The Great War | Billy Hargrove

11 | Making Things Official

"Hi, Is!" Ellie waved as she walked over to sit down with one of her friends. Isadora smiled and waved back at the younger girl before turning her attention back to the conversation with her friends.

"I don't think in the two years we have gone to school together for that I have seen you eat anything besides chicken salads," Steve commented.

"Oh, come on. We've had this argument before. I do eat other things besides salads," Isadora retorted as the three of them sat down at their normal lunch table.

"What are you two bickering about?" Hazel asked as they joined her.

"Why weren't you in class?" Isadora asked, as she picked her sandwich up and took a bite of it.

"I had an appointment with the guidance counsellor. So, what were you and Steve bickering about?" Hazel asked them.

"About whether or not Isadora eats anything besides salads," Kendra told Hazel.

"Well, I mean I have seen her eat some of my cooking but when we're at school, I've only really seen her eat salads," Hazel shrugged.

"See, that's what I'm saying," Steve said, as he looked towards Isadora.

"I guess I just like to eat salads when I'm at school," Isadora shrugged before taking another bite of her sandwich before she turned her attention towards Kendra and Hazel, "I cannot believe the school dance is tomorrow night. I am so excited, it's gonna be so much fun!"

"Yes, we're gonna have the best time tomorrow night. By the way, do you have a dress yet, Is?" Hazel asked her.

"Yes, of course I have a dress. Why wouldn't I have a dress?" Isadora asked defensively.

"I mean, you didn't come dress shopping with Ken and I when we bought our dresses, so I guess I was just curious if you ended up buying a dress," Hazel shrugged.

"Uh, y-yeah, I have a dress," Isadora shrugged as she looked down at her food and picked at her sandwich. She didn't really want her friends knowing she could afford to buy a new dress so the dress she was going to be wearing was an old dress she had found in one of her cupboards, one that she had managed to adjust the hem of so it didn't look ridiculously long on her.

"Ok," Hazel nodded as Eddie joined them at the table and smiled at them all before the conversation shifted and as the friends talked about what had happened in class earlier, Hazel frowned before looking towards Isadora, "So, you never told us, Isa, what happened between you and Billy?"

"What makes you think something happened?" Isadora asked, as she broke one of her cookies in half and took a bite out of it.

"Is, we have barely seen you recently but every time we do see you, it's almost like ... like you've been hiding a secret from us."

"You're one to talk, Steve," Isadora scoffed.

"I mean, he's right, Isa. It does seem like you're keeping something from us," Kendra told her.

"Just because you like Steve, it does not mean you have to agree with everything he says," Isadora told Kendra before looking towards her plate, "I think I need a fruit salad."

"You might want to hurry, Is. It doesn't look like there are many fruit salads left," Steve told her. Isadora looked over where the food was before nodding as she got up and went to grab a food salad before returning to rejoin her friends, opening the fruit salad and popping a piece of pineapple in her mouth, and Steve watched her before leaning closer to her to whisper in her ear, "My parents made sure your school lunches for the rest of the year were paid for."

"Oh, uh ... t-thank you," Isadora whispered back to him, unaware that Billy was standing by the cafeteria door, wondering what Isadora and Steve could possibly be whispering about, as Isadora looked down at her hands before looking towards Steve and whispering, "I'll pay them back, I promise."