Rebel

Chapter 22: Bad Reputation

"There's no fucking way I'm going to stand in that lunch line," Rachel said as she stared at the incredibly long line at the mouth of the cafeteria. We sat in the back corner like we always did. I was never intimidated by lunch time in the past, but the thought of being surrounded by so many people when it was common for fights to break out all around you, I was terrified and so was Rachel. Sometimes a fight would break out in the lines and if you weren't careful, people would plow right through the crowd and mow you down. The last thing either of us needed was to accidentally take an elbow to the stomach.

"Well, you have to eat," Mel snapped at her. I kept quiet. I had the same concern and I didn't want to be lectured today. "You've got us. Nothing is going to happen. The same goes for you, Syd," Jamie added. "We can be your shields," Candace added. She was back with us and it was beginning to seem like a rare occasion for us to see her. Things felt pretty distant and we were all falling out of touch with her. We couldn't just Mean Girls her ass and reject her from our table at lunch. The only other friends she had were junkies that didn't even go to school with us. She was being a bitch, but I didn't want her to feel isolated.

The three of them pulled us from our seats and we marched between them through the crowd of our peers. Occasionally I glanced from side to side, seeing groups of people laughing, guys sitting with each other were beat boxing, slamming their fists on the table for a laugh, and the entire area was filled with the sunlight that hung directly over the mountains. I had gone to school with these people since our sandbox days at Welch Elementary and just the thought of that calmed my nerves a little. A lot of them were the same old goofy fucks that they had always been and that was comforting. They were goofy, but they were still pretty great people.Some of them changed for the better and for the worst. Even though Candace had changed for the worst, I was still grateful for all four of them. They never failed to show me that they would be there to help me brave whatever storms came our way. They knew how cautious I had become with being at school and around what seemed like a million people and they still had my back anyway. I hadn't mentioned it, but I was still paranoid about running into Dean and they didn't even have to say anything to let me know that they would be ready if he came my way.

My thoughts kept me from focusing on the eyes that were glued to us as we strolled effortlessly between the tables. We weaved around them together with Mel, Jamie, and Candace ready to pounce in case anyone made any stupid comments. We successfully made it to the huge line that started at the kitchen and extended down to the long hallway that led to the middle school side. We even skillfully managed to skip a handful of people. It felt like a game and it was pretty fucking fun. It felt like the rock hard chicken nuggets were our prize and they were pretty shitty, but we had survived another day without getting knocked around like crash test dummies, so I was satisfied with that.

"That was easier than I thought," I said with a sigh. It seemed like Rachel and I had scarfed down our nuggets in two seconds, not even taking the time to breathe or talk to the others in between bites. I was much more relaxed and relieved. "See and you were about to let your stomach eat your back," Mel said with a smirk. "I'm surprised that nobody broke a fucking tooth!" Candace yelled as she knocked one of the nuggets on the table. I giggled. It felt like nothing had really changed with us since the day we all set foot into the school for the very first time. The thought always made me anxious for the future.

"Well, I think we can manage walking to the trash cans," I said as I stood up and gathered up my styrofoam tray. Rachel stood up slowly, grabbing hers. "Absolutely," she said with a fake smile. I could tell she was getting tired, but none of us would let her be lazy. Reggie had her under the impression that she could just sit around and binge on ice cream and cookies for nine months. When she was with us, we made her get at least a little bit of exercise. "It's not going to kill you," I said as I playfully pushed her shoulder. "You say that now, but wait until you have someone pushing on your bladder," she said, giving me an evil look.