Chasing a Broken Butterfly

Chapter 10:

Lunch time rolls around and I make my way into the overcrowded cafeteria. The smell of tangy pizza sauce, burnt bread, and melted cheese fills my nose. There's also a sharp smell of pine-sol, as if someone just decided to throw it on the floor. It's so overwhelming that it makes me cringe. I really don't understand why students gather together in such a horrible smelling building when they can enjoy the smell of pine trees and fresh cut grass outside.

I move my eyes over the wave of students sitting down on benches before spotting Mikey waving me over in the far corner of the building.

He had texted me in my fourth period class saying that he wanted to eat in the cafeteria for 'a change', as he put it. I know him well enough to know that there's more to his explanation than he's letting on, but I didn't want to push it for a couple of reasons. The first being that I know he's fragile right now with everything going on with his parents. He just doesn't want to show it or admit it. The second reason is that I hate texting in class. I don't want to risk getting caught and getting in trouble. I'm not really a risk-taker. Mikey calls it being a goody two-shoes, but I don't like the ring to that term.

When I reach his table, I notice Brent and Nick sitting down next to each other opposite Mikey. Their eyes keep darting around the room as if they're afraid they're being watched. The poor things, they look really uncomfortable.

I smile at Mikey when I see a paper plate in front of him with a half eaten cheese pizza set on it. I wonder if he didn't eat it all because it's horrible.

"It's not that bad as we made it out to be," Mikey answers my thoughts. "Try it." he offers me a bite.

I shake my head and sit down beside him.

"Why did you want to sit in here?" I ask.

"Because, Elle..." He starts off, "it's our senior year. Do you really want to look back and say we led a boring high school life? I want to end this year with a pizz-azz!"

I laugh at his choice of words.

"And eating in the school cafeteria is exciting?" I tease him.

"Ummm...well that's not the main reason I wanted to sit in here." he scratches his head nervously as he casts a glance behind me.

I turn around to try to find what he's looking at, but I see nothing. I look back at Mikey to ask him what he means when I see someone walk up right next to him.

"Hey man, what's up?" the voice says.

Nathan.

I stare at him. I'm left speechless. I look back and forth between the two in an effort to try to understand the situation.

Are they friends? That was quick. Mikey never told me that they got along that well.

They do some sort of guy handshake slash fist pounding that almost every teenage boy does. I've never understood it. But seeing Nathan do it, it makes me want to learn it.

Nathan glances down at me...or is he glaring at me? I can't be sure, but I look away. He and Mikey start up a conversation. I can't even hear them properly with all the chattering going on in the cafeteria. It's one of the other reasons why I hate coming in here. it's harder for me to distinguish certain words and to listen properly.

I pull my canvas bag off my shoulders and prop it on my lap. I reach inside and grab the banana I had packed myself for lunch. I eat it while straining my ear as much as possible to grab any word I can that's coming out of their conversation.

All I can get from Mikey is 'lucky son of a bitch', 'my house', and 'right on'. It wasn't enough to put two and two together. From Nathan I hear 'tonight', 'awesome', and.... 'Kylie'?

From the few scraps of words I was able to gather, I don't like that Kylie's name was mixed into it. I finish my last bite of the banana and throw the peel into the garbage placed right next to our table. I hear the bell ringing, ending lunch, so I make a mental note to ask Mikey what they were talking about that included Kylie.

An alarm sets off in my head as I also remember that I had forgotten to ask Mikey if he came back to my house last night.

I'm sure it was him, I tell myself. The possibility of it being anything else is enough to make me shudder.

I walk back over to where Mikey and Nathan are still talking and rest my hand on Mikey's shoulder to grab his attention. He places his hand on top of mine and turns around. The sweetest smile I've ever seen him use is painted on his face. I don't know what they were talking about, but if Nathan has him feeling good, then I guess as his best friend, I have to approve of him.

Thinking of Nathan I look at him just in time to see a smile fade from his lips.

Irritation starts to rise in me. If he's going to act like I'm just an obstacle in their friendship, then there's going to be a problem. My irritation must be showing on my face, because Nathan looks confused now.

"I'm going to class, so I'll talk to you later," I turn my attention back to Mikey.

"Yeah, for sure." his face is still beaming.

"Speaking of class, since I skipped english, I was wondering if you could fill me in on the details," Nathan interrupts.

Wait, what? Wasn't he just glaring at me earlier?

"Er...yeah, sure," I reply.

I turn on my heels to start walking to class when I feel a hand grab my shoulder.

I hear Nathan mumble something.

"What?"

"Your number?" he repeats. "I'll need your number to get in contact with you." he states it so matter of fact, that I feel embarrassed.

He grabs a pen that was placed above his ear and holds his wrist out.

I hesitate for a moment before grabbing the pen and quickly scrawling my number on him. Feeling his skin under mine makes my nerves crawl with excitement. I think I should have fainted with the rate my heart is beating at the moment.

He smiles at me, and I feel my stomach flutter. I turn away as quick as I can and dart for my class.

The cafeteria is pretty much empty now. I hear the warning bell go off and know that I have a minute to reach to class on time. So much for trying to remain unnoticed this year.