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I couldn't be more grateful now that second period had ended, and all the students were piling into the cafeteria to fill their grumbling stomachs to satisfy their hunger. I was once again almost crushed to death by kids in the halls. But I survived and made it to the open crowd of lunch tables and lunch lines. I picked whichever line wasn't the longest, because I was really hungry and I wasn't going to let a line full of kids get in between me and my food.
The deli line seemed to be the shortest, so I grabbed a lunch tray to pile up food. My eyes were bigger than my stomach, however, so I had to choose carefully what to eat. Just as I grabbed a water bottle out of the small refrigerator, a girl next to me turned toward me with shining eyes. She had wavy shoulder-length sandy blonde hair tucked away in a black headband, hazel eyes, and a diamond-shaped face. She smiled at me brightly, also revealing another trait about herself.
"Hi," she greeted. "You're Holly Lockhart, right?"
Surprised by her sudden gesture of kindness, I answered, "Yes, I am."
"I couldn't help but notice you when you walked in. You have that 'new girl' vibe to you, ya know?"
I nodded slowly, furrowing my eyebrows together. I'll get one thing straight, she seems like a friendly person, but she was quaint. I reached for the tongs to put salad on my plate when the perky girl kept talking.
"Listen, I know we don't know each other, but would you like to sit by me and my friends? I'd bet they'd love to meet you," she said while grabbing a bag of chips.
Her attitude toward me might have been unusual, but her kindness certainly had me sold. I'll admit that.
"Sure. Why not?" I replied.
"Nice."
We picked up our trays and began walking past all the tables, each kid in different groups. Some looked like they were the popular kids, and some looked like outcasts. I wouldn't know which one to pick, both are hard to be a part of.
"I'm Gwen, by the way. Gwen Stacy," she said.
I nodded again, then gripped tighter onto my tray. I was nervous all over again. When she said 'friends', did she mean by one or two? Or was it over five? Being in big groups like that wasn't my style, and I had no idea where Gwen was taking me. But, as luck would have it, we turned past the popular table and into another table in between. What really made me feel better was that there were only two other girls who I assumed were her friends Gwen was talking about.
Both girls had long curly hair that reached past their shoulders, but one was a brunette while the other had red hair. The brunette had her nose shoved in a book, leaving her tray of food untouched. One page after the other, she did not stop reading, intently focused on those printed words. The other girl, however, was casually eating her sandwich while looking at the brunette sitting across from her. It was almost as if she were worried for her.
