The girl from New York

03| Run

Lunch rolled around after what felt like a million years, but I haven't talked to anyone directly in my classes other than Nate. I gripped my tray and walked towards the table that Nate was sitting at, hoping he wouldn't mind. The cafeteria was loud and full of laughing teens, thrown food and sneaky phones. Nobody seemed to be looking at me anymore, to my great relief. A shoulder intentionally shoved me to the side, sending my body stumbling back, my bottle of coke exploding all over me. To make things better, my hamburger fell to the ground with the rest of my food. As I looked down, I saw my white t-shirt became transparent. The boy who shoved me laughed at me with his group of idiots.

"Excuse me!" I shouted, surprising myself and a good half of the cafeteria. Silence. The boy turned and showed me a familiar face with piercing green eyes and messy dark brown hair. I'm still unsure as to if he's Alex or not, but I'm assuming he is.

"You are excused." He sneered, turning back to his friends. My face reddened of frustration as I stomped my way over, until I stood in front of him, having to look up slightly to see his unimpressed face. "What? You wanna bite?" He joked, smirking mischievously. I rolled my eyes and slapped his chest. Holy moly, what is his chest made of?! That hurt!

"No, I want you to go buy me a new lunch. I don't know if you noticed, but you kind of just splattered mine all over me." I hissed. The cafeteria was still dead silent, only a few murmurs rippling through the crowd. What was the big deal? I'm just angry with some random egomaniacal guy.

"I guess I didn't see you there, shorty!" He chuckled and walked again, pushing me to the side as if I was some annoying child. Oh hell no, I'm not letting him do this. My determine, 5'4 self stopped him again, this time with my hands on my hips.

"I don't think that's what I'm asking." I said, extremely frustrated at the rude person he displayed. He rolled his eyes and looked at his friends with an almost apologetic look. They all either shrugged or nodded before walking off to an empty table, presumably to wait for him.

"Listen princess! I'm guessing you are new here." He said with a serious look. I nodded before he continued. "So, I'll let you off the hook. You clearly just don't know who I am." This little prick thinks he can get away with anything because of 'who he is?'

"First of all , don't you dare call me princess. Second of all, I don't think a stupid school status allows you to shove somebody and make them spill their lunch." I sneered loudly. Where is all this confidence coming from? My heart was bursting with pride for myself, exited that I'm finally standing up for myself instead of shrinking back into the shadows and hiding in my protective shell. But my brain scolding me for being so "short" tempered and getting in a potentially physical fight.

"Well, guest what! It does here, so build a bridge and get over it." And with that, he turned around and walked towards the table full of his waiting friends, leaving me stuck in place. The cafeteria quickly went back to its loud noise level and I walked out in defeat, leaving my messy tray laying on the floor.

I walked to the nearest bathroom to clean up my stinky shirt, replaying and contemplating what I just did in my head. I just stood up to a guy who's probably super popular, definitely a jerk, and obviously about a heads taller then me. I just stood up for myself in the cafeteria full of kids who were probably waiting for a fight to break out. Sure, maybe I didn't get him to buy me a new lunch, but I stood up for myself all the same.

I scrubbed fiercely at the mess on my shirt, using soap and scolding hot water. I mumble profanities as the hot water burned me, but determined to erase this sticky spill. What if dad found out? He and all my brothers will kill Alex. For some reason, I felt that I needed to keep it as a secret.

"God, why won't it come out?!" I asked myself out loud, not noticing the girl behind me until she giggled. I turned around surprise. She looked nice with wavy brown hair, ivy skin that made her look either Italian or maybe Spanish, dark brown eyes, and wearing a red and black plaid shirt with a navy blue jean and knee high boots. She was taller than me by a few inches.

"That was pretty brave of you." She said, "Standing up to Alex like that. Oh, I'm Claire, by the way." She held out a hand, which I hesitantly shook to be polite.

"I'm Brooklyn, but I prefer Brook." I said quietly, embarrassed by my messed up shirt.

"Oh my god, this shirt is a mess. I'm wearing an extra shirt under this plaid jacket, if you want to borrow the jacket." She laughed, unbuttoning the jacket and handing it to me before I could decline her offer.

"Uh...Thanks. I'll give it to you after the last class, want to meet me back here?" I said, thankful that the jacket seemed to be a size too big on me, which meant it probably would hide the huge stain on my shirt.

"Yeah...before I forget, here's my number." She said writing it down on a piece of toilet paper and handing it to me. We talked for a while, after that, never even leaving the bathroom until the bell rang. I had learned that she was originally from Puerto Rico and moved here when she was six. Apparently she's still fluent in Spanish because that's how they communicate at home, rather than talking in English.

She was so randomly nice compared to how I would I be treated back in New York, I would have been ignored, made fun of, maybe even bullied over this. But here, I was loaded a jacket from a stranger who didn't know me at all but still admire my 'fierce attitude' towards Alex. Tennessee is such a weird state.

"Okay, see you later then." She said skipping out of the bathroom as if she hadn't just missed an entire lunch period to talk with a pitiful stranger. I hesitated before walking out of the bathroom and towards my next class. Happiness filled my steps as I realized that I've already met two fun people who seem like I can be friends with.

As for Alex, he was just that other person who I can ignore from now on.

———————————————————————

You know the drill, don't forget to Vote and Follow;)