Song of the chapter -Stressed Out by Twenty-One Pilots
What had I been thinking? It was one thing to be an official girlfriend, but TJ was not just any guy on campus. He had hardly been at school for a month and the dude was already pretty much at legend status. Everyone knew him. Everyone wanted to hang with him. And I was his girlfriend.
It was Monday after the dance, which had been an amazing night. Seriously, it was Cinderella levels of epic. I was still in a giddy state of euphoria when Monday finally rolled around. And although I had been Friday's little play thing for most of my life, Mondays were almost as horrific. However, my one consolation was that Monday was everyone's headache. I was in good company.
This Monday was different. Not only had TJ asked me to be his girlfriend, he had ended the night by asking me to sit with him at lunch. Of course I said yes, how could I not? But now that the day had arrived, and lunch with TJ was on the horizon, I had realized that the epic fail that was about to occur would also launch me into legend status. And not in a good way.
I've discussed the lunch protocol at my school before. There was a seating hierarchy that had never been broached. The school populars and jocks, who didn't have off campus passes, ate their lunch in the shelter. It was an open air area right next to the pick up windows of the cafeteria. Tables were set up in rows underneath a patio-like covering. I think the attraction to the area was that the food was still hot by the time you reached your table. Unlike the rest of the assigned eating areas. And by assigned, I mean "socially acceptable" based on whichever clique you belonged to.
The stoners sat on the grass, with their guitars and flannel. The emo-goth contingency had commandeered the hallway, allowing them to maintain their pasty white complexion. The band geeks hung out in the band room. And then there was my crew, sitting outside the band room in the designated looser zone. One of my kind wasn't in the habit of jumping not one, but many rungs on the social seating ladder. I was going right to the top, and I actually feared for my life when I realized what I had agreed to.
My stomach was in knots as I made my way through the throngs of randoms sitting just outside the shelter, wishing they had the guts to march in and demand a seat at one of the tables. They were smart enough not to attempt that suicide mission. I, on the other hand, was not that smart. The current path I walked was all the evidence anyone would need to confirm that my death had been premeditated. By me. But I stayed the course, somehow putting one foot in front of the other into the lion's den of high school dining.
A few tables into the shelter, I saw a few of the guys on the soccer team, TJ's buddies. My hands were shaking as I continued forward, not able to turn back from my doom. It was a train wreck waiting to happen, but whatever. Here I was, so might as well see it to the bitter end.
"Hey, Mallory," one of the guys said. Mitch, the guy who had thrown the party for TJ, was waving me over to their table. I could feel my mouth start to fall open in shock, but I wrangled the sucker closed again. I wasn't about to look like a fangirl or an idiot. Meh, too late I guess. "TJ isn't here yet, but he told me to save you a seat."
He gestured to the spot next to him. There was just enough room for me to squeeze in between Mitch and some other soccer dude I hadn't met yet. Where would TJ sit? My anxiety was through the roof and lunch hadn't even started. Smiling at Mitch, hoping that it didn't look as forced as it was, I put my books down on the table and made the awkward climb over the bench to sit down. Who ever invented picnic tables hadn't thought through what an already gawky teenager would have to endure when trying to sit at a table with all eyes pasted on them. Which was me at that moment. Every guy at the table stopped their conversation and watched me take a seat. A few had raised eyebrows, their silent way of asking, "who the eff are you?"
Just when I thought it couldn't get any worse, it did.
"Well, Mallory! How did a looser such as yourself get an invite to the jock table? You've got about as much coordination as a toddler."
The familiar voice of my obnoxious brother felt like metal on metal, sending a shiver down my spine. A face off with Seth was not what I needed at the moment.
"She seemed pretty coordinated at the dance on Saturday. Girl's got moves."
TJ had arrived at the exact perfect moment, stopping Seth mid-insult with his compliment. Seth looked over at TJ with his mouth open, having been left speechless. I looked over at TJ and smiled, a real one this time. He stepped closer to me, then leaned down to give me a quick kiss hello.
"John, get up so I can sit next to Mal," TJ told the other soccer dude next to me. Ah, John. I needed to remember that. John complied without a word, taking his food to the other side of the table. Then TJ slid into John's now vacated seat. I have to say, he looked much less awkward than I had just minutes before attempting the same move. Seth, who had slipped away quietly, might have had a point about my coordination.
"You beat me," he said. "I have to walk from the other side of campus so I figured you would."
"Yup."
Crap. Could I be any more awkward? I did not belong at that table.
TJ moved closer to me, so that he was snug up against my body. Which did all kinds of things to me it shouldn't have. Except that of course it should, I was his girlfriend, and he was hot. Why wouldn't I have tingles running up and down my arm and leg and everything in between. Everything. But dang it, that boy made it hard to think straight when he was sitting next to me.
He leaned his head close to my ear, which had also started tingling due to his proximity. "Did you hear about that girl?" he whispered. "The one in the ambulance on Friday?"
