Chapter 3 Cafeteria Introductions

Emma’s POV

By the second week at Manatee High, I had almost stopped getting lost. Almost. The hallways still looked the same no matter which direction I turned—white walls, lockers that stretched forever, and students who always seemed to know exactly where they were going. I had learned to keep my map folded inside my binder like a secret weapon, just in case.

That day, after an exhausting math class, I headed to the cafeteria clutching my tray and trying not to look as out of place as I felt. The smell of pizza and fries filled the air, mixing with the chatter of a hundred voices. I scanned the room, looking for an empty table, but of course, every seat seemed claimed by clusters of friends.

“Hey, you can sit here.”

The voice came from Connor. He was sitting with two boys from my English class, one with sandy hair and mischievous eyes, the other dark-haired and calm-looking. I hesitated, glancing at the tray in my hands, then back at him.

“You sure?”

“Yeah,” he said with that easy, quiet confidence. “It’s just lunch, not a contract.”

I smiled awkwardly and slid into the empty seat across from him. The moment I sat, one of the boys grinned.

“I’m Ethan,” the sandy-haired one said. “And this is Liam. You’re Emma, right? The new girl everyone keeps saying made Mr. Nolan smile for the first time in three years?”

I laughed, surprised. “I don’t think that’s true. He just liked my essay.”

Connor smirked, pushing his fries around. “He doesn’t like anyone’s essays, so that’s basically a miracle.”

I shrugged, feeling my cheeks warm. “I just write too much. I can’t help it.”

“Same,” Connor said. “Except my essays usually end up looking like I’m angry at the world.”

Ethan snorted. “You are angry at the world.”

Liam leaned back in his chair, chuckling. “Nah, he just hides it behind sarcasm.”

The conversation flowed easily, surprisingly so. I found myself laughing more than I expected, especially when Ethan told a story about two freshmen who had gotten into a fight during gym because one accused the other of stealing his water bottle.

“They both got detention,” Ethan said, shaking his head. “For fighting over a bottle that ended up belonging to someone else entirely.”

“Classic high school logic,” I said, giggling.

Connor tilted his head slightly, watching me. “You’re adjusting faster than most people who transfer here.”

“I don’t know,” I said, stirring the straw in my drink. “Some days, I still feel like I’m walking into the wrong classroom.”

“You’ll get used to it,” Liam said kindly. “Manatee’s confusing at first. After a while, you’ll know where all the shortcuts are. Especially to the vending machines that don’t eat your money.”

That made me laugh again. “Noted. I’ll need that survival guide.”

As we talked, I noticed a girl with sleek blonde hair walking toward our table. She carried herself with the kind of confidence I could only dream of—easy, graceful, like she belonged in every room she entered. She dropped her tray beside Connor and gave him a look that said she knew him well.

“Hey, stranger,” she said. “You didn’t tell me we had a new lunch guest.”

Connor smiled faintly. “Emma, this is my sister, Chelsea. Chelsea, this is Emma Carter.”

Sister. Oh. That explained the similar green eyes and the same calm composure.

Chelsea smiled warmly. “Nice to meet you! You’re the transfer from Clearwater, right?”

I nodded. “Yeah, that’s me. Still learning my way around.”

“You’ll figure it out,” she said easily. “Just don’t let Ethan convince you to skip class for snacks.”

Ethan held up his hands defensively. “Hey, I’ve been good this semester!”

Chelsea rolled her eyes. “Good is relative.”

The entire table laughed, and I found myself joining in. It felt… nice. Natural. Like maybe I didn’t have to keep shrinking into the background all the time.

As we ate, Chelsea asked me about my old school, my classes, even my favorite subjects. She had this way of listening that made you feel like your words mattered, and I liked that. I told her how my mom used to quiz me on vocabulary words, how I’d learned to love reading because of her. It slipped out before I realized it, and for a second, I thought I’d said too much.

But Chelsea’s smile softened. “She sounds wonderful.”

“She was,” I said quietly, staring at my tray.

Connor didn’t say anything, but when I glanced up, he was looking at me with an expression that wasn’t pity—just understanding. I was grateful for that.

The bell rang a few minutes later, breaking the spell. Students began collecting trays, and I stood too, grateful that for once, I wasn’t hurrying off alone.

“See you in English?” Connor asked.

“Yeah,” I said, smiling. “Thanks for letting me sit here.”

Ethan grinned. “Anytime. We needed someone to keep Connor humble anyway.”

Connor rolled his eyes, but there was a faint smile tugging at his lips. “You’re impossible.”

“Admit it—you’d be bored without me,” Ethan shot back.

Chelsea laughed softly, looping her arm through Connor’s. “You boys argue too much. Come on, we’ll be late.”

As we all headed toward the hallway, I fell into step behind them, feeling lighter than I had in weeks. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing, being new. Maybe new could mean better.

When I glanced back, I caught Ethan giving Liam a knowing look, and then Connor glanced at me over his shoulder. Just for a moment, our eyes met—quick, unexpected, but enough to make my heart trip over itself.

I didn’t know what it meant, not yet. But something about that look told me that Manatee High was about to get a lot more complicated.