23 Making Friends... Sort of

When the bell rung, Jay grabbed his bag and made his way out of English class and to the cafeteria faster than his classmates could encircle him, even though Leah and Em had assured him he would be fine, he didn't take the chance.

Especially because of the girls. He loved women, really, he did, but those were... teenage girls and although they were pretty... he was a grown ass man okay!

Jay internally lamented, he wouldn't feel that uncomfortable if they were college girls, but most of those ones weren't even legal yet! They were jailbaits alright!

But the most important thing was that he needed to keep a clean reputation, he didn't want anything popping-up later in the midst of his career.

He quickly found an inconspicuous corner to sit at and took out the lunch his mom had prepared. Tuna mayo was the best after all, he thought as he dug in.

He was halfway through his sandwich when a guy approached him. He recognized him as the one who had barely contained his laughter during Square's class. He had olive skin very and short curly dark brown hair and brown eyes, he was wearing a white hoodie and black sweatpants with Jordan's.

The guy stared at him for a second before bringing his hands together, "Kamehameha!" he said and Jay almost choked.

After a long embarrassing moment of silence, the guy muttered "Maybe another one?" then he straightened himself up and brought his hands in front of him "Rasengan!"

Jay wanted to laugh, but he was afraid he'd hurt the guy's feelings, he now thought he might be a special needs kid and that wouldn't be nice.

The guy became frustrated and sat in front of him, "Yo wassup dawg! Why you no reacting?"

Another guy came at that point and slapped the back of the special needs kid's head.

"Ouch! Tiny! What you did that for, I'm communicating with the new guy!"

"Communicate in English, in English! He probably thinks you have mental problems." the guy stated and sat down as well. He was wearing jeans with a grey t-shirt and a cross was hanging from his neck.

"Whatever man." he grunted and turned to Jay. "I'm Kasim and that's Diego but everyone calls him Tiny cuz he so small haha, watcha name?"

"Jay."

"You really showed that bastard Square! The mofo's always picking on us when he in an bad mood. Why you sitting here alone?" Kasim asked.

"Because I like quiet." Jay smiled, "What was up with what you did before?"

"I was gonna ask you dawg! Why you no react?" he said and Tiny slapped the back of his head again.

"Ouch! Tiny! What you did that for?!"

"Stop pretending to be ghetto, this is Needham, Massachusetts, not New York's Brooklyn." Tiny rebuked then turned to Jay. "Sorry, he thought you were into anime so he wanted to befriend you."

Jay looked at them both in puzzlement, "What made you think that?"

"Wallahi I'm warning you Tiny, you slap me one more time and you see if I don't kick your skinny ass so bad your momma won't recognize you!" Kasim shouted before facing Jay.

"You ask what made me think that? Bro, you has white hair!" he pointed and Jay felt like maybe he should dye his hair back.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"I know a guy who's also into that stuff, his hair be looking like a Christmas tree yo."

Tiny sighed exasperatedly, "Ignore him, he'll stop when he gets tired."

But it didn't seem like Kasim was getting tired anytime soon, he asked again "Hey, you a Jew?"

"... No?" Jay raised an eyebrow and answered back.

"Damn that's too bad bro. We coulda been the monotheist triad!"

Tiny face palmed himself, "Hey, if you're gonna play a character, play it well. What kind of thug says 'monotheist'? They probably don't even know what that means!"

"Bro you just too prejudiced. It's 2010, thugs go to school too man." Kasim answered in disdain.

"Who goes to school too?" Leah said, claiming the seat on Jay's right while Em took the left.

"Hey you. Glad to know we have lunch together." Jay smiled at them.

"Huh huh, give me your schedule, I'll mark the times we can hang out." Em said extending her hand.

Jay gave it to her; realizing his two new acquaintances had turned mute.

Tiny stood up and dragged Kasim away, "Ehm... I just remembered we have something to do… So we're leaving. Bye."

Jay let that information sink in for a moment before turning to his two friends who seemed completely unbothered.

"Okay... cards on the table girls, what's going on?" Jay asked.

Em was still busy with his schedule so Leah answered. "What do you mean?" she said, puzzled.

"That's the second time people have approached me today and scampered when they found out I was associated with you. Tell me honestly, are you guys bullies or something?"

"Oh," Leah said, absentmindedly twirling a strand of her hair, "It's probably because of the school hierarchy."

"The what?" Jay asked.

"You know, the social ladder? Em and I are at the top, and the two from before are at the bottom. We don't associate with them." she smiled and answered, to Jay's absolute horror.

