Us At Midday

The Plan (pt1): Frien-tervention

The substitute teacher was trying to stop the class from screaming the roof away - if the wind and rain didn't do that first - as I was listening to MCR in my seat, minding my own business, but apparently that wasn't appreciated by anyone other than the invigilator.

Someone tapped me on my shoulder. "They're calling you." Carlos, a skinny boy with silver earrings, pointed at a specific group of girls staring at me.

I got up from my seat. Now, these are not normal girls, they're the girls, the three most popular girls of the grade - Soleil's buddies.

First, we got Aashvi Singh, the social media expert. A huge K-pop fan too, it made her relatable, I think. She was painting her nails a dull pink that matched her school bag and wore a gold nose ring. If she wasn't as bad at math as I was, I'd think she'd go into marketing.
Next was Mikayla Cupido, the strong one. She bested everyone at all sports - and smoking competitions, if there were such a thing - but seeing that she couldn't get competitive because of her asthma, she spent most of her time being counterproductive and smoking. She was also into Korean culture like Aashvi, but had a less prominent status in the group. Her hair was laid thick with conditioner but it kept its curly texture.
Lastly, was Aisha Jacobs, who fancied herself an influencer and resident school baddie. She wore her black hijab, signalling that it was Eid soon and that she wouldn't be able to eat a bite. She was the perfect child: she was on the Student Council, she had straight 7s on her report, a million followers on each of her social media accounts. If not for being the constant drama, we'd still be friends. Not that I ever cared.

I went to sit by them. "Wassup?"
They seemed friendly for once. Aashvi perked up, clearing her throat. "Aisha is meeting with her long distance boyfriend sometime next week so Mikayla suggested that you guys go to the mall." Aashvi herself was never available and only went out with the group for special occasions, so if she was telling me this ...

"No." I got up, the group's friendly smiles glitched on their faces.
"How about if we said that Soleil was going with us?" Aisha pulled my arm, leading back into my seat. I felt like I was making a deal with demons ... but this was Soleil.

"What time and day?"

...

Even my parents thought that it was a bad idea, but they gave me the money and sent me to Aisha's house.
Her house was close to Soleil's, it was yellow and ... a bit of a fixer-upper.
We sat on the  wooden bench in the green living room, waiting for her dad to get out of the driveway. Her mum stared curious at me, then nodded her approval.

Sol broke the silence. "Let's go buy you airtime, you said you needed some?"
I got up out of my chair so fast that I almost knocked my knee against the wood. Almost.

While we were walking to the tuckshop, I took a moment to notice his outfit.
He was wearing a blue fuzzy sweater and a pair of jeans. His glasses were crooked from the time he fell. No labels, no accessories much than his backpack. I enjoyed the simplicity.

We bought what we needed as a sleek black car drove onto the sidewalk. An Uber?
"I thought we were going with her dad?" I queried. He shrugged.
"Aisha is a girl who's full of surprises."

Soleil and I all climbed into the four seated Mazda where Mikayla and Aisha were waiting with our driver.

We were quiet for most of the ride - or at least, I was.
"So, we're gonna hang at the mall for a while til we go to Logan's house but we have a limited amount of seats in Reese's car. Who's staying and who's going?" Aisha questioned. Mikayla was definitely going, so it was up to Sol and I.

"I'll stay behind," Sol adjusted his rucksack on his lap, fiddling with the zip in the front. Aya nodded then all eyes were on me. I shifted in my seat.
"I ... Sol is the one I'm most comfortable with so ... I'll stick around him, if that's okay?"

...

The mall was bustling on that blazing Saturday afternoon, if not for the wind, I would've disintegrated.

"What should we eat?"
Truly it was a question I feared. Sol was a picky eater, Aisha was Muslim so she couldn't eat pork and I was a pescatarian. The menu was so small that I'd have to use a microscope.
So Mikayla suggested a solution. "Fried chicken?"
We looked amongst each other. "Fried chicken."

...

After eating, Damian and Zainab came to join, also in on the boyfriend dealio.
Damian and Zainab were total opposites in appearance: where Damian was burly, Zainab was skinny and where Zainab was lanky, Damian was short. The only thing that I thought they had in common was Daniel (Aisha's ex, a really long story that I don't want to get into) and thinking that they were cool.
I supposed that that was what all popular people thought.

Everyone went their separate ways - leaving me and Sol behind.
Sol shifted awkwardly, having the social reject create some sort of conversation ... I got it.
"There's a bookstore nearby, wanna go?