The Elementals - The Ice Princess

Chapter 5

It's lunch time and the cafeteria is packed. In my rush this morning I forgot to grab my lunch, so here I sit in line, waiting for my turn to grab today's special. I am still feeling the effects of my Laney situation and lucky for me she disappeared with some of her friends after class. It helped that I snuck out the back door. We don't share another class today and she never eats in the cafeteria. One of her boy-friends from the football team always drives her and her friends out for lunch and it's not uncommon for them not to return.

The food in the cafeteria is not known for its quality. To be honest, it's not known for its looks or taste for that matter. In fact, the only reason that it is here is because of its convenience. I could have run out to one of the other restaurants that are around the school, but was worried that I wouldn't make it back in time for third period, well that and the off chance that I might run into Laney and her friends. Bad enough that she wants to end me already, so the thought of being alone with her and her friends doesn't quite put the odds in my favor. A sudden flash of me laying face down in my own blood in an alley somewhere with Laney standing over top of laughing, enters my head. I try to shake that thought as the line moves and I get closer to the food. She is less apt to start something when there are adults around. So I will suck it up and trade the taste of the food for the safety of the company of teachers, just in case. It will also keep me from being to class if I'm on the school grounds.

I'm not much of a rebel and have never skipped or been late for class. I am even not sure what proper lateness protocol would entail. I would be lost wandering the halls trying to figure out what to do. Sure I've seen people be late before and have to go get a late slip, but I honestly don't know where those late slips come from. Is it an office? A person? A late slip vending machine?

I've never had to actually buy food from the 'caf' before so I try to take in as much as I can without looking any more out of place that I usually do. I have heard the horror stories about it though which in all honestly, based on the gross factor, I have written them off as completely untrue. It's usually the regular stories about the bad kids being ground up by the lunch ladies and served to us. That is a classic that many of the seniors try to push on the new freshmen each year. It never works. Kids these days.

It's pretty much a rite of passage for the outgoing senior football players to make the new recruits eat some of the nastiest stuff they can find here. Another favorite is that the entire lunch team is from another planet. I suppose it just depends on what week it is that will dictate what story will follow. Someone even tried it on me but when I didn't fall for it, he just said obscenity under his breath and walked away.

I grab one of the trays from the rack and a carton of milk. The carton feels warm, so I reach for others trying to gauge the temp with my hands. I finally find one that feels cool enough to not be curdled when I open it and drop it on to my tray. If there is one thing that you can't budge on, it's cold milk. Slowly but surely, I make my way past the canned fruit salad and the bowl of apples, oranges and the bruised bananas to the hot stuff.

A kind looking lunch-lady is waiting for me to make my decision. She is probably in her mid 40's. Her nametag says Barbara and she gives me a gentle smile. I decide on what appears to be some kind of roast beef with mashed potatoes. The lunch lady digs in with tongs and finds a healthy portion of beef which she puts onto my plate. It actually doesn't smell too bad but it feels heavy, making a sickening "plop" sound as it lands. For some reason, it makes me want to gag, but I can't give it back now. I stop to think about how this is going to feel in my stomach when I do actually sit down to eat it and immediately start to second guess my decision to not give it back and run out of here.

I pay for my food and step out of the food area into the sitting area. Not surprising, there does not appear to be a single place to sit. The kids in here are noisy and teachers that are supervising and just hanging back trying to keep the peace. They stand huddled in the corner talking amongst one another watching for something to go wrong. It reminds me of one of those prison shows on television. There are very small windows in the walls and the only a couple of doors to enter or exit out of. Most of the kids are seated and hanging out. Finger Eleven's "Suffocate" begins to play over the speakers in the corner of the room. I can mildly hear conversations of various types going on. One of them peaks my interest as I stand looking out over the crowd. It's tough to make out, but a few of the girls to my right are talking about the 'new kid'. Apparently, he's a pretty hot topic around the school. What is it with high school girls? When they aren't gossiping about each other, they are fawning all over the new and shiny. I roll my eyes and continue to look for a place to sit. People don't even notice me. I'm thankful for that.