adolescents - mo (monroe) harris

3

"Hi, you're new." She said, sticking out her hand. Anna shook it and nodded. "I'm Lisa."

"Anna." Lisa smiled.

"How's your first day?" Lisa asked.

"Alright, actually, pretty painless so far. Kind of flying under the radar mostly." Anna shrugged and smiled at Lisa, fidgeting with her pencil.

"Glad to hear. Hey, if you're looking to try and meet people or whatever there's a party this weekend, I could get you the info if you were interested."

"Oh, like, a cool party or...?"Anna laughed awkwardly. She knew there were different kinds of parties for different crowds, and she didn't want to get caught at the wrong one.

"It's chill, it's pimps and hoes themed, it's in Paul's basement." Lisa laughed lightly and pointed at an older guy at the front of the room. "There'll be drinks."

Anna shrugged and grabbed her notebook, tearing a piece of paper off to write her number down. Lisa clapped and smiled.

"Thanks, you're the first person that's talked to me all day." Anna said, handing Lisa the paper. Lisa shrugged and stuffed the paper in her jeans pocket.

"Gotta make friends somehow!" Lisa stood up as the bell rang and they both waved bye.

Anna headed into the large, open cafeteria with her tray, searching for an open spot. There were lots of kids sitting in groups around the round lunch tables, and it felt like navigating a maze looking for a place to sit. She didn't mind sitting alone, but she kind of hoped she could pick Mo's head of brown hair out from the crowd.

"Hey!" Anna heard someone approach her from behind. She turned to see Mo walking towards her and she smiled. "Wanna sit with me?"

Anna followed Mo to an empty table by the big windows on the far end of the lunchroom. It was a good spot with lots of natural light. Anna sat down across from him and slipped her backpack off her shoulders. Mo followed suit, setting his tray down and staring at it with a slight grimace. Anna noticed and chuckled.

"Not feeling like eating, huh?" Anna smirked, taking a bite of her sandwich. Mo pushed his tray back and shook his head.

"No, I don't think I'm physically capable of swallowing today." Mo said with a sigh.

"Been there." Anna shuttered at the thought of a bad hangover. "I'm surprised you're even here."

"Hardly. I spent first and half of second period with my face in the toilet." It was Anna's turn to grimace.

"I do not envy you." Anna said. She could only imagine having to put her face near a boys public school bathroom toilet.

"So your first day is going alright?" Mo changed the subject, which Anna was thankful for as she was still trying to eat.

"Yeah, not too bad. I got invited to a party, so." Anna shrugged.

"Wait, Paul's party?" Anna nodded and Mo leaned forward.

"This weird kid, Stacy, invited me, too. He said if I got alcohol for him that I could come. He's giving me cash tomorrow." Mo told her. "I've never been to a party before. Should I be scared?"

"Nah. I mean you hang out with Zeke and his crew, you're probably more experienced than half these kids." Anna said, shrugging. "The party isn't in a field in the middle of the forest so I'd bet we're straight."

"I get the sense you've been to a party in a field in the middle of the forest...?" Mo said, laughing lightly. Anna smiled goofily and nodded.

"I got plastered and was lost in the woods for nearly 6 hours. Accidentally squatted to pee in poison sumac. It won't ever happen again." Mo laughed and shook his head. Anna smiled. She liked his laugh, it was infectious, like his smile. She looked down at the table as she began to blush slightly. She definitely thought Mo was cute.

"I guess as long as Paul doesn't have poison sumac in his basement we're golden." Mo smirked.

"Or everclear." Anna said dramatically, rolling her eyes and laughing exasperatedly. Mo laughed again, knowing what she meant. Everclear could knock anybody on their ass.

The two kept chatting throughout the lunch period. Mo brought up Anna's class schedule and they compared their two to see if they had any classes together. They had one class together during their last period of the day, history. History was Anna's favorite subject, and she looked forward to that class more now that she knew she had it with Mo.

Once the bell rang signaling the end of lunch, the two got up and walked toward the hallway to go their separate ways.

"Hey." Mo said before Anna could walk away. "Thanks for looking out for me lastnight. It was really nice of you."

"Well Zeke sort of left you there to die, but it's no biggie. See a need, fill a need." Anna smiled and shrugged. Mo noted Anna's kindness and smiled back at her. They parted ways to go to their next classes, both of them subconsciously looking forward to history class when they saw each other next.

————————
A/N
Okay so the original second half of this chapter somehow got deleted so I have had to come back and rewrite and I kind of hate it but at least now the story makes sense. Sorry friends, this is what I get for writing on like 3 different devices.