I can't keep the smile off my face as I pass my phone around the table, showing everyone the pictures of my Senior Ball dress.
"Damn girl this shit looks expensive!" Rhea gapes.
Tanya grabs the phone out of Rhea's hand, fed up with having to lean over Rhea's shoulder to check it out.
"Did you ever mention Shills having an older, more attractive, less douchey brother?" Tanya giggles.
"Fuck you!" I laugh with a roll of my eyes, although there isn't any malice behind my laughter.
I stretch across the table to snatch my phone back from her, reaching into my lunch pail with my other hand to start eating my food. A second later Michael gently extracts my phone from my hand, looking at the picture of me trying on my dress.
"Wow," he says quietly. "You look really good in that dress, Ken."
"Awww," I smile as I tear off a piece of my sandwich and toss it into my mouth. "Thanks Mikey!"
He groans at the sappy nickname that I've occasionally called him since middle school as he gives me back my phone. I keep eating my lunch as I participate in the various conversations ongoing around the table. The girls are talking about their dinner plans before Ball while the guys are chatting about hitting up the local tux warehouse to get their tuxes last minute.
"I was going to make the reservation for all of us at Castille's for 5:30 on Saturday night." Asha looks up from her phone for a moment as she looks around the table. "How many of y'all are coming?"
People start piping in, saying whether or not they are planning on going and if they are bringing dates. I listen quietly, unsure of whether or not I should say that I'm not sure what Shills' and my plans are. Maybe I should text Shills and ask what we should do?
I pick up my phone from the table and unlock it, pulling up my conversation with Shills just as Asha turns her attention to me. "What about you and Shills? Are you guys coming?"
I cringe visibly, clearing my throat as I keep looking down at my phone. "Uhhh...I'm not sure. I'll have to ask him when I see him later."
"Well, he's right there, so you can do it now," Asha frowns as she looks behind me and then back down at her phone.
I turn around to see Shills standing at the entrance to the cafeteria, looking around as if he's lost. I expect him to slide up to the front of the cafeteria line like always before he strolls over to his usual table and sits down on top, but he doesn't move. He just stands there, nervously staring at the table where all of his friends are sitting.
What's going on with him?
I try to silently get his attention, hoping he'll look over at me like he always does every few minutes to check in. But his eyes never leave that table, his gaze flickering slightly as he looks around the group again and again. His hands fidget with the hem of his shirt, picking at a nearly invisible string dangling there. Two minutes later I finally excuse myself from the table and walk up to him.
"What's wrong?" I ask him, a gentle smile on my face as I place my hand on his arm. He jumps, startled from the sudden touch.
"Oh, hey babe." He pulls me in for a quick side hug, brushing his lips against my cheek as his attention remains divided.
"What's wrong?" I repeat, trying to get the rest of his attention.
"Nothing, Ken," he shakes his head as if trying to force a thought out of it. "Nothing."
I wait for him to make the next move, but he just continues to stand there, his arm loosely thrown over my shoulders as he gazes at his table.
"Aren't you going to go sit down and eat?" I question.
"Actually..." His sentence almost drifts off as a sudden bout of laughter raises from the table filled with his friends. "Actually, I was thinking of going off campus. Maybe even skipping the rest of the day. You'll come with me, right?"
"I have a French test, so I can't skip." I shake my head, a frown tugging my lips down. "Why don't you just go eat lunch with your friends and we can hang out after school?"
"No...why don't...." He frowns too, looking back at his table for a silent minute before he shakes his head, "why don't I eat lunch with you and your friends today?"
I freeze at that, my eyes widening at the proposal. "Eat lunch...with me...."
He looks at me, waiting for me to say something. Anything. I look at him in confusion trying to figure out what the hell is going on. We've been dating for over a month and we've never tried to sit at each other's tables. I mean, it was sort of like an unspoken rule between us; an informal agreement where he sat with his friends and I sat with mine unless we decided to ditch and go eat somewhere together. Something must have happened. Why doesn't he want to eat with his friends?
