Sarah is thrown back into an ugly past when her old best-friend-turned-enemy kills herself. With the help of new smiles and old glares, she learns that some things just won't stay dead until you make peace with them.
Shiloh sat beside me at lunch, resting her leather bag on her legs. She unzipped the sides and pulled out two brown paper bags and a water bottle.
"What is that?"
Shiloh looked up, eyebrows raised slightly in a blank expression, "Mm?"
I rested an elbow on the table and jabbed the fork in my other hand at her paper bags. She looked back at the bags, confused.
"My lunch?"
I snorted unapologetically and chewed on the pasta in my mouth as I said, "How old are you, ten?"
"It's my packed lunch!" she protested, "I'd rather not eat that gross cafeteria shite."
I shrugged, "You know, you're probably right," I pointed at my pasta, "More oil than carbs."
Matt and Harry came side by side to the table, weaving through the crowd to find our usual spot. Matt looked uncomfortably at Shiloh and smiled at the table as he sat down right across from her, blocking Harry's way to his chair across from me.
"Cheers Matt," he said, smacking the back of his head with his hand and squeezing past. Matt jumped and muttered multiple apologies as he shuffled the chair forwards.
"Do you think they sat there on purpose?" Harry said, and I looked up to find him looking at me. I frowned mid-chew.
"What?" I said through my food.
"Look behind you."
I did, and was confronted with the slim frame and long dark curls that I knew all too well. I whipped back around, dropping my food down onto the table, and wiped my mouth with a napkin, staring out the window as forcefully as I could.
"What are they doing here?"
I sat up straighter and more toward the edge of my chair, putting as much distance between them and myself as I could. Shiloh looked behind her and back to me, confused.
"What's wrong?"
I shook my head, and Harry rested a fist below his nose with wide eyes. Matt smirked.
"Sarah doesn't -"
"Matt!" I hissed, giving him a pointed look, "Don't you dare. Not now."
Shiloh looked between us blankly.
"Forget I asked."
I turned to her, "I'm sorry. It's just not a good time."
Shiloh nodded, understanding in her relaxed composure. I pushed my pasta away from me. Matt reached for it, and then hesitated.
"Are you going to finish this?"
I waved my hand to say 'no', and he hooked a finger over the side of the container, drawing it closer to him. He dug in without pause and Shiloh burst out laughing.
Matt looked up and made an inaudible grunt as he munched. Shiloh shook her head and folded her arms, looking at me with laughing eyes.
I smiled back, but couldn't help but be reminded of the presence behind me.
As lunch finished, I felt the table behind me move, all four of them standing to go to class. Shiloh watched them leave, and I kept my eyes on a scratch on the back of Matt's hand. When they had gone, Shiloh turned back to face me, and I released a heavy sigh.
"Wonder what they wanted," Harry mused.
"It's a message," I grumbled, letting my head drop down onto the grimy table-top.
"Why would their sitting there be a message?" Shiloh said.
"Because they would never sit here. Not unless they were paid a thousand pounds each," I explained into the veneer table.
I felt a hand pat my shoulder, and I smiled grimly into the darkness.
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