Nomads

Chapter 18

The next few hours went by fast, as the teachers had gotten through their syllabi the day before and could finally start teaching.

Before she knew it, Mara was following the horde of hungry teenagers as they made their way toward the cafeteria. She spotted Luca's head of curly brown hair before she could make out the rest of him, causing her to quicken her pace so she could talk to him.

"Hey," she called, stopping in front of him and flashing him a smile.

"Hey, you," he murmured, slipping his hand into hers and tugging her a bit closer.

She blushed, glancing around at the teens who sent shocked looks their way. "Where are we sitting?"

He nodded his head toward the back of the cafeteria, and Mara's eyes zeroed in on his friends sitting at a table by the windows.

"Listen," he said quickly, taking in the nervous look on her face. "If they give you a hard time, we can just sit somewhere else."

She shook her head, flashing him a smile. "I'll be fine, Luca. I promise."

He sighed, "I don't know if I will, is all."

Mara laughed and reached up to ruffle his hair. "They're your friends. Just keep how much you care about them at the forefront of your mind."

He wrinkled his nose, grabbing her other hand and pulling it down from his hair. Now having both of her hands in his, he stared down at their joined hands for a moment before looking up at her eyes. "Well, just know that there's nothing they could say to change my mind about you," he mumbled before letting one of her hands go to turn and lead her toward their group of friends.

The table's occupants quieted when the couple reached it, all of his friends giving Mara a range of wary or angry looks.

Luca uttered a "hey" and sat down in one of the open spots, scooting over to make room for his girlfriend.

Mara sat down gracefully, smiling warmly at the people around her. "Hello again," she said.

Sarah scoffed. "She can't sit with us," she snapped at Luca, completely ignoring the girl.

Luca shrugged and stood, grabbing Mara's hand and pulling her up. "That's fine. See you guys later then, I guess."

He made a move to leave, but Maggie's voice stopped him.

"No, wait! It's not that big a deal if she stays."

Sarah scowled at her, but Mason nodded in agreement. "Yeah, ignore what Sarah said. She can stay," he added before Sarah could protest.

Luca eyed them and sat down, tugging his girlfriend back down to sit beside him again.

Mara looked around the group of people, frowning thoughtfully when she noticed that one of them was missing.

"Where's that guy with the glasses?" she asked, "Amir, was it?"

There was a pause before Maggie tried to change the subject. "That's an interesting accent you have, Mara. Where are you from?"

Mara wrinkled her nose. "It's a mix of a few different accents. I grew up in several different countries, and I picked up pronunciations from several different languages," she replied tonelessly. "Where is Amir?" she repeated.

Maggie cringed and Mason avoided eye contact. Julia shrugged and looked at Sarah, who was silent for a moment before admitting, "We aren't friends with him anymore."

"What?" Luca sputtered, baffled. "Why?"

"Well, if I'm being honest, it's because of her," Sarah seethed, glaring at Mara. "None of us like her, Luke. Amir disagreed and basically banished himself from our friend group."