Before I can ask him, he grabs my hand and starts silently directing me toward my usual table. I go along mindlessly for a second before I try to stop him, attempting to pull him backwards. "Wait Jude I think—"
"Its about damn time you've joined us!" Femi grins deviously, her eyes practically on fire. "How you doin, Evonne Shilly?"
I roll my eyes at the corny MadTV reference, thinking that the joke is going to go over Shills' head. Shills doesn't bat an eye as a huge grin takes over his face. "I was about to ask you the same thing, my little croissant."
I quirk my eyebrow at his easy remark, motioning for Michael to scooch down a bit so Shills can sit on the other side of me. Michael glares at me as he scoots down, muttering something incoherent under his breath. I sit down next to Michael and pat the bench on the other side of me for Shills, trying to subtly tell him that he cannot sit on the table here. He sits down next to me with no hesitation, his arm slinging nonchalantly around my shoulders as he pulls me in a little closer.
There is an obvious lull in the conversation around the table as we get settled, much like what happened when my friends first found out that I was dating Shills. I barely hold back a groan, knowing that they're just waiting for someone to give them the green light so they can really go in on Shills to his face for once. Before I can stop him from saying anything Shills unknowingly falls right into their trap.
"I could swear your table never looks this quiet from across the room," he laughs easily.
"Wow, I'm surprised you could even see our table from all the way up there on your throne!" Rhea launches in immediately before anyone else gets a chance to say the opening roast.
"I'm more surprised his majesty decided to grace us with his presence," Michael grunts.
"We should be honored, y'all!" Jonathan adds as he fans his face dramatically.
"Maybe he'll take a picture with us if we ask nicely." Someone gapes on the other side of the table.
"Fuck a picture! Maybe he'll cut us a check! I got bills to pay!" Tanya smirks.
We all look at her with confused laughter. "Bitch, what bills? You live with your parents!"
"Yeah and my parents don't fund my shopping addiction." Her fingers flutter through the air before she picks up a chicken strip with her free hand. "But go off, I guess."
Everyone at the table starts laughing even louder as a million different side conversations break out at once, all of them involving roasting Shills in some way, shape, or form. He doesn't know what to do, looking around at all of the different people as he struggles to keep up with the conversations. He gives up a few seconds later as he leans over to whisper in my ear.
"You know, this reminds me a lot of the first time I ever went over to your house."
"Is that supposed to be a compliment?" I reply.
"Of course babe," he grins widely, although his smile doesn't quite reach his eyes as his glace flickers back to his table again. "I love the energy of the people you surround yourself with."
"Speaking of energy," I drop my voice as I lean closer to him. "Jude, what happened? Why aren't you sitting at your table like usual?"
He shakes his head lightly, his smile widening as he gets pulled into a conversation across the table.
"So Judy—can I call you Judy?—" Rhea continues on without waiting for him to answer, which earns a few chuckles from others at the table. "I heard, and correct me if I'm wrong, that you live in a fucking mansion on the North side of town. That true?"
Shills laughs easily as he shakes his head. "I wouldn't call it a mansi—"
"I'm sure you wouldn't," Rhea interrupts, her eyebrow quirking as she gets to her main point. "But my real question is: how have you been dating our girl Keni for however long and we still haven't been invited over?"
"Oh damn I didn't know you guys wanted to come over! You guys can come over for a movie night whenever you want." Jude peers down at me, with a questionin his eyes. "Well, whenever Kenedi says it's okay."
His answer almost shocks the table into silence, none of them expecting an actual invitation to hang out at his house.
"Y'all sure look stupid now." Asha smirks across the table as she sips some of her apple juice with one hand and she keeps scrolling through her phone with the other.
This elicits some laughs as the table visibly relaxes, everyone starting to discuss our next plans to hang out. Surprisingly, Shills is right in the middle of the discussion, proposing various ideas and laughing right along with everyone else. I watch quietly, seeing how Shills fits in with my group. If you didn't know any better, you would think he actually belonged here.
