The bell rings for lunch and I stop by my locker to pick mine up. When I enter the cafeteria, I'm stunned to find none other than Zachary Marning sitting at my table in my seat next to my dance friend Jason. You've got to be kidding me.
I make my way to the table and halfway there Jason spots me and points at Zach with a "this guy is awesome" look on his face. I barely finish rolling my eyes before Zach looks over and does one of those guy nods as a greeting, the smug smile never leaving his face.
I sit across from him and look him dead in the eye. Without looking away I say to Jason, "he's in my seat."
Zach's eyebrows shoot up in surprise and Jason starts choking on air.
"Well, uh, I thought you wouldn't, uh, mind," It's so unattractive when guys stutter. I look over at him and glare. "I mind." He looks down shamefully.
"It's cool, I didn't realize. I'll move if you really want to sit here, Devs," Zach says, moving to stand and Jason starts choking again, with good reason too. I don't know who this guy thinks he is, but only my friends call me Devs.
I wave my hand dismissively, suddenly too tired to care.
"It's fine. And don't call me Devs," I say, and he nods.
I start taking out my hoagie and chips when Lauren plops down next to me. She eyes Zach hesitantly before turning to me.
"I take it your mom's back?" She asks, gesturing to my lunch casually. I see Zach perk up with interest and then I remember his current mom situation which completely squashes what was left of my good mood. Sigh.
"Yep"
"Don't sound so excited, it isn't healthy," she says sarcastically. And then I remember her current mom situation (and dad for that matter) and I think I have a permanent frown engraved onto my face. Well damn.
"I am excited, I'm just not in the mood to show it." That sounds like a good reason, right?
"Oh-kay." Just then Isabella, Christina, and Isaiah arrive with their lunches and completely break through the awkwardness. Yeah, pretty much all my friends are dancers. Deal with it.
They all start engaging in some random conversations like how almost every day is a holiday, and some not so random conversations like the latest Chris Williams video. I zone out most of it and try to focus on my hoagie. I open my chips and line them up along the inside of my sandwich and close it, crunching them down just the way I like it. I take a big bite and smile when I taste the extra mayonnaise. I love mayonnaise. I like a lot of it on my subs so that no bite is dry, and on my burgers just to give it a little more flavor along with my ketchup. I don't know why, and I'm probably the only one who feels this way, but when I eat my turkey and bacon hoagies with extra mayonnaise and crunched BBQ chips I feel light. Satisfied. Happy. It just feels like it should be the designated lunch of everyone. I think it has to do with it being a cold meal. I just see things a certain way (even though I don't always do them accordingly). For example, when I think of dinner I think warm, forks and knives required, glass plates. When I think of lunch, I think of a nice breeze, plastic plates, finger foods, brisk ice tea with extra ice. They just seem right.
By the time I finish this train of thought I'm practically done with my sandwich and decide to switch gears and take a few gulps of my lemonade.
I look up to see Zach staring at me with an amused expression on his face. My eyebrows fur together and he points to the corner of his mouth and smirks. I reach up instinctively to my own mouth and wish I didn't. I feel something soft and liquidly on my fingers and reach for a napkin to wipe it off. Mayonnaise. A blessing and a curse. I'm about to say thanks when I'm interrupted by Christina, the talkative one.
"Hey so Devs, what are you thinking for dance?" She asks, and Isaiah decides to join in.
"Yeah! Are we in or are we in?" I look over to see the four of them waiting expectantly, confidently. It's not like they don't know the answer.
"Well there actually are some really good lowerclassman and we can only let in a certain amount of people with our budget so..." Lauren trails off and I'm trying not to laugh. The look on Isaiah's face. You would've thought he was just told pizza was just internationally banned from anyone with brown hair and brown eyes. For life.
I chuckle and shake my head. I better set them straight before they start a dance battle Naruto style in the middle of the cafeteria to prove whether they should be on the team.
"Calm down Isaiah, Lauren's only kidding," I say and take another gulp of lemonade. Both Isaiah and Christina heave a sigh of relief. I roll my eyes; melodramatic children.
"So, Lauren, now that you're not doing dance anymore, what will you do with your extra time?" I ask. It seems like a normal question, right? Wrong. I look up at the sudden silence to find Christina, Isaiah, Isabella, and Jason all staring at me, stunned. And then at Lauren in disbelief.
"No way!"
"Are you serious?"
"But you love dance!"
"And you're so good!"
I thought all the same things.
"Well, I, uh," Lauren starts, taken off guard. She shoots me a pointed look. My bad. "Yes, I'm serious. I don't love dance. But I am pretty good at it, aren't I?" She asks looking to cheer them up. Only Zach seems to appreciate her humor, smiling from across the table. Wait, why is Zach here again?
"But why?" Isabella asks. She's the quietest of the group (which you wouldn't guess during a performance), but I know she's started to get close with Lauren. She's probably Lauren's closes friend next to me.
Lauren picks at her food, pushing the soggy, overcooked vegetables only found in schools around her tray. "I dunno guys. I guess dance is really just a hobby for me. Not my future like the rest of you. I need to focus on academics -" Eye roll; she's in the line for valedictorian. "- and getting into a good college. I don't want to get in through dance. I want to look into my other likes and talents. I might join Yearbook." Wait - WHAT?
"For the journalism part or the photography part?" asks Christina. Good question.
Lauren stops to think about this, biting into piece of green cardboard. Wait, hold up, that might be considered broccoli, I'll have to check with the FDA on that one.
"Both. But mostly for the journalism." Okay, this makes some sense. I remember her mentioning how she didn't mind writing essays when I would whine throughout the whole thing. I also remember her joining a club back in sophomore year; got the yearbook picture to prove it.
Before we can converse any further, the warning bell rings and we all pack up our belongings. As we hand Isabella all our trash (a tradition established sophomore year as well) Jason wraps his arm around Lauren like an Octopus grabbing it prey. That might not be the best visual.
"So, what I'm hearing is, you're to blame if my class photo is isn't absolutely delicious? Figuratively speaking of course," And that's Jason for you. We laugh in unison as we push through the café doors.
I sneak a glance at Zach as he takes off in the opposite direction, most likely to his next class. He barely contributed a word. I wonder what his deal is.
_______
Looky Looky, another chapter at your eye's disposal.
So there's a little more info on Devyn's fellow senior dancers and Lauren's decision to quit dance.
As per uzsh, I hope you enjoyed. I would love to read any comments, and votes are always appreciated.
Until next time,
~ Your friendly neighborhood bookworm ;)>
YOU ARE READING
Muse
Teen FictionWe're both out of breath by the time the song ends. This is it, this is the one. He looks up at me and smiles, I return it ten times over. "You know, this song reminds me of you," He says. My brow furrows in confusion. "How?" I ask. He walks towar...
