Head above the water

10

(The meme is you guys when I actually post on time.)

"I'm so hungry," I complained while standing in the line for food.

"'Stasia you're literally about to eat," Marissa laughed and pushed me forward in the line.

"Weirdo," Julianna giggled and pulled me into a side hug.

"So, have you had any more conversations with Jin," I asked Marissa in an attempt to distract myself from the smell of semi gross food.

"Unfortunately, no," She sighed.

"Just wait, I'm going to make sure you guys end up together," I said in a conspiratorial tone and she laughed and blushed.

Walking forward in the line, I finally caught a glimpse of the food that we were about to put on our plates. Chicken. Out of all the things that this school had to offer the chicken was the most edible, so my stomach and my taste buds were content, though I was still not thrilled. If I had my way we would eat all sorts of crazy foods that ended up tasting delicious in the end, but I didn't have it my way, so we put the chicken on our trays and started to walk to our usual table.

Halfway there, our table came into sight only for us to see it was covered in trash. Dirty lunch trays, used paper towels, and crumpled sheets of paper were piled high in the seats and on the table itself. I could see Trent watching happily from his table just a few yards away.

I knew he wanted us to have to move the trash. He wanted to belittle us. To show me that I belonged to the trash. That I was nothing and no one, and I wasn't going to let him do that to me or my friends.

"Come on guys, were sitting at another table," I growled out to Julianna and Marissa.

"Where? Everywhere else is full," Julianna said worriedly.

"Just come on," I said, straightening my back and turning away from our table.

The room got quiet as I confidently made my way to the only half full table that the group of boys occupied. My friends hesitated behind me, but they didn't have much of a choice but to follow. The people that had noticed what was happening had fallen silent as they waited for the boys to turn us away from their table. That's what normally happened to the people that tried to sit with them. They were given a polite but firm 'no thank you' and turned away.

I hoped that my newfound connections with them were enough to earn us three spare seats, but you could never tell with these boys. Once we reached the table I turned to address Namjoon. He wasn't the oldest, but he was definitely in charge of the group. If I wanted to sit with them he would be the one to tell me yes or no.

"Hi guy! Hi Namjoon! I was wondering if you could be so kind as to spare three extra seats? Our table seems to have sprouted a garbage monster over night," I asked, feigning confidence that I didn't feel.

There was a few seconds of silence in which various unreadable looks were exchanged between the boys, in addition to a very obvious pout from Taehyung and a red blush from Jin, who kept glancing at Marissa.

"I guess we have room for a few extra people. It could probably make our overall attractiveness level go up a bit, too," He said with a smile that brought out his dimples.

I laughed at his comment, and gestured for my friends to take their seats. Julianna and I sneakily maneuvered so that Marissa would be forced to sit next to Jin, and we both giggled to ourselves when we realized they were both as red as a tomato. If only we could get them to have a full conversation they would realize that they're both head over heels for one another.

My seat was next to Jungkook, and we were both decently comfortable sitting next to each other. Julianna sat on my other side, and Jimin was in the seat across from me.

"So, what's up guys?" I pipe up, trying to get a conversation started.

"Nothing much," Jungkook casually shrugged, "We were teasing Jimin about his crush, but we're going to stop for now."

Hearing those words made my heart hurt a bit, and I could feel the corners of my mouth turn down. I Jimin looked panicked at the mention of his crush, and I couldn't help to be sad that he had one.

"That's so mean, guys," I came to Jimin's defense even though I had teased Marissa only minutes before about her crush on Jin.

"It's funny, though," Jungkook explained with a small smile, "It's not like we're going to tell her how he feels. He has to do that himself."

"Wise words, young one," I said to him in the voice of a sage.

"Hey, I'm probably not much younger than you," he objected.

"Okay then. Wise words sort of young one," I corrected myself with a laugh.

There was what sounded like a squeak from the other side of the table, and I looked up to see Jimin with his head thrown back in laughter from something Namjoon had said. He was absolutely glowing with happiness, and it made me think that maybe there was a reason he was here. Maybe it was something more than I would ever understand, but he made me happy just by being happy. That realization both frightened and excited me. It had been a long time since I had experienced emotions other than rage and sadness.

"Earth to Anastasia," Julianna said, waving her hand in my face.

I snapped out of my strange trance like state to find that everyone in the lunchroom was standing up and throwing away their trays. The bell had rung, and I had been so spaced out during our lunch thinking about a guy I didn't even know that I hadn't touched the food that I had been so interested in eating. Letting out a few choice words under my breath, I walked to the trash can to dump my food, and then to the tiny window to return my tray.

Walking back to the table, I collected my things and thanked Julianna for letting me know lunch was over.

"And now to hell I go," I muttered to myself as I walked towards the girls locker room to change for my gym class.

I was the only one in that class. No Marissa, no Julianna, no Jimin, Namjoon, Jin, Taehyung, or the rest of their group. I was utterly alone in this class, and also utterly petrified to attend.

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Hi guys! I told you I'd be back soon. I bet you didn't believe me. Anyway, here's a new chapter that I'm actually sort of proud of. You should be expecting another one pretty soon. I'm going to start trying to write it out tomorrow because ya girl has to get some sleep.

For now, this is it. I hope you all enjoy and make sure to drop a like if you thought it was awesome and a comment if you have any questions or just want to point out grammar mistakes.

Love ya always,
-Haleigh