AP Calculus does little to take my mind off of Ren. AP Government and Economics doesn’t help much either. Since it’s the first day, very little is actually going on in each class. All I have to show for the day so far are three syllabuses and the class link to an online study guide for my Gov & Eco class. I’m actually excited when lunch rolls around. My stomach is growling with hunger. I walk into the large cafeteria and I’m immediately reminded of the fact that I have no friends anymore. Students sit in groups at each table. I’m not surprised when I see Teagan sitting at a table with Brianna, Hannah, and Sofia. All four of the girls are talking and laughing. My shoulders slump and I look for a table that faces in the opposite direction so that I don’t have to look at her.
I find an empty seat at a sparsely populated table at the back of the cafeteria. There’s a skipped chair between each of the students meaning that I’ve officially been demoted to the loners’ table.
I try to put thoughts of Teagan and her betrayal out of my mind and open my backpack. My lunch bag sits at the bottom, along with an off-brand Gatorade. Since lunch fees aren’t included in the cost of tuition, the lunch here isn’t covered by my scholarship. The only options were buying a meal pass for the very steep price of $1,500 for the entire school year, or bringing food from home. Our Lady of Grace Academy took pride in its school breakfasts and lunches. The menu had been designed by a Michelin-starred chef. The food served here was gourmet and made with fresh never frozen ingredients. When I had been friends with Teagan, she often shared some of her food with me and it was definitely worth the price.
I sigh as I take out my lunch bag and yellow sports drink. I had packed leftover chicken parm that I had made last night. I was the cook of our small family since mom often pulled doubles at the restaurant and Jaden worked a part-time job as a stocker from 6 pm to 10 pm after finishing up here. I had offered so many times to get a part-time job to help out with bills and take some of the burden off of them, but they had both flat-out refused. They knew that I needed that time to study in order to keep my grades up and eventually get into college. Jaden often joked that he and Mom would stop working so much when I got a job at some Fortune 100 company. While he may have joked about it, that was actually my dream. I wanted to make so much money that they could stop working completely and enjoy life.
I place my lunch bag on the table and notice that it looks a little rumbled. I ignore it, knowing that I only paid less than five dollars for it at the dollar store by my house. I begin to unzip it and the smell of chicken parm immediately hits my nose. I furrow my brows in confusion. I know that the smell of the food shouldn’t be that strong through the Tupperware. I unzip my lunch bag the rest of the way and my mouth drops open in shock. The plastic Tupperware holding my lunch has been cracked and broken into jagged pieces. Red sauce is smeared all over the inside of my lunch bag. The breaded filet of chicken is completely outside of the broken container and rests sadly on the ice pack designed to keep it cold. This must have happened when Ren stepped on my backpack in first period.
Tears of frustration begin to fill my eyes. This day has been the worst day of my life. First, I lost the only friend I had, then I got bullied by my crush, and now this. I don’t think I can literally handle anything else. I slowly zip my lunch bag up, unable to even fathom dealing with the problem, and put it back into my backpack. I push in my chair and walk towards the exit of the cafeteria, heading for the library. I hold back tears as I near the open double doors of the cafeteria. I know the library will be empty at this time. It is the one place where I can be away from everyone else. I know that Mrs. Song won’t mind.
Just as I’m about to walk through the threshold, Ren enters the cafeteria. His eyes immediately hone in on mine. He closes the distance between us. I try to sidestep him but he just steps in my path again. I look down at the ground, biting my tongue in an attempt to keep from sobbing at the mere sight of him.
His hand goes to my chin and he tilts my face up so that I’m forced to meet his eyes. I try to pull my face out of his grip but he only tightens his hold on me.
“Damn, the waterworks again? I thought you said you weren’t a crybaby?”
I glare at him and smack his hand away. I go to walk away but he grabs my wrist and pulls me to him.
“Don’t fucking walk away from me when I’m talking to you,” His voice is dangerously quiet, causing a shiver to go down my spine.
He looks into my eyes for a moment before releasing me. My hand cradles my wrist as I look up at him. The face that I had once thought of as beautiful has turned hard. His jaw clenching and unclenching as he meets my gaze. He looks cut from stone, so hard and unfeeling. I regain the use of my legs and hurry past him, my heart beating hard in my chest.
What kind of monster was he?
How could his touch go from soft to hard so quickly?10Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2SgarpGjGe
