Stay Beautiful Keep It Ugly

Lunch Time: Chapter 6

I easily found the cafeteria. I scanned the room for Mikey, Frank, and Ray. They had all offered for me to sit with them at lunch when I met them, so I was going to take them up on their offer.

"Tori! Hey, hey Tori! Tori, Tori, over here! Over here, Tori! Tori! Hey, over here, Tori!" I heard Frank call. He stood up on his chair and waved his arms too. I smiled and made my way a crossed the lunch room to where Mikey and Ray were trying to get Frank to shut up and get off the chair.

"Hey, Tori. I trust you found the art room okay?" Ray asked me once I sat down.

"Yeah. Someone showed me where it was," I said, blushing slightly at remembering how I fell on top of Gerard.

"OH! You’re blushing! Who was it? Where they cute? Where they in your class? What’s they're name?" Frank demanded to know, leaning on my shoulder.

"Um, his name is-," I started to say, but Frank's squeal cut me off.

"It was a boy? Oh my God, tell me everything!" Frank draped himself on the table.

"Is he normally like this?" I asked Mikey and Ray, who were both very calmly, holding their own small conversation.

"Yeah," Mikey said, and Ray added, "And much worse."

"I'm hungry! Let's go get our food," Frank told us, suddenly jumping up and off the table. Mikey and Ray both agreed and stood up.

"I'm... I'm not really hungry," I told them, wiping my sweaty hands and my thighs. I tried to hold back my wince as my hands press down at my thighs- that was a stupid move. I cut my thighs as well as on my fore arm.

               Mikey frowns slightly, but Ray and Frank don't see a thing.

"Okay, but that means you’re not stealing anything off my tray!" Frank warns me. I smile, and say, "Oh man, you saw through my plan! Gosh dang it!" Frank seems to find this hilarious because he walks away holding his stomach while laughing. Ray walked with Frank, but Mikey stayed with me. He bent down and, didn't whisper, but he lowered his voice, "I'm always able to talk, you know." I looked over at him; did he know that I self-harmed? No, I don't think so. I think he means about my eating disorders.

“Thanks, Mikey, but I’m okay,” I told him. The look on his face said he didn’t believe me.

“Seriously. I’m fine. I’m just not hungry; I ate a big breakfast,” I said. He looked at me and nodded, then jogged to catch up with Frank and Ray. Great, now I will have to eat lunch tomorrow.

‘That’s okay, I guess. After I eat, I’ll just go to the bathroom and make it come back up,’ I thought. I sat tapping my fingers against the table until my friends came back. Throughout the whole lunch period, Mikey was giving me worried glances.

‘Maybe he’s anorexic. Maybe that’s how he knows,’ I thought. As Ray, Frank, and Mikey all talked, I watched Mikey. He didn’t seem to not want to eat; he was scarfing down his food. Maybe he was anorexic, but isn’t anymore.

‘No, that can’t be the case, he’d still be second thinking eat every bite he takes,’ I thought.

“Tori? Did you hear what I said?” Frank asked me, giggling like a school girl just go asked out on a date by her crush.

“No, what did you say?” I said, resting my elbows on the table, and my chin in my hands.

“Who brought you to art? That guy,” Frank asked. I blushed again. I didn’t want to tell Frank, or any of the guys for that matter; just because Gerard doesn’t know them doesn’t mean they don’t know who he is.

“His name was, um…,” I paused for a moment, trying to think of a name I heard in art class, “His name is… it’s Jared.” They were all silent for a moment before Mikey said, “There is no one named Jared in your art class.” My blood went cold for a moment, then I leaned back in my chair.

“How do you know there isn’t one?” I asked.

“My brother is in that class,” Mikey said, leaning forward. That shocked me. Who was his brother? Maybe it was that guy who shoved me. I recall that guy had the same color hair as Mikey’s, but yet again, Mikey’s hair color is probably very common. The kid who shoved me name hit me little a ton of bricks.

“Okay, it wasn’t Jared, it was Timothy,” I said.

“He’s a fucking asshole!” Frank slammed his fist on the table. I jumped slightly at the loud noise.

‘Oh God, I’m screwed,’ I thought.

“I don’t think Timothy would do anything to help anyone,” Ray said. I was running out of names.

“Just tell us who helped you. And who’s making you blush,” Frank told me, laying his head in my lap.

“No. You guys will just make fun of me and make fun of him,” I said.

“I bet he’s the one who painted your face,” Frank poked my cheeks. I smacked his hand away.

“Leave me alone. You are all annoying and you all just want to gossip about this like teenage girls,” I glared at all of them.

“Yes, because that is what we are- teenage girls who gossip about boys and what we are wearing and our makeup and being on our periods and how we had great sex with our best friend’s brothers and-,” Frank rambled on until I cut him off, “Okay, I get it. You’re not a teenage girl.” I was so lucky that I didn’t blush while Frank was talking.

‘Sex with your best friend’s brother. Does that mean that Frank has had sex with Mikey’s brother?’ I thought. Even if he has, or wants to, I wouldn’t care; I supported homosexuality. In fact, one of my friends back in Iowa was gay, and would always make out with her girlfriend in front of me.

“Please just tell us who your friend is! Pretty please with sugar on top?” Frank whined. I shook my head no, and then turned to Mikey, “Who’s your brother?” Before Mikey could answer the bell rung.

“Tell you later! Bye!” Mikey jumped up, along with Ray and Frank, and they all left to go to their next classes.

“Bye,” I said, talking to myself.

‘Maybe Gerard is Mikey’s brother… No, he can’t be,’ I thought leaving the lunch room.