Lab Partners (Wattpad Books Edition)

HOLIDAY TUCKER

My head was back to normal by Wednesday, but I almost wished it wasn't. It had given me an excuse to skip gym class and hide from large, noisy groups of people like those found in the cafeteria.

Unfortunately, while standing in line for food, shuffling forward inches at a time, there was no more hiding for me. The people around me chatted with their friends, but I remained quiet, minding my own business as I reached for a tray.

The lunch options were less than exciting as I moved down the line. In that moment, I felt that the only difference between the school and a prison was the lack of bars on the windows. The first food option was chicken nuggets that may or may not have actually been chicken. I recalled that some boys in the class did an experiment to see how high the nuggets would bounce if thrown at the floor. It was well above their heads, to say the least. The second lunch option was a sad attempt at nachos. The small circular chips were soggy from being drowned in liquid cheese. Still, it was one of the more popular selections. The final option was pizza that tasted like cardboard and had the consistency of a cooked noodle.

Grimacing, I asked for the nachos and watched as the aging, short-haired lunch lady slapped a malformed mountain of them on my tray. I quickly moved on and grabbed a small packet of apple slices and half of a tuna sandwich that would hopefully get me by until I got home. Then I grabbed a small carton of chocolate milk from the refrigerated display and waited for my turn to read off my ID number to the cashier lady at the end of the line.

In the cafeteria, which was really just the old, outdated gymnasium with picnic tables placed throughout, I looked for a place to sit. It was loud and chaotic. Every little sound was severely amplified because of the room's horrendous acoustics. All of the sound waves bouncing around the room just seemed to blend together and overlap until one sound was indistinguishable from the others. I was glad we had gym class in the newer gymnasium, because if I had to endure the sounds of pounding basketballs and squeaking shoes in this environment, I might actually be tempted to kill someone. In short, it didn't help my head in the slightest.

Most of the tables were already full. Eventually, I spied an open spot, but just as I started to make my way over to it, someone else sat down.

With no other spaces opening up, it was about the time that I'd usually find a place on the floor or go sit outside on the bleachers and eat. A shrill whistle echoed above the din, and there was Holiday Tucker, staring at me. She gestured for me to come closer. I briefly looked around to see if maybe she was looking at someone else before making my way over to her.

Holly was alone, as usual. She was quite an intimidating girl, with a nose piercing, a tattoo, bright-red hair, and a punk rock persona, but she used to be good friends with my sister—before El left this place. They were still friends, but not being together all day every day had dulled their friendship a bit. Though Holly was known to show up at our house every so often, the same rift Eleanor was creating with me because of her focus on her homework was being felt by Holiday as well. Holly hadn't made many other friends since my sister left. She purposefully came off as uninterested in and above everyone here because she hated most of our peers and didn't want to get close to them. However, I knew there was a nice person underneath that outer shell, so she didn't scare me as much as she did other people. Still, I was curious about what she wanted with me.

"Sit," she said as I stood awkwardly beside the table. I slid onto the bench across from her and set my tray down, immediately poking my nachos with a fork to test their consistency. I looked up at her again. She met my gaze. "How have you been?" she asked.

"Good," I told her.

"Good? I heard you were in the nurse's office again on Monday." She raised a single, skeptical eyebrow.