Me and T.L (A Novel)

Me and the Cafeteria

Continuing on, we arrived at the cafeteria. We saw Ken waving his hands at us at a table from the back. I wave back at him. Nicole pulled me suddenly.

"Nise, don't be surprised, okay?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"

As I asked her that, we were already standing at the food trays. Now that she mentioned it, this cafeteria is so peculiar. No one was preparing the food in the kitchen, so I can't see food being displayed for us to see. How can we eat? Is this what Nicole meant by 'surprise'?

I looked around me and saw students eating regularly. Is it just me or am I being hysterical?

Instead of the usual 'lady-in-charge', we were greeted by food trays. Nicole grabbed a food tray and pulled out her money and placed it under the tray. Then, she closed her eyes. The tray was shaking a little and then, out of the blue, food appeared at her tray.

"What?!" I exclaimed.
"Pfft... Hahaha. I knew you would show that kind of face" Nicole laughed to her heart's content.
"Nikky!"

"Okay, okay." She let out the kay part like a sigh.
"These trays are, like what you expect, embedded with magic. You just think of what food you would like to eat and the tray makes it a reality. Its limitless." She explained.

"Really?! But where does the ingredients come from? ..." I just thought of an idea that can solve the root of all problems in the planet. "... No one will become hungry anymore!"
"Of course there's a downside to this. You can only 'wish' for food that is within the amount of your money. See?" She took out her right hand from the tray and there was 45 cents.

"As for the whereabouts of the ingredients, the tray takes in the magical particles in the air, weaves it and convert it to food. The data of the food must be included in its magic memory module. Its like a machine that can beat fast food restaurants in an instant and a vending machine at the same time. Only its a child of magic and machine combined"

I know that magic can do amazing stuff but not this much! I stood in there in awe. Nicole got me another tray and pushed me to our seat.

"C'mon, Nise. Let's talk about it while we eat. I thought you're hungry?" My stomach grumbled after she said that, as if agreeing to her.
"Okay" I finally gave in.

We walked to where Ken was seating. Although I was enlightened by magic and this magic school, ordinary items were still being used in this 'castle', as I call this place.

"Nise! What do you think about the food here?" Ken asked me energetically.
"No kidding! I was really shocked!" I said to him. Nicole giggled.
"Yeah, she was like 'No way!' and making a face like this" Nicole made a funny face. Ken laughed very hard and I saw some students looked at us.
"Hey, stop it. Its embarassing. Let's just eat and be done with it. We're disturbing others" I say to them. I held the tray in my one hand while the other looked for money in my pocket. When it finally found my money, my hand went under the tray with my money. I thought of my favourite food for a second and immediately discarded that thought, realizing that it may trigger another teasing session from Nicole and Ken.

I closed my eyes and thought of a tuna sandwich, mashed potatoes, a vegetable salad and a glass of water. Immediately after I thought of that, I felt my money in my hand being sucked into the tray, as if the tray is literally eating my money away but it didn't forget leaving my change.

Just like what I imagined, the food appeared on my tray. Then, Ken put his right hand up like he was some reporter.

"So, how is your first time using the food tray trend?" He changed his voice, making him sound like he was really a reporter. I went with the flow.

"It was very surprising, of course. I had a lot of thought about using this but in the end, I was really curious. It didn't disappointment at all" Then I flashed my business smile. Ken laughed at my reaction and I couldn't stop myself from laughing too.

"I'm glad" Nicole said all of a sudden.
"Hm?" I looked at her, wiping the tears when I laughed. She smiled.
"It's nothing. Let's eat"

While we eat, Nicole explained that the castle has little notable places so touring it might only take 10 minutes. Ken also introduced himself to us.

"I'll introduce myself again. I'm Ken Ellsworth, the third son of Nobb and Joan Ellsworth" Ken said to us.
"No way! The Axis Hotel?!" Nicole exclaimed.
"Yeah. My parents own them and some other businesses. But I have come here for one purpose" He suddenly became serious. His eyes locked on mine.

I felt tense and nervous all of a sudden.

"And its to marry you, Wrenise Collins"