4: No Second Chances

Kali:

“For a second there, I was worried you were going to choose to stay with that voodoo girl,” Tricia said once we were all sitting at their table. “That would literally mean social suicide for you. See her sitting all alone. Don’t you wonder why she doesn’t have friends?”

“How would she have friends when she looks like she’ll kill them all?” the blond who had been against me joining their table snorted.

“Seriously though, she’s a literal nut case. My older brother is a senior and she knows someone that found dead birds and roaches in her locker,” Tricia said with a shudder that all her friends shared. “I heard she also talks to herself and makes voodoo dolls of people that she doesn’t like. I’m sure she’s made one for each of us.”

The other girls giggled, making a sound that reminded me of anime girls laughing. They all sounded the same. There was no way it was real.

“I haven’t introduced the rest of the girls to you,” Tricia chirped, remembering I was there. “This,” she pointed to the girl who I was sure hated me, “is Roxanne, our sports girl.”

I nodded and really looked at her. Unlike the others, she had a slightly more muscular build. She also looked intimidating, or maybe that was just because that was how she wanted me to view her.

Roxanne crossed her arms and pressed her lips in a thin line, making me wonder if that was her way of giving me a welcoming smile, or if she was simply warning me to stay away.

“This,” Tricia pointed at the second blond who I would say was the prettiest among all of them. “Is Bel, our influencer.”

“Hi,” she waved at me with a genuine smile. I liked her already.

“Hi,” I responded with a smile of my own.

“And this,” she said, pointing to the last blond. “Is Lenora. She’s the brains of our group. Seriously, when anyone says blonds are dumb, I always lead them to her.”

They all laughed, including Roxanne, and I started to wonder if this was a thing with them- laughing after every sentence. Was I willing to learn that?

I wanted to ask what Tricia’s contribution to the group was, since she had been tactical in mentioning every other girl’s skills except hers, but I said nothing. I didn’t want it to rub off the wrong way, especially since I needed them to save me from committing ‘social suicide’.

“Aren’t you guys getting anything to eat?” I asked, feeling awkward as I was the only person on the table with food.

“Right on time,” Lenora said, waving at someone behind me.

I looked back to see two nerdy girls and a boy carrying trays of food with smiles on their faces.

“Thank you. You’re all such darlings,” Bel said, giving them each a smile that made them grin as they set their food on the table.

“I told you before that I don’t eat bacon. Why did you still order it!” Roxanne snapped at the boy who doubled back in fear.

“I…I…I’m sorry. I’ll go change it right away,” he said and ran quickly to get it changed.

I blinked twice to make sure that what I was witnessing was real. Was I in some teen movie without knowing it? Tricia thanked the other girls and they kept smiling like people who had just won the lottery.

What sort of insanity was this?

Did people still do this? In high school?

“Now this is much better,” Roxanne said when the boy returned with a salad instead.

“What’s wrong?” Tricia asked me.

My mouth was open as I was still trying to make sense of what was going on. However, I wasn’t sure if I could ask the questions I needed to ask yet.

“She doesn’t know what it feels like to have people bring food for her,” Roxanne said, like it was a bad thing.

“You’ll get used to it soon enough. It’s one of the perks of being one of us,” Tricia told me with a smile.

“She’s not yet one of us,” Roxanne snapped, chewing out of her green salad. I had to give it to her. Nothing could ever make me give up bacon for a salad, no matter how much my life depended on it.

“I decide who becomes one of us,” Tricia said through gritted teeth. She turned to me. “You can make a list of foods you like to eat from Mondays through Fridays and we’ll forward it to them so they’ll always get your food along with ours everyday.”

“Okay,” I choked out, just so that I wouldn’t be viewed as ungrateful.

“You may all leave now. You’re in my view,” Roxanne said, shooing the people who had just got their food away. They left.

“So, Kali. Tell us more about yourself,” Lenora said, arranging her food in a way I considered strange.

I coughed. What was I supposed to say? That my mom and dad were two crazy people who always made up and then fought to escape from each other. Or that this was the third town I had moved into in one year.

“That’s a tricky request,” I said with a nervous chuckle. “What exactly do you want to know?”

“Where were you staying before you moved here and why did you move?” Bel asked, smiling at me with those charming eyes of hers I was sure she had used on several occasions to get people to do her bidding for her.

I swallowed. That was exactly what I didn’t want to answer.

“Okay, uhm…”

Roxanne laughed. It was a throaty derisive laughter that was aimed at me.

“You don’t remember where you’re from?” she mocked. “Let me guess, you were expelled from your old school for selling crack and that’s why you’re ashamed to say anything.”

“Roxanne!” Tricia chastised her.

“What?” She shrugged. “Why else would she lag instead of answering the question if not that she’s hiding a disgusting secret we don’t even want to find out?”

“Sorry about her. She’s actually nice when you get to know her,” Lenora said and I nodded, although I doubted that greatly.

“You don’t have to tell us anything until you’re comfortable enough. Let’s not pressure you,” Tricia said, sliding her hands into mine and I gave her a thankful smile.

Roxanne just snorted and went back to eating.

The cafeteria suddenly became silent and I looked around, wondering what was going on.

“He’s here, isn’t he?” Roxanne asked in a weird high-pitched voice and I swear her cheeks had slightly turned red.

“Of course,” Tricia whispered, slightly pulling on her shirt as if the temperature of the room was now too cold for her.

“He’s looking here. He’s looking at our table,” Bel whisper-screamed, tapping me and Tricia, the two people beside her.

I couldn’t exactly tell from their reactions if they were excited to see him, or terrified.

Sure enough, Aiden was looking in our direction, in fact- at me. I swallowed. There was no way that was a good sign.

In the process of getting acquainted with my new friends, I had completely forgotten to ask questions about him so that I would be prepared for whatever he was going to bring my way.

My heart threatened to jump out of my chest when he started walking toward us with a set look on his face. The sound of his feet hitting the floor with each step was the only sound in the silent cafeteria, only overshadowed by the sound of my labored breathing.

Would he beat me up in front of everyone just like I suspected he had planned to do in class before the teacher had interrupted?

How much of what the weird emo girl had said had really been just a joke?

Aiden was still a few feet away, but with each step, he was one inch closer to me. I still had the time to save myself if I ran away now, but then why couldn’t I move my legs?

My hands were shaking when he finally got to our table. His eyes were still pressed on mine, making my heart beat faster than it ever had before.

I expected him to call me out. I expected him to do one of the scary things I had imagined, for daring to sit on his preferred seat even after I had been warned. I expected him to walk closer to me and pull me by my hair, since after all, such things still happened at this school, but what I didn’t expect was for his lips to curve up into a smirk.