Breathe

Chapter 26 - Invitation

 Pens scribbling. Pencils tapping. Near the front, a teacher was talking, talking about something unimportant. Or rather, something I already knew. Unknown to them—or at least, ignored by them—their students were whispering behind them, talking about their weekend and their plans for lunch. Near me, I could clearly hear a conversation between my neighbor and their boyfriend or at least crush.

"I don't know," I heard him say, "sounds expensive."

"It'll be fine," the other one said, "it's just a few dollars. Just you, me, and nature. Maybe, we'll even bring Evan and he can foot some of it."

Glancing at the clock, I watched as the clock hands ticked.

Tick tock.

Tick.

Tock.

Just a few more seconds, and we'll be free.

Finally, the little hand reached the top and the intercom came on. "A lunch has ended—B lunch has begun."

At the sound of that, everyone got up. There was the screech of chairs scraping the floor and bags unzipping. The sound of people talking only got louder—less mumbly but less clear. The teacher finally turned around and as everyone left, she told everyone their assignment. However, it wasn't as though anyone was listening; they were preoccupied with the sound of their rumbling stomachs and their loud classmates.

I got up from my seat and grabbed my belongings. Walking out the door, I only stopped shortly when I heard Phil call for me. Turning around, I asked, "Yes?"

With his bag in hand, he ran up to me. Like usual, a smile was plastered on his face. A little more spring in his voice, he asked, "How did you think class went?"

"You were in the same class as me."

He shrugged. "That still doesn't mean I can't ask you that question."

"It was fine. Nothing too interesting."

He laughed. "Yeah... I thought that you'd say that."

Soon, we arrived in the lunchroom. Like usual, it was crowded. There were tables filled with people. Though there wasn't much diversity at the tables, it was evident that there was a good diversity of people in the room. We got in line and started our monotonously routine. We took the shortest line and grabbed whatever. Then, we went to the drink line and got the cheapest drink. After that, we went to pay.

"Four dollars, please," I could hear them say.

Before I knew it, they did say that: "Four dollars, please."

I pulled out the money, gave it to her, and walked away. Searching the room, I looked for the table where I always sat: a little one isolated from the others in the farthest corner. As expected, Esmae and Kirk and Dani were already sitting there, talking and eating away.

Noticing me, Dani moved over and I sat next to her. Quietly, I ate as they discussed whatever the hell they had their mind on today.

"That's kinda weird," I heard Dani comment, "so weird. Never really thought that I only liked people because I'm always around them."

"People don't like change," Kirk said, "well, most people."

"So if I go find Franz Lantz and stalk him, would he love me?" Esmae asked a little too innocently.

We shot her a look.

Nervously, she laughed. "...Too close? Anyway, how was everyone's break?"