My eyes wander across the room, to a table that is just as lively as ours. My eyes lock onto Alan's face seeing that he's already looking in our direction, a poorly concealed frown pulling his lips down. Alan leans over and whispers something to the light-skinned boy sitting next to him, and that kid's eyes travel over to my table as well. Their conversation is whispered between them, although the looks on both of their faces make me think that it isn't about anything positive.
I look back to Shills, taking in the joyful smile on his face as he tries to laughingly convince the entire table he doesn't have a bowling alley in his basement and a football stadium in his backyard. I can still sense that there's something off about him, but he looks like he's actually kind of enjoying himself.
I decide to ignore Shills friends, focusing on my table and enjoying myself for the rest of the lunch period. That doesn't last too long though, since the bell blares loudly a few minutes later, prompting everyone in the cafeteria to get up and start throwing away their trash. My table doesn't move for another few minutes, wrapping up our conversations on our own dime as we try to finalize our plans for the weekend.
"Alright everyone!" Asha booms, clapping her hands together to get all of our attention. "Our reservation is for 6:30 on Saturday night. You have to get to the restaurant and Ball by yourselves, since we didn't want to pool our money together for a party bus like I said we should!"
She pauses for dramatic effect as she glares at each of us in turn. "Femi and I have 2 extra spots in our car, and I know a couple other people are driving so hit up the group chat if you need a ride."
With a nod of her head Asha starts to get up from the table. Gradually everyone else does the same, talking amongst themselves as they finalize their plans for Saturday night. Shills and I stand up at the same time, waving goodbye to the rest of the group as we slowly make our way out of the cafeteria.
I'm surprised when he doesn't branch off at the stair case to head to his government class, instead choosing to walk by my side as we make our way to my French class. My eyes flicker to his face every few seconds, taking in the nervous clenching of his jaw and the awkward fidgeting of his hands. I keep waiting for the perfect moment to ask him what's wrong, but as the other students keep streaming by I know he won't give me an honest answer.
What happened?
Friday everything was fine. Saturday afternoon when we went shopping he seemed a little off, but I thought that was just because he was bored.
I look at him closely one more time, noticing the slight bags underneath his eyes and the drawn down turn of his lips. His shoulders are rounded over; his hands shoved into his pockets. He doesn't look anything like the cocky boy that caught my attention a couple months ago.
I suck in a deep breath as I grab his arm and turn abruptly down a side hallway, walking to the end before heading out a side door that leads to one of the patios. He goes along with me willingly, although I can sense his hesitation and curiosity as I drag him further away from the rest of the students. We eventually end up huddled against the fence that borders the school, my hand still gripping his as he now refuses to look at me.
"You're going to be late to French," he huffs.
"Fuck French," I reply simply, trying to get him to look me in the eyes. "What happened with your friends?"
"It's not important."
"Jude, talk to me." I reply immediately, not giving him a chance to back down.
"I don't want to talk!" He nearly explodes, yanking his hand away from mine. "It's none of your business, okay? So... just leave it alone."
My mouth drops open at that, genuinely surprised at the sudden outburst. Shills refuses to look at me, his fist clenching and unclenching as he glares at the wall. The bell blares suddenly, pulling me out of my shock.
"If you don't want to tell me what happened, fine. I won't pry." I turn back toward the door that'll take me inside. "But don't let them come in between us ever again."
I don't wait for his response, hurrying inside without another glance backward. I jog through the halls, trying not to be even more late to French. But I can't get Jude off of my mind.
What happened?
A/N Hey Y'all!! Don't hate me! I'm trying to finish the story! I've had this chapter written for a minute now and I was waiting to post it until I had finished writing the entire thing so you wouldn't have to wait but I felt bad for depriving you of chapters!
So enjoy! And I'll keep working and post another chapter as soon as I can!
Much Love,
Naomi