The next day, it was school all over again. Miguel had been walking around like a headless chicken, I had to do everything in my power to stop him from running into Kyler or any of his lackeys. But there was one thing about school, that I couldn’t wait for.
“Where are they” I looked around the cafeteria
“You really think they’ll like me?”
“El trust me. We are at the bottom of the highschool food chain. They’ll be friends with anyone who won’t beat them up” I chuckled, being a bit dramatic of course
“Hey Harley!” I spun around on my heels
My two best friends sat at a table alone, as always. I smiled, running over to both of them. I slid my tray down on the table, giving Demetri a high five, he has some personal space issues, gotta respect that. Then Eli, who stood up, wrapped his arms around me almost as quickly as I did to him.
“I missed you” Eli whispered
“I missed you too nerd” I smiled.
Eli was a very soft boy. He was quiet and timid. He was born with a cleft lip that he had to get surgery for, leaving a scar. Everyone made fun of him for it, which was bullshit, and I hated it. Demetri was your typical comicon style nerd, sweet boy, very sarcastic.
“Hey, you mind if I sit here?” Miguel stood awkwardly behind me.
“Sorry, table’s really blowing up right now. I can put you on a waitlist, but it’s probably next semester at the earliest” Demetri nodded sarcastically
“Okay-” Miguel went to walk away
“Holy shit- no he’s kidding. Sit” I chuckled, holding Miguel by his shoulders and sitting him down.
I sat next to Eli, Miguel on my other side.
“Miguel” he nodded awkwardly
“Demetri” he greeted
“And this is Eli” I pointed to the quiet boy beside me
Both of them nodded to each other. I couldn’t help smiling at how nervous Eli was. He was awkward in a kind of adorable way.
“He’s a man of few words” Demetri sighed
I stared at my food in front of me. I wasn’t hungry, I really didn’t feel like consuming anything, let alone cafeteria food. I just picked at it with my fork mindlessly.
“Dude, don’t torture yourself. Those are the rich girls”
I looked over to see who the boys were staring at. Of course it’s Sam. Sam and her new popular rich friends, Moon and Yasmine.
“Do you ever talk to them or…”
“Oh yeah! All the time, we hangout after school, make out, give each other handjobs” Demetri said sarcastically “Eli here is the homecoming king, gets laid more than anyone, isn’t that right Eli” Demetri kept joking, making Eli smile “Talk to them?”
“You realize what table you’re sitting at right?” I smirked “You’ve pretty much signed away all hopes of losing your virginity before college” I chuckled
“But- Harley you know karate, that’s super cool! And you look badass enough” Miguel reasoned
“Ah yes, but she chooses to hangout with us. Plus, she’s never used her karate at school, despite getting picked on, every single day” Demetri rolled his eyes
“Why not-”
“Oh shit, Yasmine’s looking at us” Eli sighed “...probably just making fun of me”
“I don’t think she’s making fun of you- I mean, just because they’re hot doesn’t mean they’re mean” Miguel tried to help
I sighed, shaking my head with a fond grin, patting Miguel’s shoulder.
“Oh boy”
“What? What’d I say?”
I saw Eli moving out of the corner of my eye. He moved his knuckle up to his nose, covering his scar. It was what he always did when he was nervous. I nudged his leg under the table, making him look over at me. I offered him a soft smile, that he half returned before turning back to his food.
“I don’t care if Yasmine is the meanest girl at school, I’d kill all of you just to get her to spit in my face” Demetri ranted
“My suspicions are confirmed, Demetri is a bottom” I smirked, making Eli giggle quietly.
Demetri rolled his eyes, shoving me across the table lightly, making me laugh even more.
“Yeah well if you don’t make a move, you’re never gonna have a shot with her” Miguel piped up
“True, but I’ll also never suffer a humiliating rejection. I’m at peace with my depression. Last thing I need to be is suicidal”
I shook my head, staring back at my food. The more I looked at it the less hungry I got. Suddenly Miguel got up from his seat.
“What are you doing?”
“Striking first” he mumbled
I’d heard that before. My dad used to say it to me and my brother when he was first teaching us karate. He’d learned that from the first Cobra Kai. Miguel started making a b-line for Sam’s table.
“Oh shit” I sighed
“Hope we don’t get hit with the shrapnel” Demetri mumbled
We watched as Miguel walked halfway to their table, when Kyler and one of Bruck sat down and started f-boy chatting them up. I sighed leaning back in my chair, poor kid.
“See you later Rhea!” Kyler laughed, waving him away.
Miguel came back with a sad look, slumping down into his seat.
“So how’d it go?” Demetri asked, obviously being his usual sarcastic self
“Harley you haven’t eaten anything” Eli mumbled
I looked down at my plate, you could tell I hadn’t had anything.
“M’not hungry” I shrugged
“You didn’t eat breakfast either” Miguel recalled
“Wait huh?”
“Eli it’s fine, I ate at home” I waved them off “I’m gonna go to the bathroom” I sighed
I stood up, taking my tray with me, dumping it in the trash before walking out of the cafeteria. If there’s one thing I was really good at. It was hiding my problems. I could have a broken arm, and if not for the bent limb hanging off of me, no one would know. No one suspects I have depression. No one notices my anxiety or any other fucked up shit I got going on. Not understanding my emotions was one thing I did really well. Hiding my problems? I was the king.
This morning my dad had offhandedly mentioned that I looked bloated, whether he was drunk or not, I didn’t really care. He noticed it, even my dad noticed shit about my body. I fucking suck.
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I couldn't wait to upload this chapter, so... two chpaters today! Also, feel free to comment, it makes me really happy to see any little comments or quips. Hope you guys are licking it so far