Who knows? I might feel a little rebellious.

---

"Ju know wat?"

I snap back to the present not even realizing I was spacing out. Everyone was alert now. Most of us knew that when Miss. Diaz yelled we were really going to get an earful but when she gives up? Aye mama.

"Ju no listen! Porque no escuchen?" She grabs a pile of papers from her desk and aggressively passes them out to everyone. "Do. Now. Project. Todos."

The majority of the class that was ready to throw themselves out the window groaned in protest.

Today, I wasn't in the best mood.

Miss. Diaz was dawning on and on again how the people in her class weren't listening to the lesson. Please. The people who were listening, the ones who actually cared, were very few. What she should be saying was why no one cared in her class. I looked around. If I'm being honest here I don't think any of us cared about anything anymore.

Crap. Now that I think about it, I would rather have her yelling at us in Spanish. No way do I wanna work with-

"So I guess we have to get this over and done with, don't we?" I hear a certain blonde guy say.

I look over my shoulder from my spot at my desk to see Ryan looking forward towards the board. His eyes slide my way. He doesn't move but smiles. I glare and turn back around. Maybe I'll fall back asleep.

"Hey." He tries to get my attention but all I do is wave a hand in his direction to shut him up.

"Julianna." Can't this guy take a hint? If he wants to work so badly he should start with whatever he has to do with Christina. Oh, wait. He can't. Oh well.

"Que pasa? Why are ju not working? Get up!" I roll my eyes over my shoulder again, looking at our teacher yell at Mr. Popular.

Ryan grunts as he grabs his bag to sit at a desk next to mine. I give him a side look and watch as he takes his notebook out. "I don't understand why you didn't get up yourself. You look perfectly fine."

I scoff. I lift my head up and lean it against the window. "Oh, do I now?"

I haven't looked him in the eye since he sat down but this time he seemed to notice I didn't want to participate. He sighs and scribbles something in his notebook. A few minutes pass and I'm waiting for the bell to ring so we could leave already. I end up scribbling in my notebook before I realize it.

"I don't know what's gotten into you but I hope you're willing to finish the project. Your mood is different from when my uncle told you about it. What happened? Is it not important anymore?" Ryan asks.

As soon as I look at him, the bell rings and I sighed in relief. "I'm dealing with personal things right now, Ryder." I smile at the name slip and made my way towards the door. "See ya."

With that, I left and headed towards my favorite place.

---

"Julianna!" Nathan smiled my way as I walked towards the counter. "I'm so glad to see you. How are you?"

I shrugged while looking at the mug with his daughter's face on it. Sighing, I reply. "I'm doing okay. How is she doing?"

Nathan smiled wider. "She's a fighter. Doctors are saying she's getting better and better every day. We're relieved, to say the least." He gave an airy laugh.

"I'm glad to hear that." My eyes smiled. At the same time, my stomach growled. Blushing, I tell him, "Listen. I skipped breakfast. Think you could recommend a sandwich or something? Anything really."

Nathaniel thinks for a moment before he nods. "For, about, ten-fifty-five? I can ask the chef to whip up something good. Smoothie? We got papaya. People are saying it's good."

I nod. I hand him the money for the food and look around. "Not many people here lately," I comment.

"What can you do?" Nathan yelled over the blender.

I laughed when he backed away from it when it made an unusual sound. He made his way back to me while looking for something under the counter. I was still laughing.

"What?" He asks, still looking under the counter.

"I don't know how, but you got it in your hair." I'm amused the whole time and I'm still laughing while he makes faces. "But hey. People say that it tastes good so no worries."

"Haha." He mocks as we hear a ding. Nathaniel turns around and grabs a plate of food with one hand while the other is still in his hair. He hands me the plate and reaches for the blender to stop it. He pours some into a cup and hands me that too. "Enjoy."

"Sure will. Thanks." I say, grabbing my food and finding a place to sit.

When I sit down, I see a bowl of chicken Alfredo. It feels good to finally have a plate of food in front of me. Something I could enjoy in my alone time. I take a bite of the chicken and it hits the spot. Food.

"So, you come here too?"

I open my eyes to a blonde guy. I spoke too soon. Ha ha. This day couldn't get any better.

I heave out a big sigh. "Let me guess. 'Oh wow. I didn't know you came here too! What a coincidence!' Is that it?"

I'm being cranky but I'll regret it later.

Ryan shrugs. "That's about right. Yeah."

"Look. I just wanna eat in peace. Whatever you have to say can you please just wait until we get back to school? Please?" I basically beg.

Looks like I can't get a break, can I?