That One Moment...

Chapter 8

Day 46

Walking towards the cafeteria, Sarah was a bit surprised to see Ryan leaning against the wall just outside the doors. Flanking him were Leo and Dylan, but Ryan was watching her approach. Sarah stumbled slightly, wondering what was going on. As she got closer, the other two moved into the cafeteria and left Ryan standing alone. If she could, Sarah would have ducked out another door, but she had to go through the cafeteria to get outside if she wanted to sit at her nice quiet tree.

When she got to where he was standing, Ryan stepped away from the wall and walked to her. "Hey. I was going to ask in chem, but Jennifer came over right when we were packing up...you wanna sit with us at lunch?"

"What?" Sarah may have said that a bit more loudly than she had anticipated. She was a bit startled. "Why?"

Ryan laughed, sounding a bit nervous. "That's a new one. I was just trying to be nice, since I have noticed you hanging out with Abby and Chris as well. You were pretty awesome with helping me control my nerves yesterday and it made practice easier last night knowing that I was better than nothing...in your eyes."

"Sorry. I was just a bit surprised. I'm actually just going to go eat out at my tree, since it won't be warm enough for much longer. Um. It's quiet and I feel like I can recharge. I'm not always that great around a bunch of people."

"I did pick up on that. You are a bit of an introvert."

"Very true."

"See you in gym then." Ryan said as he moved into the cafeteria.

Sarah paused for a second, wondering what was going to happen next. Things kept changing on her. Walking into the cafeteria herself, she looked over to the central, popular, table. The typical two tables that tended to have more popular students had expanded into three by this point in the school year. She could see a number of familiar faces from her classes, including Chris and Abby, but also Leo, Jennifer, and Anna. Others, she recognized but could not name. It appeared that one table was for football players and another had the soccer team. Scattered among the male athletes were a number of girls as well, some were just talking amongst themselves while others were obviously trying to get the attention of one of the guys (or girls). Sarah saw Abby chatting with what she thought were some of the women's basketball team. Their season was going to start soon.

When she realized she was staring, Sarah quickly headed out the door to her tree. As she got herself situated, she felt a presence nearby. 

"Hey"

Looking up, Sarah saw one of the guys in her Spanish class. He kept to himself also, but they had chatted a few times in Spanish trying to figure out what was going on.

"Hey Jeremy. What's up?"

"Can I sit with you? I know you are probably trying to get a few minutes of peace before starting in on more class, but I had a quick question about Spanish if you don't mind."

Pulling her food out, Sarah debated about saying no...but just couldn't. "No problem. I'm not the greatest at Spanish, but I will help if I can."

"Thanks."

 Jeremy sat down near her and grabbed his Spanish book from his bag. He was pretty gangly with dark brown hair, hazel eyes, and a pointed chin. Topping off his baggy sweater and jeans was a pair of glasses. Sarah found herself being entertained as Jeremy complained about Spanish and his inability to grasp language, partially because she totally felt the same way. Lunch went by quickly and Sarah found herself enjoying the conversation more than she had anticipated. When the first bell rang, she was a bit surprised at how quickly lunch had gone. Hurrying inside, she noticed Ryan watching as she and Jeremy entered the cafeteria together. He was standing with Leo again, along with Jennifer and another girl. The two girls were leaning into the guys as they giggled. Leo was intently watching them, but Sarah could tell Ryan's eyes were on her. Shit. She had turned down sitting at lunch with him and his friends because she wanted to be alone and here she was walking in with someone else.