The Life I'm Running From

32\ A Chill of Change

Do you ever find yourself in a scene so normal, so recognized, something that you enjoyed time after time, until one day it suddenly becomes mundane? Lunch in the cafeteria felt that way. It was the same old students around me and the same old food. Harley's table was still the loudest, and I still sat with my friends at a table on the left side of the cafeteria. The teachers still ignored all the students. That girl was still wearing a crop top, and that guy was still staring at her. Salads still weren't good any day but Wednesday.

Maybe my lack of enthusiasm should be credited to the Avengers. My Christmas break—though I was confined to the same building for the whole three weeks—provided an exciting turn in my life. So, back here, things seemed to drag. Maybe I could get the Avengers to show up here. Steve would be a good gym teacher. Dr. Banner could teach science, and Tony... well he'd probably teach a class on how to be arrogant.

"So," Charlie said loudly to get our attention, "before anyone else, I think McKinnley needs to tell us what she was doing all Christmas break." Charlie was wearing an off-the-shoulder sweater today, with her curly hair loose and free around her shoulders. Her pale skin had taken on a tan from spending the last weeks in Hawaii.

Adriana spun the straw in her homemade fruit smoothie, her skin still the same warm beige colour it had been before the break. "Agreed. Why were you avoiding us all break?"

All three girls eyed me under raised eyebrows(though Skylar didn't look as judge-y). I sighed, faking more guiltiness than I actually felt. "I'm sorry. I went Upstate New York to visit some distant relatives."

I used the same lie I had used on Harley. And, like with Harley, my friends completely bought it. Skylar turned a bit red. "Oh. I'm really sorry."

Charlie and Adriana looked less embarrassed than Skylar, but the judgement fell off their faces like a mask. Instead of admitting that they were in the wrong, they both took a bite of their food.

"You still could've replied to our texts," Charlie said in between bites of her avocado and tomato salad.

I shrugged, subconsciously rubbing the spot where my band had once been. "I was busy. What were you guys up to over the break?"

"Oooh, I want to know how Charlie's Hawaiian vacation with Deagan went." Adriana wagged her eyebrows suggestively. "How does he look in a swimsuit?"

Surprisingly, Charlie went tomato red. I had never seen her blush so furiously over Deagan... in fact, usually she'd calmly combat our teasing. Interesting. I wonder what happened in Hawaii?

"The vacation was with my family. Deagan's family just happened to be going at the same time." Charlie took a deep breath, the vibrant colour in her face slowly fading. "I learned to surf. We took lessons, and let me tell you, it's not as easy as it looks. We also attended a luau..."

Charlie went on to explain all the adventures her family had taken in a tropical paradise while the rest of us had been in freezing our butts off in New York. She conveniently left Deagan out of all of her stories.

I was finished my lunch by the time Charlie had recounted her entire vacation, but I couldn't judge. My Christmas Break would take a lunch hour to explain too.

Skylar briefly mentioned skating at Rockefeller Centre as we climbed the stairs to our lockers. Adriana and I said goodbye to them on the eighth floor to stop at our lockers. I grabbed my backpack quickly. Thank goodness I still remembered my locker combination after the break. This morning I had stared at it for a good minute before the numbers finally clicked in my head.

Adriana was still at her locker down the hall, so I joined her there. The hallway was nearly silent—like it always was during lunch hour. I heard the party hallways were on the ninth floor. Charlie and Skylar often had to push through crowds of students—who were gossiping and exchanging items they wouldn't let the teachers see—to get to their lockers.