Fresh Meat

Chapter Seven: The Lunch Table

"There is no surer foundation for a beautiful friendship than a mutual taste in literature."

- P.G. Wadehouse

LOLA

I considered the fact that I got through my first three periods of the day without embarrassing myself to be an achievement. I never did it constantly, it just only seemed to be during important moments of my life. More specifically, it was always on the first day of school.

There was kindergarten when the class was introducing ourselves to the class, and when it was my turn, I mispronounced my name, and for the next two months, kids called me "Ola" Martins until our teacher had to tell the whole class the correct way to say my name. 

Then there was fourth grade, and during that time, I needed to use the bathroom, so I raised my hand- and so did my sweater. For only five seconds, my belly button was shown, and some kid who noticed just had to mention it to the entire class. The class snickered and laughed at me, and I didn't have to use the bathroom anymore. Fortunately, Lewis was also in my class, and he put an end to the teasing real quick. Everyone had forgotten about it as soon as it was over, but I was so worried that it would happen again that I barely raised my hand for anything for the rest of the year. 

And finally, there was seventh grade, when some girl told me that my hair made me look like that girl from The Ring. During that time, my hair had gotten long over the summer, but I wasn't sure if it was "Samara" levels long. Either way, that comment stuck with me all day long. So as soon as I got home, I grabbed a pair of scissors, went straight to the bathroom, and cut off most of my hair. It wasn't until I looked in the mirror that I realized what I had done. Lorelai found me an hour later curled up on the bathroom floor crying with a bunch of my hair in the sink and holding the pair of scissors. 

She was able to fix my hair, but every time I looked at it, it was just a constant reminder of how much I let a stupid comment get to me. Did I overreact a little? Maybe. But when someone compares you to something from a horror movie, how else are you supposed to respond?

Which is why this year, I was determined to not embarrass myself on the first day. I was sort of lying to myself when I said I planned to step out of my comfort zone. Maybe I would say hi to a classmate or two, compliment them on their shoes, and if my anxiety didn't take over, maybe, just maybe, I could walk up to someone and have a full-on conversation with them. But today was not that day. 

According to my homeroom teacher, we had two lunch periods. 1st lunch was after 3rd period, and 2nd lunch was after 4th period. Those who had 1st lunch went to their 4th period afterward, and those who had 2nd lunch went to their 4th period. Whichever lunch period we had depended on which building our 3rd period was in. Since I had math for 3rd period, I had 2nd lunch, and luckily, so did the rest of my friends. 

Now if only I could find the cafeteria.

The school was much bigger than I expected it to be, and no matter how many times I looked at the map, I still had no idea where I was. At this rate, I would be eating my lunch in the bathroom. But the thought of missing Amy's cupcake for me encouraged me to keep going. 

I was so focused on the map that I wasn't paying attention to where I was going, and suddenly I felt myself slam into something hard. I fell on the floor and my map/school schedule, along with the current book I was reading, went down with me. So much for keeping to myself.