Legend

Eighteen

EIGHTEEN

FRIDAY MORNING CAME. Of course it did. It was another one of those mornings, I would say.

In French, Justin and I sat next to each other. Amandla didn’t take French anyway, so I had no one else to sit with. I managed to pay enough attention in class to not really get picked on. We were learning about going on holiday. That was one of our units. Mes Vacances,it was called.

“Okay, everyone. Write a paragraph about travelling and holidays.” Monsieur Pierre announced. I wrote mine: Je suis allée en France. J’ai pris la voiture…And so on. And classes went on. And then, it came to lunchtime.

During lunchtime, we ate, as usual. Justin and I sat down at a table, and Amandla sauntered off. I wasn’t sure why at first, but when I saw Zxander sitting alone at another table, I knew why. Right. We had the same lunch period on Fridays… and Tuesdays too, if I wasn’t wrong. As Amandla turned around to look at me, I gave her a wink.

“So, what’s up these days?” Justin tried making small talk.

“Oh, nothing much. Just all the usual, I guess.” I answered. Yes, Zxander and Amandla getting together, you coming along into my life, all the Hope stuff… very usual.

“Oh,” He said.

A thought crossed my mind. I hesitated, not knowing whether to ask him then, but deciding we were a bit closer, I did. “Hey, Justin, what really made you come hang out with us?”

“Well…” He said. “Umm… I don’t really know, just felt like it. I got a bit tired of hanging out with the gang I usually did hang out with. The boys… Jack, Drake, Johnny… and those guys. Then again,” he waved it off, “you wouldn’t really know, I mean, of all people, why would you look at me, and who I hang out with?”

“Yeah, I wouldn’t know,” I agreed. But I did know who he hung out with. I’d watched them during almost every single lunchtime. Jack, Drake, Johnny, Ethan… most of the gang were quite crappy guys, but still, they were of the better guys in the grade. “And, so not wanting to hang out with them, why choose us?”

“Well, I don’t know, I had a feeling.” He admitted. “See, the boys I normally hung out with were still of the better in the grade,” to which I nodded, agreeing, “so I was left with the girls. Other than the Portia gang, there was the other group, you know, Jessica, Tiara, Whitney… and you two. So, I definitely didn’t want to go with Portia, and out of the two groups left… I guess I chose you… following my ‘instincts’.”

See? Even here, we have the socializing… the ‘groups’ problem. So Amandla and I just decided to stick together, and that was that, problem solved for us.

“I say your ‘instincts’ were right.” I said, nudging him playfully. “What say you?”

He smiled. When he was about to open his mouth to speak, Portia, Janet, and Marilyn jumped in. “Hi, Justin,” Portia said, being flirty.

“Umm…” He said. “Hi. Look, I’m in the middle of something – ”

“With who? Her?” She cut in, tossing me a disgusted look. I rolled my eyes. “You think she can compare to me? Can she? Jan, Mari?”

“Of course not,” They agreed. “We’re the Ones!”

Justin slightly shuffled away from Portia, closer to me. I felt warmth of his body, brushing lightly against me. “Look, I –”

Seeing us closer together, Portia sighed, annoyed. “Ewww… look at that! Isn’t that gross?”

“Ugh!” Her sidekicks agreed. Portia came between us, pushing me away; she slipped into the gap she’d made between me and Justin. Automatically, Justin shrugged back as Portia attempted to hug him. He looked really disgusted.