Full Out

Chapter Twenty-Seven

It was Monday morning, but I was happy. Ezra and I had spent the rest of the weekend together, going to parks and eating ice cream. He was the best company in the world. He was kind, smart, and he made me laugh like a crazy woman. He was perfect.

In my own time, I had been stressing about Roman. I lied to him and said that Ezra and I weren't a thing, when in reality he and I were practically dating. Plus, there was the Cora situation. I had thought it over all weekend and came to a conclusion that I didn't want to come to. Cora must have had feelings for Roman. She's been trying to get his attention anyway she could. I vowed to call her out on it today, or at least ask what she wanted. I hadn't gotten the chance at the party, since Roman was constantly glued to my hip after our juice pong game.

When I got to school, parking next to Roman, I quickly walked inside. Unfortunately, Ezra and I were still separated due to our seating arrangement. That didn't stop him from texting me throughout class and sneaking glances at me, though.

When I got to lunch, I sought out Cora sitting at our usual lunch table. Sitting next to her, I told myself to wait until closer to the end of lunch.

"Hey!" she said happily with a big grin. I hadn't seen her since the party. She looked so different, with her hair straight, no makeup on, and dressed in a conservative dress with little flower prints all over it.

"Hey," I smiled back, unpacking my lunch. I began opening my bag of chips as Cora beamed.

"Oh my gosh, how fun was that party!? Did you see Mickey table dancing?" she said excitedly. Her big, brown eyes were still full of the hype she had experienced from her first party.

"No," I said sadly. "I was outside mostly." I crunched on my chips, throwing the curled ones back into the open bag. I wasn't supposed to be having these, but my mom said I could if I promised to drink nothing but water for the next week.

"It was amazing," Cora laughed, peeking around the cafeteria. We both went quiet as we continued eating. I threw some more chips back in the bag, not wanting the curled over ones. Just as I was about to start on my sandwich, I noticed a pair of eyes on me. I turned to find Cora staring curiously.

"What?" I asked her, feeling nervous. Her eyes glanced down at my chips and then to my face.

"I've always wanted to ask this, but I felt it would be rude. But now that we're friends, I think it's safe," she giggled.

"What's up?"

"Why do you throw away some of your chips? You've always eaten a little over half of them, and then the rest you just leave be."

"Oh," I said, peering down at the almost empty bag. I shrugged, turning to her. "I don't really like the curled chips."

"What?" Cora laughed out, her eyes telling me to continue.

"Ever since I was little, I've always avoided the curled chips," I began, showing her some examples from the bag. She nodded along. "I don't like how they feel in my mouth. They break apart all weird and scratch up my mouth. I prefer the flat chips and the flat chips only."

Cora stayed silent for a moment longer before laughing.

"That's really interesting."

"I guess so," I shrugged, hoping that she didn't find me weird. Was I the only one who hated the chips that curled over themselves?

Cora and I talked here and there throughout lunch. When there was only a few minutes left, I turned to her. It wasn't long before Roman was going to come walking over here and I would have no time to talk.