CHAPTER III: Cafeteria Fracas

‘I survived one week in this freaking school. Hurray!’, I thought to myself. I stuck like glue to Charm and Val, so I didn’t have to go around alone in the unfamiliar old building. We were slowly getting ourselves acclimated to the new school and its studentry. I wore our new uniform: a white blouse with a maroon school logo on the chest, maroon ribbon tied around the collar, and a skirt. One beautiful girl named Izzie lent me her book in Science and toured me in some parts of the school. Noah went with us and we had a blast going around as they made funny remarks about some teachers and students. I also got to meet the boys behind us, Archer, Jon, Enzo, Ira, and Raoul who were a bubbly bunch. And of course, Lance. He would always greet us each morning before joining the bubbly boys. This group would usually hang out along the benches under the trees, checking out girls, talking about basketball and other stuff. They seemed oblivious of the glances thrown at them by groups of Sophomore and Freshman girls, each trying to get their attention. I was still a bit wary of the rest of my classmates, though. Most ignored me, but still tagged me as that New Girl.  Izzie told me it was just normal. They knew I came from an exclusive girls’ school and their first impression of me was that of a snooty transfer.

One morning we were talking near the grotto while waiting for the flag ceremony to commence. A group of girls passed by and one tall girl intentionally bumped into Charm. Charm dropped her bag and glared at the girl. “Ups, Sorry. I didn’t see you there.” The other girls snickered. Charm fired back, “What’s your problem, girlie?” The other girl opened her eyes wide and said “Nothing. What do you mean?” The other girls came closer and one butted in. “Hey transferee, don’t be too bold with us. Don’t you know us?” Val took Charm’s hand and said “Enough. Let’s go now, Charm.” The leader came closer and said to Val, “I do think that’s rude. We are not yet done talking. These three musketeers must be thinking we are pushovers here.” she glowered back at us. Suddenly, the bell rang and we all fell in line. The group of girls belonged to Section II-3I and kept gaping at us. We pointedly ignored them and Charm looked at them back, raising her left eyebrow.  “What is their problem?” whispered Val.  I shrugged and looked at Charm. “I think they’re jealous of Charm’s beauty.”  Charm said dispiritedly, “ I guess the tall one is the girlfriend of someone I dated before.” Val and I looked at each other. “What? She stole your ex?” Charm gaped. “Excuse me, they were still an item when I dated the guy. It was me who stole her guy. Not the other way around. Hmmph.”  I was confused.  Then the National Anthem was played and all of us stood in attention.  Afterward, the principal spoke and reminded us of school guidelines.  He also briefed us of the Quarter calendar of activities. One thing resonated with me - the different club activities happening within the month. I would like to join the volleyball team. I turned to Val and Charm, “Do you play volleyball?” “Yes. Let’s join those clubs.” I smiled. At least, something interesting. I skipped and went inside the room. I bumped into Lance who was going out.  I almost lost my balance but he quickly pulled me back. “Watch it!”, he exclaimed. “Sorry! I didn’t see you.” I was so embarrassed by the incident, but he smiled. “No problem. Be careful next time or you might get hurt”. Then he stepped outside.  I quickly took my seat. I was assigned the back row as my surname ends in Z. We were called the 5th Row Girls: Me, Charm, Izzie, Ayene, and Len. We were seated across the bubbly boys.

