Better Than Twilight

Lunch Break

The sun is hitting Olivia B's Mini Cooper S in the parking lot just in the right angle to reflect a glaring spot of white light right onto my face. I've been trying to lean back on my chair, but over the past minutes it's slowly moved even further so there is no escape.

My eyes water as I attempt to decipher the words on the whiteboard, despite me squinting like a mole that just got pulled into the daylight.

Finally, the bell saves me. I quickly stand up and crane my neck to glance past the guy in front of me so I can scribble down the last notest hat Mrs. Burton wrote down during her incredibly tiring lecture on immune cells. Then I cram my stuff into my bag and let the stream of classmates wash me out of the door.

I still have to get used to our new lunch group. Last year that table had been occupied by a group of seniors, the Kind Of Outsider But Cool Alt Kids to be specific. My friend Emily is convinced we have to take on this opportunity by carrying on their legacy and forged a new group to throne at the triangular table right next to the emergency exit.The glowing red sign does give off a special vibe, to be honest.

Said new lunch table group consists of Emily, me, her kindergarten friend Casper and a few new people she got to know since joining the cross country club last year. Emily isn't even that athletic, she and I used to be in chess club together. But last year she decided to start a huge plan to ensure she, or rather we, would make the most out of four last two years at high school.

„Which includes getting a group of cool people to hang out with, and chess club is not the place where you meet those", she had emphasized. Also, understandably, she was tired of the You're Asian, shouldn't you excel at chess? comments. Because honestly, she didn't excel at chess. At all.

I quit chess as well, because without her it wasn't really that much fun anymore. Not like it had been a blast before, but it was better than not being in any club at all. Plus Em and I got to spend time together and exchange some gossip when Mr. Greiner, the ancient chess teacher, wasn't paying attention. Emily and I don't share many classes anymore so it had been a good opportunity to catch up.

The new cross country people are a total of four, and all of them are actually pretty athletic. Like, not the total jock type, but you can sense that slight superiority to the rest of the pizza-munching crowd in the cafeteria.

Which is why I'm feeling pretty akward making my way over to their... our new table with Emily not being in sight.

During the first few lunch breaks I haven't really talked to them much, at least not without Emily also being involved in the conversation. I'm not even that sure about their names, and the only sportive activity I regularily do is trying to chase down my cat Ollie when he has stolen one of my favourite markers again. How am I even going to greet them?

„Hey guys", is what I settle with as I drop my bag next to the concrete column that shields our table from the neighboring freshmen's one. I try to slide into the chair as nonchalantly as possible. Okay, just keep cool until Emily arrives.

„Hey Maia!"

My eyes, that had been fixed onto some indefinable spot in the middle of the table, shoot up. Oh. Samantha is smiling at me from across the table. She's one of the twins that are thankfully easy to keep apart because one is a blonde girl and the other one a brown-haired boy. What do Ido? Shoot, I already said hi. Just smile back.

Felix, the other twin, is shooting me a smile as well. I can never help to think about how lucky he is their parents didn't name him Samanthus or anything to make them one of those weird twin pairs.