Just Different

Chapter 42

Sam bit her lip nervously. She sat alone in a desolate area of the lunchroom. It was still early, so not very many students were around. She felt slightly sick to her stomach as images replayed in her head. Everything felt wrong.

"Hey Sammy!" A familiar voice chirped. Heidi bounded towards the table. Once she saw Sam, her smile faltered. "Oh my god, what's wrong?"

She sat down on the opposite side of the table quickly.

"Oh nothing, time of the month you know," Sam muttered. Heidi's face went flat.

"Again? I thought you had it like a week amd a half ago," Heidi stated. Sam sighed and looked at Heidi. Maybe she could trust her not to tell.

"Okay. You got me. But you can't tell anyone about this," Sam said quietly. She took her phone out. " Someone sent me this video," she breathed. Just thinking about it made her shutter.

"Of?"

"Should I just show you?" Sam croaked. She knew Heidi could handle it, and she was also unable to bring herself to describe the video. She navigated to the video on her phone then gave it to Heidi.

The video began to play and Sam could hear the audio of snickering boys. Heidi watched the video intently, her brows furrowing.

"That sounds like-- Ryan?"

Sam suddenly snapped her attention to the laughs. There were 2 of them, and sure enough, one of them was Ryan's unmistakable guffaw. Sam felt even more sick. Chester looked so different in the video. His hair was curly, messy and brown, he wore glasses, so it was quite a while ago. No wonder he never liked Sam's friends. He pretended to mind them this whole time.

"The other one sounds like Amir," Heidi added. Sam shook her head.

"Why would they just watch, he obviously looks out of it!" She motioned to the phone. She shook her head in disbelief. "Disgusting."

"Are you still gonna talk to them?"

"Fuck no. I'm gonna forget about their dumb asses. Who does this?"

Heidi was looking through Sam's phone. "Looks like it was sent by Amir's instagram."

"Amir doesn't have an Instagram?" Sam scoffed. Heidi turned the phone to her.

"I guess he does now." Sam squinted at the profile picture. The person in the photo was looking down, their face covered by the brim of their cap. Sam instantly recognized the hat though, she'd seem Amir wear the exact same one on occasion.

"Oh my god," Sam exclaimed. She brought her hands up to her face. Her friends were complete idiots.

***

"I don't get it," Joe said, looking back at his friends. "Why?"

Mike shrugged lazily at Joe. The pair stared at Rob and Chester talking. They were both sharing their food, Chester playfully feeding Rob on occasion.

"You guys are still looking at that gay shit," Brad sighed grumpily. Mike and Joe turned their attention back to their lunch. Brad was in his usual grumpy mood. His attempts to mend things with Elisa were not going well for him. Seeing his betrayers acting giggly only fueled his rage.

As Brad fumed quietly over his breakfast, Dave and his posse walked into the cafeteria amd took their usual seats. Sam was no where to be seen with them.

"Huh, that's unusual," Joe noted. He scanned the lunchroom for Sam's unmistakable curls. No where.

"She hangs out with Heidi too," Mike added knowingly, his eyes peeling back off of Rob and Chester. The jealous pang in his heart wasn't letting him alone. He had decided earlier that morning that he was going to confront Chester about everything... That is if Rob goes home. It was Tuesday, a weekday, so there was a higher chance of Rob going home...

***

"They keep staring at us," Rob mumbled after swallowing the grape Chester fed him. Chester's eyes followed Rob's and landed on the trio's table. They were definitely staring, except for Brad. He still was glancing up at the pair but he spent most of lunch time slouched over in a bad mood.

"That's normal," Chester said. "They weren't really expecting this."

Rob bit his lip. He didn't either, he was expecting to be acting this way with Brad. But Chester was just fine too. Brad looked angry. Rob had seen his former friend trying to talk to Elisa, but was rejected every time. It made Rob kind of sad to see Brad so heartbroken over her.

"He looks so mad," Chester snickered. "He's that mad, Dave's gonna eventually come and instigate something." Chester continued to snicker. He scanned the lunchroom then snickered some more.

"She looks just fine!" Rob scanned the lunchroom and tried to figure out what Chester was talking about. And then his eyes landed on Elisa. She was talking animatedly with her friends, laughing every now and then. "Meanwhile her lover over here is all eggy."

Rob shook his head discreetly and then decided to change the subject.

"Do you still want to try out that grill tonight?" Rob spoke up. Chester's chuckles died down and he coughed, composing himself.

"Yeah, sure."

Rob nodded, "I just need to go home and shower."

Chester scoffed. " You're gonna end up smelling like smoke either ways."

"I just want to be clean," Rob chuckled. "I'll walk home and then meet you in the RV."

"And I'll get all our snacks ready for grilling," Chester smirked as he took another chicken nugget from his tray.

***

Chester drove off in the way of the grocery store while Rob began walking down the sidewalk. He walked briskly, stuffing his hands into his pockets.

Meters behind, Brad, Mike, and Joe were walking too. Brad's demeanor hadn't changed the entire day and it was starting to annoy Joe and Mike.

"Give it a rest, yeah Brad?" Joe pleaded. "You've been a sour puss all day and it's not productive."

Brad grumbled and just walked. Mike and Joe exchanged looks and Joe sighed,grumbling himself. Mike looked ahead and watched Rob walking. He hoped he took the road Mike hoped for.

The three boys walked in silence for the remainder of their trip. Brad was the first to depart, then Joe. It was now just Mike walking a couple hundred feet away from Rob. The other boy was unaware that he was following close by.

Rob hummed quietly and started to turn the corner. Mike celebrated silently behind him. He smiled and looked ahead. He wasn't far from the junk yard now.