Natalie

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

“Ruka, what’s goin’ on?” Akane, one of the anee or middle ranked girls asked, tensing up when she saw me with the bloody knife in my hand that I was trying to conceal in the sleeve of my trench. “Who did you get into it with this time?”

“Shut up. It’s nothing. Act like nothing happened. I’ll explain at the meeting.”

When we sat down at the table with the other twenty or so members of the gang, Rin was talking about something to do with her math teacher, but I ignored her, cleaning up the knife with a napkin and putting it back in my waistband. She looked at me with calculating eyes when someone else started talking and I glanced at her, making eye contact. We had a silent exchange and she nodded before returning to the conversation while I tried to get some shut eye. Soon, it was almost impossible as Natalie and her fan club came into the cafeteria, screaming their heads off, making a huge scene, asking for her autograph, and doing everything she did like mirrors.

I watched, uninterested, from my folded arms, not even bothering to move my head from its slightly comfortable position. Everything that Natalie grabbed for lunch is what her fan club grabbed— even the girls who had been anorexic since the dawn of time— and I could see that Natalie was trying to ignore them as best as she could. She looked alone, even with all of those people praising her and I kind of felt sorry for her. I was more irritated with the noise than I was concerned with how lonesome she looked, though, so I walked up to her as she was leaving the lunch line. I told her to follow me and just like the last time I was around her, everyone went silent.

I led her past the table that the Kokoro-en sat at and they all watched me in shocked confusion. I didn’t care. I just wanted to sleep. Rin, on the other hand, was glaring at me. I could feel her gaze boring into the back of my head and I knew I was gonna be in trouble after the meeting. Natalie and I walked to the table in the corner that nobody ever sat at because it was in the darkest corner of the cafeteria and when I sat down, Natalie was still standing, drawing more attention to herself and looking stupid. The Jigoku Ryouken only a couple tables away nudged each other, pointed in our direction, and snickered. Kano was staring, confused and pissed, a gauze over his cheek where I’d cut him earlier and I smirked and chuckled inwardly. Natalie didn’t sit until I looked at her from my arms, raised an eyebrow, shrugged, and closed my eyes again. For the first time ever, the cafeteria was almost dead silent and the silence pissed me off more than the noise did since I could feel everyone staring at us.

“What the fuck are you all staring at?! If ya got somethin’ to say, quit bein’ chicken shit bitches and come say it to my face!” I snarled, glaring around the space, and the noise started again as if I’d pushed the “on” button on everyone’s voices. The Jigoku Ryouken smirked and shook their heads before going back to their own business, but it still took a moment longer for Kano to tear his eyes away from us.

“I don’t get it… First you tell me to leave you alone and now you’re sitting with me…” Natalie muttered, picking at her pizza. “What’s with you? Are you bipolar or something?”

“Your fan club is annoying. If the only way to get them to shut up so I can sleep at lunch again is to be around you, then I guess I don’t really have a choice…” I mumbled into my arm, not looking up.

“Oh… aren’t you gonna get in trouble with your gang?”

“Does it look like I give a shit? They don’t control me. Nobody does.”

“Well thanks, I guess.”

“Will you shut the hell up already? Just ‘cause I’m sitting with you doesn’t mean that I’m your friend. I’m doin’ myself a favor by helping you. Don’t forget that.”