The New Kid

Tutoring Session

The next day, as soon as the lunch bell rang, I made my way to the food line. I scanned the sign at the front of the line that read the day’s menu: Corndog, green beans, and apple slices. What kind of meal is this? Those don’t even go together. I worked up the courage to finally stand in line for the first time in the three days I have been attending the school. I grabbed a tray and walked to the food bar. The lunch woman had her hair neatly in her net as she wore a tired smile and dumped apple slices on my plate.

I was making my way to get my corndog when someone slid their tray down and slammed it into mine.

“Hey!? What are you on about?!” I spit back at the slider to see Ray laughing at me.

“Hey, Gavin.” Ray chuckled and made his way back to his tray over on my end of the line. “What’s shakin’, bacon?”

“Uh...I’m just going to receive my first corndog. If that means anything.”

“Oh, ew! That shit is nasty, Gavin. But, as being part of an American society now, you must eat one now.” He said matter-a-factly.

The other lunch lady placed a breaded hotdog on a stick on my plate and I waited for Ray to get his, then he led the way out of the kitchen and into the main seating in the cafeteria. I looked around to see the whole school sitting, chatting, eating. The sound of everyone was loud and it bounced off the walls but it didn’t seem to bother anyone else.

“Linds and Michael are over here. Keep up.” Ray said going into the far backside of the cafeteria.

We passed the large table with the football team and cheerleaders. I looked at the seats to try to spot Ryan. He was sitting at the head of the table with Barbara on his lap, facing him. She had her arms around his neck and was not-so-discretely moving her hips on him. He had his hands on her waist and grinned slyly. I never removed my eyes from them as I followed Ray.

Then to my surprise, Ryan’s eyes broke from Barbara and looked up at me. Our eyes meet and he smiled wider. I grinned back and he removed one of his hands from Barbara’s waist to wave at me passing by his table. Ray then led me past their table and my back was to Ryan. I didn’t care to look back.

“Welcome to ‘la mesa de mi amigos’!” Ray joked as he gestured to the table with Michael and his girlfriend.

“Oh! Hey, Gavin. You made it today. This is Lindsay, my girlfriend.” Michael spoke through his corndog.

“Hi!” Lindsay chirped. Her brown-red hair was shiny and just about rested on her shoulders. Her simple t-shirt and ripped worn jeans matched Michael’s personality which made it obvious why they made such a good couple.

“Hey.” I said placing my tray on the table across from Michael and Lindsay. I slid into my seat and stared at my plate with apples and a corndog.

Ray tapped my left shoulder, “I’ll eat it once you eat it.”

“Oh shut the fuck up, Ray! This shit is good!” Michael shouted from across the table, taking a chomp at his dog. Lindsay nodded in agreement as she finished hers.

I picked up the corn dog and sniffed it, taking in the unique aroma. American food. Here goes nothing. I took a nibble out of the side and started to chew.

My table was watching me for my response, so I continued to chew. I looked back at the food before taking another, bigger bite.

“Ha! I told you they weren’t bad! Even the Brit likes it!” Michael yelled pointing at Ray with pride in his voice.

“Yeah, yeah. He still has yet to try your hamburgers, Michael.” Ray teased. “Now THAT is gross.”

Lindsay sheepishly added, “He’s kinda right, babe.”