The Chemistry Test

18. favors and new friends

Day Nine

By the time lunch rolled around, I was famished.  I forgot to eat breakfast this morning, which explained the hunger scratching at my insides like a cat sharpening its claws. 

The cafeteria was crowded and loud - to no one's surprise - assembled cliques as obvious as the clouds outside. It was a funny thing about West Burrow, how your friends were determined by those you sat with at lunch; meat-heads hung with other meat-heads, band geeks with other artsy folk, etc.

My eyes searched the tables for Mark as I meandered through the lunch line. He had a way of blending in with everyone so well, whereas people like Hunter stuck out like a sore thumb with his golden laugh and signature curls.

I grabbed a prepackaged salad from the line and turned to leave when a hand latched onto my wrist.

Zak's lips split.

"Hey. Could you help me out?" He dipped his head toward the lunch tray resting on the counter.

"Yeah, of course." I gave him a light smile and placed the tray on top of my salad container.

"Thanks.  I would carry it myself, but..." He glanced at his arm, half-chuckling.

Despite his recent hospital visit, he looked rejuvenated. His eyes, framed by fanning ebony, sparkled with exuberance, and dark tufts of hair had been combed out of his face in swooping waves. 

I could have kept staring but instead blinked and awkwardly shifted out of the lunch line to make room for the people behind us.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, accidentally meeting Hunter's eyes from across the room and exchanging smiles before turning back to Zak.

"A little sore. Bruised. But alive." He cracked a grin.  "Where do you usually sit?"

"Uh," I scanned for Mark. The back of a green WBHS Varsity jacket caught my eye in the far corner of the cafeteria where Mark and Kyle hollered in excitement at what I could only assume was a bottle-flip.  I gestured their direction.  "Kind of where Mark is."

"Oh." He nodded toward the Varsity boys before grinning back at me. "Wanna sit with me today?" 

I blinked at him. Was he serious?  I figured I'd at least carry his lunch tray to his table, but actually sitting with him was a completely different deal. 

"Are you sure?"

"Come on." He smirked, dipping his head.

We headed out of the cafeteria through a large outdoor courtyard lined with budding white roses into a smaller sitting area.  Two walls of the room were entirely composed of windows from floor to ceiling, and in the center sat a large group of chattering people, a mix of familiar and foreign faces.

"I've never been in here before."  I admitted, looking around.

"We call it The Cove."  His palm flattened against the small of my back, a reassuring smile cracking his lips. 

Thud, thud.

I checked his eyes for a trace of ingenuity, but the sparkles among his pools of aqua were genuine.

"Let me introduce you." He pressed against my spine and the two of us paced over to the group.

"There he is, the man, the legend,"  An olive-skinned boy with a jawline sharp enough to cut marble smiled.  It took less than a second to recognize him - Dominic Patel - esteemed Academic Decathlon champion and #1 junior chess competitor in state. Placed on his left sat Yvonne Li, West Burrow High's student body president, as if Dominic himself wasn't intimidating enough. Across the table were four other boys and the familiar robotic smiles of Melanie and Andrea.