The Fall Ball

2.Chase

I walked through the lively chatter and the clinking of trays, holding my lunch tray, looking for my friends. Finally, I spotted a familiar face in a corner of the cafeteria. She was sitting by herself, her eyes fixed, and her fingers tapping away on her phone.

"Hey, Lu!" I slid into the seat beside her, placing my lunch tray on the table.

Startled, Lucy looked up from her phone and smiled warmly the moment her eyes met mine. "Hey!"

It was the first time I got to talk to her in school today.

"At least you showed up," she said, glancing at the empty seats next to us.

"Look who's talking." I chuckled, "You missed homeroom, Calculus, and American History!"

"I told you I'll be having choir practice! I dropped a text in the group chat!" She laughed, " Anyway, did you take neat notes for me?"

"I did. I wrote extra slow to get them all round and curly for you, I even stalled the teachers."

"Well I certainly hope so." Lucy raised her eyebrows in disbelief.

"Where's Kacey and Ty anyway?" I asked, glancing at the empty seats at our table. Tyler couldn't be at baseball practice because his teammates were also lounging in the lunchroom.

"On Fridays, they have World History together before lunch, right? Maybe they got caught up with something." I said.

"Probably," she said with a shrug. I can tell having to sit alone during lunch bothered her,. especially when we barely saw her in school due to choir rehearsals and the very few classes we shared on Fridays. Not that she ever complained. But no matter how late we get, she'd always manage to save the seats for us.

I smiled at the thought.

"Don't worry, Lu." I smirked with a mouthful of sandwich, leaning back in my chair. "I'll keep you company. Plus, who needs Kacey and Tyler when you've got the charm of yours truly?"

Lucy rolled her eyes, "Oh, lucky me," she said, feigning enthusiasm. "I was afraid I'd have to endure a whole lunch period without your charming company."

I chuckled, pretending to be offended. "Well, excuse me for gracing you with my presence. Not everyone can handle this level of charisma, you know."

"Charisma?" Lucy scoffed. "Is that what you call it? I thought it was more like a mild case of delusion."

I gasped dramatically, "How dare you!?"

I chucked a chip at her, but she caught it in her hand right on time and popped it into her mouth, raising her brows and flaunting her move at me.

"Nice reflexes, Milady." I tease with a wink to which Lucy narrowed her eyes at me.

"Tell me you saw them sneaking awkward glances at each other yesterday while we were getting ice cream at Sweet Tooth," Lucy asked suddenly, referring to Tyler and Kacey.

"Hmm," I shrugged, "I do think they've been acting weird."

Tyler wouldn't even meet up with me after his baseball practices as usual. And I don't see Kacey often. She was always busy tutoring or studying—more than usual.

"Maybe they're secretly dating." We said in unison, which made us shake our heads and chuckle. A little silence filled the air as we struggled to decide who should speak first to avoid speaking in sync. It wasn't something new. Lucy and I always tended to synchronize as we spoke, at random.

"But why wouldn't they tell us? It's not like we're against it," Lucy decided to speak first. "I wouldn't mind them dating. What about you?"

"Of course, I wouldn't mind! I'd be happy for them," I said genuinely.