14 A GOOD MEAL (THE FIRST LUNCH PART 2)

One Year Ago...

"Machiko?!" The girl heard her name in whimpered cries, as she slowly returned to consciousness. Looking around, she noticed the figure of her mother leaning above her, aged eyes filled with tears resting above. Before she could even comprehend the situation, she was embraced into a light hug, which despite the fragile nature of the hug, put some pain on her shoulders.

"Oww..." She whimpered, her eyes coming back into full focus. Looking around the room, it was filled with sterile whites and awkward furniture, complimented by scientific-looking appliances blending into the walls and spaces around her.

She groaned, immediately realizing the space was a hospital room.

"What... what happened?"

The mother began, tears choking her sentences. "You almost..."

"What? I-OWW!" As Machiko began to lift herself up from the bed, she was greeted by a strong surge of pain throughout her back, going all the way down to the middle sections of her thighs. Curling in pain, the mother rubbed against Machiko's tense shoulders, reminding her to sink back into the bed, away from the pain.

"You'll be in bed for a while... but at least nothing's permanent."

"Nothing's permanent?" She questioned. "So, how long then?"

The mother turned away from her, nervously. Her father, as she now noticed was sitting on a small bench by the door, couldn't look to her either.

"How long?"

"...Months. Most likely until we're halfway through October until you can do anything like you used to. And even then, you'l have to take it easy for months after."

Her face froze, contemplating the reality of the situation. All of her hobbies, while not sports, were active, such as cooking or music. Music...

"We were on our way to Band Camp, right?!" She freaked, confused. "What happened?!"

"Car crash, a few minutes from the school. Our car's wrecked, and the man who hit us is in a similar state."

"No... what's the time?!"

"Twelve or so... Tuesday."

"Tuesday?! But-" She flinched, trying to lift herself up in pain. Taking a deep breath, she took on an even angrier expression. "But... Band Camp started yesterday..."

"I know you were looking forward to this, hun..." The mother continued to rub her shoulder, sitting on the edge of the bed. "But... you're in no condition to do something that physical! Next year, Machiko."

Present Day...

"What was that?!" Machiko walked up to Arthur's empty table, as he ate a small ham sandwich alone.

"You know what that was." He muttered, not looking up to greet her questioning gaze.

She sat down across from him, and let out a frustrated sigh. "... Vernon, right?"

"He was t-t-there for me, helping motivate me when you did. He's a cool guy! B-b-but..."

"They were making fun of him, and the way he led."

He looked up, realizing how much of the situation Machiko actually understood. "You... support J-J-Joseph?"

"Of course I don't. But... I've learned that making the most of your time here is really important, and he's both really social and a great player, from what I've heard at least. He has value."

"He disrespected your friend-"

"And people can change! I'm not ignoring his flaws, I'm simply working with his benefits! And if you want to make friends in this band... you're gonna have to get used to it."

Arthur, with a similar disappointed look as when they were playing the game, packed his remaining food and stood up. "A band that does nothing but talk behind others backs doesn't sound like a group of friends I want to make."

Walking away, Machiko was left in disbelief, unsure of how to think about his statements.

Sure, people are immoral, but what can you do about it? People will always have flaws, but antagonizing those flaws will only make things worse, right?

Looking into the mess of band kids, Machiko noticed across the way a table with a lone freshman girl, reading. Smiling, Machiko thought it would be the perfect opportunity.

"Hey!" Looking over the girl's shoulder, Machiko waved with a smile. "I'm Machiko! Do you mind if I sit with you?"

The girl nodded, and Machiko sat across similarly to how she sat with Arthur. Looking across, the girl smiled back. "What'cha reading?"

"Uh... 'One Part!'..."

"Oh, I've read some of that!"

"You read comics?"

"Yeah! I had a lot of time last year, so I spent most of it finding new comics to read. 'One Part', I didn't get TOO far in, but have you read 'Creature Tail'?!"

"Yes! It's really great, how the first couple arcs kinda build up the world and then we get the Second War..."

"Who's your favorite character?" Machiko smiled, leaning onto the table.

"Well, I'd have to say-"

"Hey! Light!" Machiko turned along with the girl (who's name was apparently Light), to see a tall, head-shaven senior give her a terrible look. "Who... who's this you're talking to, Light?"

Her head immediately curved down, trying not to look either one of the upperclassman in the eye.

"I... uh... she just wanted to talk and s-s-stuff..."

The senior angrily glared at Machiko, motioning for the two of them to talk a distance away from the table. Once out of vicinity of Light, the teen smiled at Machiko, intensity in his eyes.

"Sorry about all of this! It's just... she's like, really behind on all of her percussion warm-ups, and we can't have her wasting any more time at lunch. Understand?" Before Machiko could even respond, the senior motioned for Light to come over, making her grab all of her supplies before darting over.

"Who are you?"

"Brendan, percussion Section Leader." Without further context, Light stood beside Brendan, nodding before the two began to walk off. Machiko began to walk away, before realizing the opportunity she had in front of herself. Percussion Section Leader? He must have lots of useful advice on leadership, being attentive enough to help rookies on their first day during free time.

Machiko quickly turned around and tried to catch up with them, before noticing Brendan snatching the comic from Light's hand. He flicked through the pages uncaring before tossing it back to the girl.

"What is this crap?"

"Uh..."

"Don't bring it. If you're trashing your brain on this, then you'll need to work a lot more than initially thought."

"Hey!" Machiko called back, furious. "That's unnecessary, dude."

He laughed. "Unnecessary? You have no idea what it takes to be in percussion, 'clarinet girl'. Trash hobbies right now will do nothing but distract her from precious time she could be fixing her form before the end of band camp! And I'm sorry if your pretty little head just can't comprehend what I'm saying, just-"

"You don't get to talk down to me." Machiko stood eye to eye with him, despite the tall senior towering over her. Despite her conviction, each bit of confidence that filled her only went towards making Brendan see the situation as nothing more than a joke.

"Be in Marching Band for four years, and then you get to critique how I run things."

"Fuck you, man!"

"What?!" The tall teen, who had been rather dismissive of the conversation up until that point, suddenly gained an angry charge. Stepping closer, Brendan was ready for a confrontation, making Light nervous and baffling Machiko even further.

As she was about to let him have it, a sudden wave of regret hit her. Was this the right course of action? Was he right, and was she just too inexperienced or too emotional to understand his perception? She did want to befriend as many talented people as possible... but was it worth it to go THAT far out of her comfort zone, sending a quiet girl like her to be pushed uncomfortably and made fun of like that?

"I... never mind..." Machiko just looked away unsure of how to handle her emotions. Brendan, realizing he wasn't going to get a fight out of her, motioned for Light to follow him and the two made their way back to the Band Room.

Cursing under her breath, the girl sat back down at the now-empty table, unsure of how to move forward.