When Lunch Shrinks
I walk into the lunch room
I am immediately greeted by smells
Greasy cheese pizza, grilled meat, mostly washed vegetables, semi-ripe fruit
Mmmm delicious
A piece of pizza and a banana, still slightly green, just the way I like it
I meet my friends at our table
Who is going to be in the play this time?
Some of us are good actors. Some of us are not
We cheer each other on anyway
Practice, practice, practice
Auditions are today
It's time to go.
Pizza and banana are gone.
Time for the next class
I I stride through the doors of the lunch room
Today they are serving nachos
I don't like nachos
Or the cheeseburger someone hands me
Is this real meat?
I stick with the pizza
It's what i know best
It takes me a while to find my friends' table
They are a bit late
Busy with other classes I presume
They begin chattering excitedly about the audition results
They got in
I didn't
I look at my piece of fruit
Fruit is required with all meals
A small red apple shrink wrapped in plastic
I can't eat it
I have braces
The apple looks like it is made of plastic
The pizza is very greasy
Time for the next class
I trudge through the hallway, turning into the lunchroom
I am accosted by smells
Slightly overripe fruit, maybe moldy veggies, questionable chicken patties
I glance at the pizza
Today it makes me nauseous
I am not hungry
I sit at our table
I am early
I heard a boy say "I feel fat around you girls" today
I thought "You? What about me?"
I should have skipped breakfast
I wish I had
My friends arrive
They laugh and talk
Play practice has started and this weekend they saw the movie IT together
One boy deep throats a banana
Another watches gay porn on his friend's phone
Someone offers me carrots that they don't want