Lunchtime. The cafeteria was packed. It was pretty small for a big school and so our group had to patiently wait in the long line to get our lunch.  The bubbly boys were already seated and having their lunch on one of the long tables. Along came a group of boys and girls from another section. They were a bit rowdy as they pushed each other around, bumping on other students.  One of the boys, a tall one with thick eyebrows, approached Jon at their table. “Hey Shorty, that’s our table. Leave now.” He was snickering and put his hands on the table. Jon looked up casually and said “Dude, we just got started with lunch. And there is no reservation here, you know that.” Archer, Enzo, and Ira stayed put and just quietly went on with their lunch.  The girls giggled and one whispered to the tallboy. He backed away and acted as if about to leave. One of the girls intentionally tripped and fell on Archer. “Cups, sorry. Someone pushed me,” and smiled sweetly to Archer.  One of the boys pulled back the girl and shoved Archer. “Hey!” Archer exclaimed. The boy again shoved Archer and said “So you like her? You like my girlfriend, eh?” Archer was incredulous and muttered, “What? I don’t know her.” The tall boy again walked over to their table and pulled Archer’s collar. “So you want to fight it out, Pretty Boy? Do you think you look so cool that you can take our girlfriends away from us? Is that it? Come on. Let’s settle this. “ Archer and the rest of the boys stood up and faced their nemesis.  Val, Charm, and I were dumbstruck. ‘How stupid, I thought. That group clearly initiated it and looked so fearless just because they have the edge in number.  Archer, Jon, Enzo, and Ira were my classmates and I felt irritated with the other group. Clearly, they were spiteful towards my classmates because of their looks and popularity.  The tall guy collared Archer and the others barred Jon, Enzo, and Ira from coming near. The tall guy had the nerve to hit Archer’s forehead. Archer stood his ground while swapping the hand of the other guy off his collar. I looked around, then without thinking, I quickly approached the group. I intentionally bumped on the tall guy and acted as if I was about to lose my balance. I shrieked and let my arms flail. One of the guys held on to me and supported me. Everyone’s attention now diverted, I went on with acting as if hurt and delicate. “I’m so sorry. Someone pushed me.” My little skit succeeded in diverting the attention of the two groups. I quickly sashayed towards Jon and Archer.``Hey, these are my classmates. May we join you for lunch?” Jon was too flabbergasted to reply, but Ira was quick to catch on to what I was trying to do so he responded enthusiastically. “Sure, Nia. Come on, join us for lunch.” I turned to smile at that guy who caught me and said sweetly, “Thanks! You’re so nice. Would you like to join us for lunch here?” The guy stuttered, but the tall one pulled him back and said “No, thanks. We’ll look for another table.” He then pushed the boys in the other direction. Val and Charm quickly approached us. “Just what were you thinking, Nia?” Val whispered. I quietly responded “Trying to save our friends. I would not want those bullies to hurt them.” My knees almost gave way, but I sat down carefully and placed my tray on the table.  All the bubbly boys were looking at me, speechless. Then Archer said “You don’t have to worry. They are just like that, throwing their weight around and bullying people. They’re all bark but no bite. Their leader is Manny and he's been like that since our Freshman Year.” He smiled.  Enzo said ”Well, Nia just saved your ass. Thanks - that was brave of you.”  Then they all laughed and we enjoyed our lunch. 

The incident was seen by many students. When we returned to our room, our other classmates approached me and asked, “Nia, were you hurt?” “You’re so brave, and we were trying to ignore them!” “How did you feel?”  I tried responding but Val decided to step in. “OK, let’s chill. Nia was unhurt, our pretty boys were saved, everything’s fine now. No harm done. Let’s go back to our seats, people!” Noah and Izzie smiled at us.  I was really amazed at how the near-brawl changed their view of us.  Lance walked up to me and said “Hey Brave Girl, I heard about what happened. Please don’t do that again. Those boys might hurt you.” I shook my head and said, “I don’t think so, they still seem to be nice towards girls in general.” “Still, be careful.” He left to join the bubbly boys.  I sat there, trying to answer Izzie’s query on what really happened. Noah also joined the discussion noisily and only left when the teacher called him out for sitting in the girls’ section.

 After that, my relationship with the rest of the class improved a lot. I was finally accepted. Some would even ask me to join their clubs or project teams. I lost that “New Girl” label and I started liking my new school. Talk about hitting back with my best shot. And I gained new friends. It will be the start of a very memorable High School Life.