The Lunch Period

After the longest hour in my life that included lessons of boring math questions and Nate being annoying, the bell rang again, signaling the time for lunch. The saving grace of the day. A way to socialize without being hushed and told to be a grown up, even though grown-ups gossiped too.

Being crammed in with every student of third lunch, we make our way to the cafeteria like an army of ants that found a freshly dropped piece of cotton candy. Shoulder to shoulder, we get down the hallways and make two lines for our trays. It never mattered when you got there and which line you chose, the food tasted the same either way. Sometimes the main lunch item runs put by the time I get up there, if it hasn't run out already.

I scanned the lunchroom as I made my way into a line, looking for Mindy.

Mindy, the only person that stood by me when Tiffany pulled her little prank on me, in front of the whole school during field day in fifth grade. She said something when the pink, goopy paint rolled down my clothes and face. Even if all was given in response was laughter or an eye roll. From that day, I swore to do everything to stay friends with her. I never had someone trust me or help me like that before. She trusted me with many things, secret things like her name.

Mindy stands short for Melinda, but she persists on being called Mindy. Her delusional and bedridden great grandmother's name is also Melinda. Mindy goes over on the weekends and helps her grandma and mom with whatever the 80-year-old woman couldn't do herself, which is almost everything. It doesn't help when the dementia sets in and makes Melinda claim there's ghosts and people in her house at three in the morning, using a flashlight to shine in Mindy's eyes to get her attention. Overtime, Mindy stopped going to her great grandma's house, she never told me everything that happened of why she stopped going. But of what she did tell me, I wouldn't go back either. That woman hears the waiting room of Hell, her mother says. Mindy believes it now, and I can't say I blame her.

Mindy's stormy blue eyes met mine across the room. She already had a tray of food and found us a table for the day. I nodded at her before turning back to the line. Teenagers bored, hungry, and waiting. A great way to start a revolt if we ever really wanted to.

At the lunch line itself, there was nothing to write home about.

Starting with the cheap lunch trays and plastic silverware, I slide my green plastic tray across the lunch line. The carrots looked soggy; the green beans were drowned in their own liquids. The mashed potatoes were for sure passengers of the Titanic and the bread came from the Sahara Desert. It was astounding how everything was bland, soggy, or dry. It was a talent of the lunch ladies at this point.

With whatever slop I might eat, I make my way over to Mindy and sit down beside her. Her bracelet that I got for our first concert jingled as she pulled out her phone to show me what she found on the internet last night. It could be the next pop song that's on the radio to some unknown short about a green man that likes rusty spoons. Whatever she shows me. I'm just happy she's happy.

She flipped through a few photos and videos in her gallery. Her red painted nail swiping through anime, cartoons, recipes, and screenshots of songs she wants to download before she lands on a video of her cat, Stinky.

A black and white cat that looks like she's wearing a black mask and boots along with a white cape. She has herself wrapped around Mindy's leg, letting out random cat noises and biting playfully. Mindy in the video calls out to her with a sing song tone before it ends. Seeing the cat made me think of what Nate said earlier.

What would Mindy do if her cat went missing? An image of a depressed Mindy that won't get out of bed for anything and afraid of the sunlight comes to mind. A sad image I never wish will come true.

"And did you hear about the new guy that moved to town? He's kinda cute, saw him in my chemistry class today. Lindsay? Lindsay!" Mindy pinched my forearm like I wasn't listening to her ramble about the newest vocal program character she found or the silly bands DS game.

"Ow! Why did you pinch me?" I exclaimed, rubbing the skin she just grabbed.

"Cause look!" Mindy hissed under her breath. She pointed her scarlet red nail tipped index finger at him.

Dark hair that if he wore the right outfit, he would rock a gray business suit. The way he walked; however, I was already finding flaws about it.

It was one of those walks teenage boys have, like they're trying to be tough, but their arms look like tiny, rolled cigarettes. I bet I could smoke them, I could roast him, make him fall in love with me then I would ghost him. A scrawny little thing that could be broken in half like a twig.

He took a seat in front of us and introduced himself.

"Hey ladies, how's it going? The name's Halvor. Moved in from Chicago, believe it or not."

"I don't." I retort before I took a bite of my dry bread with slimy spaghetti on top. I chewed and ate the bite I took before adding to my retort. "I'm Lindsay, that's Mindy, and you sound like you're full of shit." Personally, he sounded European, no chance he was from Chicago of all places.

Mindy looked back and forth from me to Halvor then back down to her lunch tray that was empty. "Wow, look at that! I need to get my water filled before fifth period and drop off my tray, I'll be right back." She gets up and grabs her tray and Bubba black water bottle then leaves. She leaves me alone with him.

"So, why are you over here, Halvor?" I poke my mashed potatoes and dump the whole three packets of butter I got for them and mixed. Looking up, I see Jessica's table crowded with Tiffany's friends that included cheerleaders and boyfriends of said teenagers. She looked bored and flipped through her phone. Tiffany looked like she had something to say from all the running her mouth was to some other girl sitting beside her. Neither of them ate lunch, they never had a tray. Regardless, I had to pretend I had no interest in him for my own sake.

"I came to this state with my family to finally find some peace and quiet. It's been nice recently. They're from Norway and their parents were too. That's why my name is so weird." He smiled at me softly, I had to stop the muscles in my face from doing any emotion. Play him off to save yourself, Lindsay. Even if you did find out his name and where he came from. Play it off.

"That sounds nice, but you need to take your happy ass and get out of here before my ass gets kicked." I said, I made sure to keep eye contact with him, I didn't know eye colors can have different shades of blue and green like his did. The eye contact was broken when he looked over right to Tiffany, she then looked at me and narrowed her eyes.

"Wonderful, now you're gonna get me my ass handed to me." I sighed and passed my tray to the random kid that sits at our table that said he'll eat anything we don't want. He ate in happy silence as I gathered my stuff and got up from the table. "See you on the flip side, nerd." I left the table and got two steps in before the bell rang.

Be fast, get your stuff and get to class, just go. I kept moving at a steady pace and made it to my locker. Quickly I fumbled with my combination and opened my locker, yes!

The locker door slams shut on me, Tiffany and a gang of students from the table greet me.

"Saw you talking to the new guy, you have any idea what his name is?" Some of the students giggled and mumbled things like 'Bet she paid him with her body for it' and 'He probably bullied her too!'

"No idea, now leave me alone."

"I don't think you have any right to say things like that, your pretty face is better in a hole with lipstick, Linsday." She giggled to herself; her earrings jingled like Mindy's bracelet.

"Is that what your dad said to you last night, Tiffany?" I retorted. My smirk was clear as day. I didn't care if she saw it at this point. She has me cornered like a pinned rat anyways.

"You bitch! My father will have you removed from this school!" She goes in, about to slap me but my balled-up fist acted first.

I felt the adrenaline rush hit my nerves and my fist moved on its own, colliding with Tiffany's face, I could feel her jawline mesh against the skin of my knuckles. Then she was lying on the floor, unconscious and my body felt like hot liquid. As if hot lead replaced my blood, it must've blocked my hearing because a teacher drug me by the arm into the principal's office.

Lovely.