The Dream Crashers ✓

07 - Hallway Attractions

Luke was in the middle of telling me and Sheila Cortez about this new video game he started playing when Seth unexpectedly dropped his lunch tray onto our table. It fell with a rattling clank, causing us all to flinch and then glare at Seth, who proceeded to ignore our withering stares.

"The food at this school is garbage," he said, taking a seat next to me.

"It's public school. What did you expect?" Luke said, although I've never seen him once object to the subpar 'food' served by the cafeteria.

After he accepted the fact that Seth was going to be sticking around for a while, Luke grudgingly put aside his prejudices towards the 'sarcastic asshole' (what he called Seth when we were alone), and acted civilly. He certainly wasn't acting like he hated Seth's guts anymore.

Seth had been sitting with us at lunch and had been giving me rides to and from school for the past two weeks. If I didn't know any better, I would think that Luke was warming up to him.

All the girls who sat at the same table as us, and who never said much to us before, were suddenly more attentive. To be fair, they used to flirt with Luke a little when we were freshmen, but had long given up on him when they realized he only had eyes for Lucy Penington and for their lunches.

Mary twirled a strand of fiery red hair around her index finger. "We can always go off campus to get something if you want, Seth." She was gazing at him like a lovesick puppy. "I would love to take a ride on your motorcycle."

Seth didn't respond to her. Instead, he pushed his tray away from himself in digust and stood up. "I can't eat this. I'm gonna grab something from a vending machine."

"Is it really that bad?" Luke asked, already claiming the abandoned tray of cafeteria slop.

Sheila and Mary stared unabashedly at Seth's backside as he walked away.

Mary sighed in appreciation. "He is so mysterious and cute. So Rory, are you guys like a couple or something? The two of you hang out all the time."

I snorted. "Not even. We just hang out because he lives near me and he doesn't know anyone else."

"As if. Rory doesn't even like bad boys. She's a sucker for nerds," Luke added. "You know, in middle school she had the biggest and most annoying crush on—ouch!"

I kicked him under the table. "Say it and you die."

Seth returned with a pack of chips and a granola bar. 

"Is that all you're going to have? That's not enough food for lunch," I said, reaching for my backpack. I rummaged around until I found the apple resting at the bottom. "Here, have this."

He took it, but his eyes weren't on the apple. He was staring at a sheet of paper in my backpack that I had drawn the unidentified circular crest on at least a dozen times. Some of them were scribbled out because the strokes were off or because I had gotten it wrong completely.

"What are you doing with that?" He said it so quietly, no one else heard.

I whispered, "I'm trying to figure out what the crest is. I've been trying to replicate it but I can't get it exactly right." From the corner of my eye, I could see Luke staring at us.

"Have you made any progress?"

I shook my head. "But when I was drawing it, I realized it looked very familiar. I've definitely seen it before. And I mean from before we ran into those guys. I just wish I could remember from where."

"Well hopefully they won't be bothering you again anytime soon, so we'll have time to figure it out."

So much time had passed since the incident, I was beginning to feel safe again.