Magnetic

Chapter Six

After correcting four teachers about my name, that I indeed went by Nicki instead of Nicolette, it was time for either the highlight of my day, or the low. Lunch was one of those things that could either go terribly wrong or fantastically, depending on who I'd be sitting with.

I would have attempted to make friends in my english class with the people I sat near, but of course, my seat was pretty terrible. On my left was a guy that I could already tell was a pretty popular athlete. He wore a letterman jacket, although I didn't know what for. There was the slight stench of marijuana on him, but he didn't seem under the influence of anything.

On the other side of me was a tiny Asian girl who refused to look up from a novel the size of a large textbook. I tried to converse with her, asking her what she was reading ("I doubt you've ever heard of it.") and if it was good ("It's alright, I guess."). After my attempts were rejected, I decided to just stop trying, sit back, and watch the clock that was on the wall right behind the teacher, Mr. Richmond.

Mr. Richmond looked like your stereotypical high school english teacher: big glasses that didn't particularly fit his face, a belt that pulled his khakis up close to his chest, and gray hair that was thinning on the crown of his head. He had a dry sense of humor that you could acknowledge was sometimes clever, but not clever enough to ever laugh out loud at.

When he let us out of the classroom, I followed the rush of students toward the cafeteria, hoping they were leading me in the right direction. Eventually, I somehow found myself in the right spot, five dollars in hand for food. While I scanned the cafeteria, looking for any sign of a friendly face that would maybe allow me to sit next to them, I could hear someone calling out my name. I dismissed it as someone yelling for another person named Nicki, not me.

A hand grabbed my shoulder. I spun around to face whoever it was, my heart racing.

"Hey, Nicki!"

It was Brady, Gage's blonde friend he had brought to Christmas dinner.

"Gage and I have seats at our usual table. You can sit with us if you want. You know, if you don't have anyone else to sit with yet."

When I just glared at him, he tried to explain, saying, "I was sent to find you." He obviously didn't understand why I was just giving him the evil eye.

"Why the heck did do that? I can't catch my breath yet."

"I didn't mean to scare you," he laughed, leading the way to a cafeteria table. It was small and circular with five seats around it. Occupying two of them were Gage and a small girl who I recognized as being in my english class.

"Having a good day so far?" Gage asked, pushing back the chair next to him for me to sit down. As it turned out, I didn't have any classes with either Gage or Brady. Or, at least, not yet.

I shrugged and sat. "I guess." It wasn't a terrible day, so I just categorized it into good.

"Any new friends?"

Honestly, I didn't really make any. I was introduced to two or three people, but not anyone memorable. I didn't want Gage to worry about me (which he often did; he was protective of me like an older brother), so I said, "I made a few."

He seemed content with that answer, and pointed over at the girl who sat on the other side of him. "This is Paisley. She's in your grade."

Paisley had curly blonde hair that had been forced up into a ponytail. She wore a university basketball hoodie and was eating pretzel sticks out of a large Ziplock bag on the table in front of her. She greeted me with a smile as she munched on a pretzel.

"I'm Nicki."

"You're in my english class! I'm sorry about the people you sit near. No one cool. Tanner stays high as a kite and Annalis doesn't talk to anyone."