I had heard rumors, and when I got to Spanish and saw that Gina was absent, I had come to my own conclusions. But I hadn't heard anything that could be trusted. TJ would have information, his soccer coach was the first adult on the scene. And TJ was the coach's student assistant right before lunch. I was all ears at that point, wondering if my suspicions were true.
"The girl didn't have a seizure, like every one's been saying." He told me quietly. "She has some type of degenerative condition with her muscles. Coach wouldn't tell me what, but he thought someone should know a little of the truth, you know, to help with all of the talking going on."
"Oh," was all I said. Some things started making sense. Gina being pale and weak, falling sometimes as she's leaving class. That could be the reason, some kind of condition. "Do you know her name?"
"He didn't say, but I saw something written on a report he was filling out, G. Sanders."
I looked over at TJ, my ear no longer close to his mouth. That actually made me a little sad, because his whisper in my ear was exciting. But Gina's last name was Sanders, so he had just confirmed everything I had been thinking.
"I know her," I confessed. "She's in my Spanish class, and she's been having a hard time with something."
"Looks like this was the something," he replied.
I just nodded and turned my attention back to my food. I felt a little more comfortable now, after TJ had arrived and we had our own private conversation. But then I looked up and saw who surrounded me at the lunch table, all the soccer jocks, and my appetite was gone again.
TJ put one arm around my shoulder and with the other he picked up his sandwich and started eating. There was the tiniest hint of a smirk on his face, as if he knew something I didn't. Then I looked at his sandwich and couldn't resist teasing him a little.
"Peanut butter and jelly? Are you still in the third grade?" I smiled and bumped him a little with my elbow. His reaction was unexpected, however. TJ looked down at his sandwich and stopped smiling.
"My little sister made it for me," he answered my tease with a serious expression. Crap! My mouth had stopped cooperating because my brain had relaxed too much. I did not belong around other humans.
"Sorry, I didn't mean..." I tried to say, making a lame attempt at apologizing.
TJ looked over at me, "No, it's okay. I shouldn't take a stupid sandwich so seriously." He shook his head slightly. "Want some of my chips?" he held out a little bag of Fritos to me. It really was like an elementary school lunch, with an apple and a brown bag, the works. But that made sense if his sister made it. Well, his foster sister, since he was living with them.
"Sure." I reached into the bag and took a couple, then I opened up my own sandwich and laid them on the lettuce. "Just like when I was nine." I smiled at TJ as I lifted my sandwich and took a bite. TJ smiled back.
The rest of our lunch was spent eating and listening to the ridiculous banter of high school jocks. A few girls mingled around the table after they had finished at their own. They were hanging on a few of the guys, mostly Mitch who was known to party, and giggling at whatever dumb jokes the guys told. TJ seemed to just laugh along, but I could tell he wasn't really into the whole scene. I wondered why he sat there with them if he didn't really enjoy his time there?
The bell rang, and everyone scrambled to gather their books and backpacks. Most of them left trash littered on the table. It looked like Seth had learned his laziness from the best of the best. I reached out to gather some of it, not wanting to leave the mess there, and noticed TJ doing the same.
"Do you always have to clean up after them?" I laughed as we both gathered trash quickly.
He shrugged, "It's not usually this much, but Mitch had all of those starbursts..." Which was true. Mitch had an entire bag and was passing them out to everyone who was close enough to reach. Maybe that was why everyone had crowded around him.
"I prefer chocolate," I said, carrying the trash over to the receptacle. I hadn't bothered to try getting one of Mitch's candies. Who knew what he had done to them?
"Same. Although the green starburst are pretty good."
I felt TJ grab my hand as we walked out of the shelter and to my next class. Both of our classes were in the next wing, close enough to not need to rush. "Nah, green leaves your tongue a horrible shade. Orange is better. Camouflaged."
TJ laughed, "Oh my gosh! I Never thought of it like that!" He pulled me to him, then kissed me before sending me off to class. "See ya after school, Mal. I'll give you a ride home."
"Perfect," I said, waving as he rounded the corner to the next hallway. I had survived lunch in the Shelter. But oh dang, I would have to do it again the next day...
^^^^^
Hey!! What up, wattpeeps! I am super excited to say that my short story, Life With Lacey, has been marked complete! Which means more of my writing energy will be focused on this story! I have 23 chapters planned out. I'm pretty sure that will be it for this one, but things have been known to change. Anyway, if you like humor and a quick read, check out Camping With Travis, and the sequel Life With Lacey. I think you'll love Lacey, Travis, Sophie and Luc as much as I do!
I'm still working on The Ferlands, my fantasy, and Broken Lullaby, my dark contemporary romance which started as an After fan fiction. I'm writing that with Catrina Burgess, so it's on her profile if you're interested. It's on the mature side, so be aware.
Mallory was stressed, and this is perfect!