He had barely seen the mirth in her eyes that she burst out laughing, "I'm kidding silly. You should've seen your face!"

Jay let out the breath he was holding, "Damn, you got me. I got a nasty Mean Girls vibe for a second."

"Mean Girls? You've watched it?" she asked.

"... A friend in Switzerland recommended it."

"Liked it?"

"... I like Rachel McAdams, does that count?"

Leah laughed and slapped his shoulder, "Well, she is hot."

"So what was this about then?" Jay asked.

Leah sighed, "It's just petty high school stuff." she hesitated then continued, "Em and I... kinda have nicknames."

Jay stared at her for a second before smiling, "Do I... strike you as a nine year old?"

Leah was taken aback by the intensity of his stare and looked away, "Ehm... what do you mean?"

"I mean I'd appreciate it if you and Bucky stopped treating me like the kid I'm not." before either girl could argue, he said in a voice that brook no argument "You are, you're treating me like I'm made of glass and it's really irritating, so please stop. It shouldn't be that hard considering I've given you absolutely no reason to doubt me. Most importantly, I don't look like a kid."

He crossed his arms and raise his brows while looking at his friends.

Em and Leah eyed each other before Em handed him his schedule back and spoke. "Alright big guy. They're avoiding you because we're kind of... famous? You know what succubi do, right? They suck men dry, and that's what most jocks refer to the cheerleading team as. I'm the captain of the cheerleading team, ergo the queen of the succubi. I'm known for going out with a lot of guys but never giving it up, so... when those boys get frustrated, they start making stories up." she said and turned to Leah.

Jay inwardly smiled, so Em was a tease, that was news.

"Ice queen. That's what they call me." Leah let out.

"Why?" he quizzically inquired.

"Because I'm cold? I don't really get along with people so I don't bother." she shrugged.

"I see. So you two are Needham High's queens? This humble subject is honored." he smiled and stood up to take a bow, noticing the relief on both girl's faces, which was more so for Em.

"Our reputation doesn't work with seniors, so stay away from them. Although I don't think you'll have problems in that department." Em smiled.

"Why's that?"

"Because senior girls don't date sophomores, especially 15 year old sophomores." she teasingly grinned.

"I'm as tall if not taller than the majority of the senior guys." Jay smiled, "Probably more mature than 99% of them too."

Leah laughed, "It has nothing to do with that, it's about their own reputations, they don't date younger guys period."

"I see. Not that I really care." he shrugged.

Dating was the farthest thing on his mind right now, he wasn't against having fun once in a while but then again it wouldn't be with a high school girl.

He took a look at his watch, class would be starting soon. He grabbed his schedule back and stated, "It's almost time, I'm done here so I'm going back to class, catch you guys later." he smiled and left.

"We need to stop. We've been mothering him." Leah turned to Em and blurted out when he was out of earshot.

"Mothering him?" Em asked.

"Yeah... How would you feel if your best friends suddenly started acting like adults in front of you? That's probably how he feels."

"I... We..." Em tried but couldn't deny Leah's assertions. She breathed out, "Then, what should we do?"

"We stop. He's our friend, not our son. Let's give him some breathing space and see how that goes. I know I would hate it if you started getting fresh with me." Leah teased before getting up.

Em playfully slapped her butt and laughed, "Come on, we're gonna be late."

"You actually slapped my ass!"

"Someone should, it's such a waste of a bubbly butt." Em grinned before following her friend out.

***

"Hey, who's that guy?" Alexa asked Amy who was sitting next to her.

"Jay Aslan. You know, the comatose kid?"

"It's him?" Alexa exclaimed in shock.

"Yep. I actually tried to hit on him during the cheerleader's team get-together. Awkward much." Amy spat out.

Kelsey Rogers had been listening in absentmindedly until she had glanced at the object of their conversation. Noticing the guy, she raised an eyebrow in interest.

"How old is he?" she asked and her words were like a royal decree, quieting down all the other girls who'd been chatting at the table.

"15. But he's been in a coma since he was 9. He's basically a kid." Amy answered exasperatedly. It was really a shame, such a waste of a fine specimen.

Kelsey nodded, tucking a stray strand of her soft black hair behind her ear.

Realizing she was done with her inquiry, the other girls resumed their talking.

Kelsey followed Jay's back as he left the cafeteria, but he seemed to sense something and turned back, locking eyes with her.

He casually smiled and walked out without turning back again.

"Interesting..." Kelsey lazily whispered, the corner of her mouth slightly raised.