Nomads

Chapter 19

By the time Mara and Amir had made it back to the cafeteria, lunch was just about over. Most of the students had finished their lunches and had begun lazily sauntering to their classes.

Luca was still sitting in the same spot Mara had left him, only he was alone at the table.

"Did you scare them off?" Mara teased, plopping down beside him and effectively startling the poor boy.

Luca rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to retort before he noticed Amir standing awkwardly behind them.

He jumped up and pulled his friend into a tight hug, which caused Amir to stiffen in shock.

"Amir, listen, I'm so sorry for what they did. I can't believe-"

The tanned boy shrugged his shoulders and cut him off, patting his back awkwardly. "Don't be. It's been a long time coming, I guess..."

Luca shook his head, pulling away and grabbing him by his shoulders. "That's not true, Amir," he refuted sternly before sighing. "But I'm sure I won't be able to convince you of that if Naomi couldn't."

Both boys' eyes fixated on the aforementioned girl; Amir's gaze was curious whereas Luca's eyes were a bit skeptical, searching for the answers to what happened when she sped out of the cafeteria.

"Don't give me that look. They had clearly hurt his feelings because of me so I had to go and at least apologize and try my best to rectify things."

Luca huffed, letting go of Amir to sit back down across from her. "You could've said that before you left."

She smiled sheepishly. "I could have, were I smart enough to cover all my bases before jumping right into the fray."

Luca's lips betrayed him, quirking up into a smile at her manner of speech. "Yes, well, I guess it was my fault that I thought you were capable of such things."

Mara laughed before glancing behind her to see Amir still standing there. "Do you wanna sit with us?"

Amir blushed, "N-no, I mean, I don't wanna impose. I should just head to class."

Luca grabbed his arm and tugged the boy down onto the seat beside him before Amir could scurry off. "Come on, we still have a few minutes before we have to go to class."

Mara grinned as she watched Luca attempt to apologize for their friends again for Amir to only brush it off.

"It's fine, really."

"No it's not. They were acting like brats. I can't believe they said they wouldn't be your friend anymore. I swear, if I didn't promise Naomi that I'd try to be understanding and not make rash decisions, I'd have cursed them out and never spoken to them again."

Mara chose that moment to butt in. "What did you do, by the way, that had us finding you alone at the table when I left you with a table full of friends?"

"I told them I was really disappointed in them and mad at them for being such jerks to their own friend and that I wasn't going to talk to them until they each apologized to Amir for all that crap they said. Those idiots were too prideful to even want to apologize without me pulling their stupid ultimatum ridiculousness on them." Luca huffed, scowling. "I can't even put into words how angry I am."

Mara sighed loudly, lazily propping her head up with her hand. "And here Amir didn't believe me when I said that you cared about him," she murmured with a wry grin. "He genuinely thought you wouldn't bat an eye to his banishment."

"Okay, first, banishment?" Luca scoffed at Mara before swiveling his head to Amir who blushed again and shrugged. "Second, Amir, you're one of my best friends, and they all were clearly in the wrong. Why on earth would I not be upset? You not only defended me but also Naomi and yet you got so much grief for it." He sighed, running a hand through his hair. "This really is my fault for not communicating with you guys properly. I was just frustrated that I couldn't get a second alone to talk to Naomi without you all snooping, which was my fault in the first place for not being open with you guys, and then I snapped at you guys, which only made things worse."