The Girl with Cherry Earrings | ✔

38

I walked down the halls of the second floor, scanning the doors for room 217. The only catch was, I couldn't find it.

I turned the corner for what felt like the hundredth time, passing by the cafeteria doors. Luckily, the bell had rung ten minutes ago, leaving behind the empty halls, which I was appreciative of. Then again, I couldn't help but feel increasingly embarrassed every time I passed by the caretaker, who was busy mopping the floors. The first few times, he didn't seem to care about my presence, let alone acknowledge me. But after the fifth or sixth time, I could feel his looks of confusion boring into the back of my skull. And that only made me feel stupider.

"Over here, Vince!"

I whipped my head around, finding Jason peering out from the cafeteria doors. I walked towards him, not even bothering to shield the look confusion washing over my face.

"Since when was the cafeteria room 217?" I asked, earning a chuckle from Jason. With a cheerful smile, he pulled the doors open, beckoning for me to enter.

"Well, not exactly."

An overwhelming silence greeted me as I took a step through the doors. The benches and tables were all folded up, propped up against the four walls of the room. A massive lot sat in the middle of the lunchroom where the tables were supposed to be, exposing the awfully animated cartoon of our school's mascot, painted over the tiled floor. Given the duration that it had been there for, it was chipped beyond repair, with diagonal slashes cutting through its wide bird beak smile.

"Room 217 is over here."

Before I could further question Jason, he went ahead of me, jogging over to the back of the Caf to the kitchen. Although a little skeptical, I obediently followed, watching as he slipped a tiny silver key from the front pocket of his black skinny jeans. He fiddled around with the lock for a few moments before finally pushing open the door. There, around a small table by the refrigerators, assembled the members of the Newspaper Committee, some staring up at me in a mix of confusion and surprise.

The room was filled with friendly chatter, the complete opposite of what I had in mind. In fact, I was expecting this meeting to be more like one that you would find in corporate business, but I guess I was mistaken. The opened bags of Hot Cheetos and boxes of Timbits spilling over the tabletop didn't seem to serve them justice in terms of professionalism anyways.

"You could've just knocked dumbass," Georgia remarked, her lips curled into a taunting smirk. Jason retaliated with a sarcastic smile, reaching over to grab a couple of Hot Cheetos from one of the open bags.

Unsure as what to do, my eyes darted around the room, finally landing on Tyler, who was busy with whatever was on the screen of his camera. I made my way towards him, feeling the gazes of what felt like a hundred eyes piercing through me. It made me feel like I was bait of some sort, willingly sacrificing myself to eager predators ready to pounce at any given moment. The overwhelming silence fell flat not too long after, as the members of the committee began chatting among themselves, ignoring my presence entirely, Tyler included. He didn't even bother looking up as I tucked my chair in beside him. Instead, he leaned over to the side, the squinted gaze of his blue-green eyes never leaving his camera.

Deciding not to bother him for the time being, I reached over to the open box in front of me, nibbling on a chocolate Timbit for the time being. At the corner of my eye, I caught the attention of Georgia. Her typical icy glare seemed to thaw out, unveiling an underlying warmth beneath her pale blue eyes.

"Care for a Cheeto?" she offered, tipping the bag towards me. Her words slid slowly from her lips as if each word was selected with care.

"Uh, thanks."