The Emo School (A Fanfic)

Chapter 50 (WHOOOO!)

Cassie
Mikey leads us to the cafeteria, where hordes of emo kids just like me pour in, standing edgily in line, waiting to pick up some nice, hot, REAL, NOT cardboard cafeteria food to take wherever they wish to eat on campus.

"So, what's for lunch today?" I ask shyly, becoming nervous from all of the people nearby. It doesn't matter how alike the people are to me, I just can't handle a lot of people at the same time.

"Today it's breakfast for lunch! There are pancakes ready to go on trays, and Fall Out Boy Andy's got condiments all set out. You can basically put whatever you want on your pancakes. You can eat back in your room if you like!" Mikey says, more cheerfully than I've ever thought possible for Michael James Way. Over pancakes. Go figure.

Mikey escorts me to the line, holding my hand and periodically squeezing it to make sure I feel secure enough while we wait in the crowded corridor.

"Just breathe, Cassie." he coaxes. "Nobody's going to hurt you. Every person here is a potential friend. You just have to find the courage within you to talk to them."

I look up at him confusedly.

"Go on. Try it. You'll want to have friends here, you know." he says with a soft smile.

I take a deep breath, hesitantly approaching the girl in front of me. She has bright orange hair and is about my height.

"Hi, I'm Cassie, I'm new and I'm trying to meet people, I guess..." I say awkwardly, tapping her on the shoulder to let her know I'm talking to her.

She turns around and I'm shocked to find that the girl is actually a grown woman, and said grown woman's name is Hayley Williams.

"O-oh, shit, I'm sorry to bother you..." I mumble.

"Well, aren't you adorable! Hi there! We've all heard about you and we've been super excited to meet you! I'm Hayley, I teach hair studies here. You ever wanted to dye your hair?"

I nod. I've ALWAYS wanted to dye my hair some appallingly bright or unusual color.

"Well, you've come to the right place! I can get you all set up with virtually any color you want, and you can take my class as an elective to learn about hair styling and processing, along with different techniques to achieve different looks!" she says enthusiastically. "No need to be shy, kiddo, you've been the buzz of the building all week! You've got so many kids literally just waiting to be your friend!"

I nod as the line moves forward.

Hayley looks to Mikey.

"I'll take her for a while, you go see your brother. I heard about what happened, I sure hope he's okay!" she tells him. He nods and wanders off, waving to me as he goes.

"So, let's try this whole making friends thing, huh?" Hayley says, walking me up and down the lunch line.

"Pick a random person." I squeak nervously.

I close my eyes and let Hayley guide me to a random human being.

"Hi, I'm Cassie." I say before even beginning to process who the person is.

She's a girl with dark brown hair, cool-toned skin, and when she turns to face me, mildly surprised, she has striking ice blue eyes that almost freeze me on the spot.

"Oh, hi, I'm Cat!" she says sweetly.

"Cat and Cassie. That might confuse some people!" I laugh.

"Cat and Cass. Sounds like the beginning of a dynamic duo!" she chuckles softly.

We exchange numbers, from phone numbers to dorm numbers, and then we both exchange farewells and head on our separate ways.

"See? Not so hard, is it?" Hayley asks as we each grab a tray of pancakes and start dumping condiments on the stack.

I have made a friend today. I think I maybe accomplished something huge.

A/N:
Thank you for 50 awesome chapters! More on the way, too!

Gonna FINALLY start featuring your requests. Special shoutout to @melmur41 for being Cat! Like I said, more featured fans coming to the story soon!

Love you all!

-guitargirlmads

(P.S.: #emoschoolfic50)