LUNCH

KIRAN

At my old school, we walked around like we owned the place. Girls drooled over me and my buddies – I guess you could say we were popular, but we were one of the many popular groups at that school – the “tough guy" group, I guess since we were all fighters.

I did the classic new kid move and sat at the corner of the cafeteria closest to the exit with a small amount of food. I needed to have an easy escape should someone try to approach me and somehow trigger my anger and I can’t hold my tongue, causing me to need a quick getaway. I don’t want to make a bad first impression because I’m here to try to better myself, and I know my sarcastic personality can come across as rude sometimes.

I definitely wouldn’t describe myself as shy or meek by any means, but I’m not the most sociable person when I’m out of my comfort zone, and I am entirely out of my zone right now.

No one will ever get me like the guys in LA. Those fuckers have been through everything with me for the last five years. I'm only in high school for two more years, there’s no way that I could make any friends here who compare to my fighting brothers in that time.

The only person here who has piqued my interest at all is the pretty blonde with headphones who is currently heading towards my table here in the cafeteria. I buried my face in my phone so she would think I was invested in something, which I was – I had loads of texts from my LA buddies wondering how my first day is going, but this little thing seems to be persistent.

She sat across from me and had a smile on her face. I wondered if her cheeks ever hurt – nearly every time I looked at her, she was smiling about something.

Her fingers were entwined and she placed her forearms on the table before she spoke. “Kiran, right?”

“Yep,” I replied rather curtly to her.

“What brought you to Glenrose High?”

“A car.”

She smirked and I daresay she almost chuckled, “Funny.”

Anything someone says when I don’t feel like talking, I shoot back a one-liner that usually gets them to shut up.

I only lifted my eyebrows at the girl in response to her, hoping she could take a hint and head back to her friends in the middle of the cafeteria.

People who choose the middle table of the cafeteria are the worst. They’re the attention whores of the school who want all eyes on them, giving everyone an equal amount of space between them because they claim they don’t want anyone to, “feel like an outcast" or some shit like that that makes them feel humble.

That table is always the perfect mark for a food fight. The boys and I used to do that to the kids in the cafeteria now and then if we were feeling rowdy. The memory made the corner of my lips twitch.

I noticed the girl across from me still smirking at me. Does she ever not smile?

“I was right,” she said finally.

“About?”

“Your eye color,” I lifted my brows at her. Were people guessing my eye color from afar?

“You guessed my eye color?”

“Yes.”

“Well… I hope you placed good money on it.”

She chuckled again.

Looking past her shoulder, I noticed a pair of eyes on us. He had thin brunette hair and a chin that made me want to punch him for some reason. I really need to get these urges under control.

“I think you’re being summoned back,” I nudged with my head towards the guy in the blue and gold letterman jacket.

She looked over her shoulder and the guy who was staring waved at her. She waved back and turned back to me, her smile broadened, “That’s Gabe.”

I hummed in response to her, not wanting to give her my initial response of a snarky, ‘I don’t care.’

A couple of moments of awkward silence passed and I decided to give in to the conversation, “Is he your boyfriend? He seems insistent on you heading back over to him,” I eyed the guy named Gabe once more over her shoulder, he had his hand high in the air and was waving obnoxiously now.

“Yes, he is,” she blushed slightly, “We’ve been together almost six months now.”

Again, the urge to respond with ‘I don’t care’ came up and I hummed again in response to her. I think humming is going to be my new go-to response when I have something snarky to say.

She looked at me like she was waiting for a verbal response, so I amused her, “Congratulations,” with raised brows, “He seems eager, so you should get back.”

“I should, yeah,” she exhaled with another glance over her shoulder at him.

The guy didn’t have the same kind of perky vibe as she did, and honestly, I wasn’t a fan of the vibe he was giving off. Maybe it’s because she’s so annoyingly happy that everyone else seems like Eeyore compared to her, but a part of me couldn’t help but assume that he wasn’t a good guy.

She still didn’t leave, and instead mentioned to me, “There’s a party this weekend to celebrate the beginning of the year-"

“That’s something you people do here?” I interrupted her with my unfiltered thought with raised eyebrows and an amused grin.

“It is,” her smile broadened again, “You should come.”

“I don’t know the town well enough to find my way home after partying and getting drunk.”

She giggled, “We don’t drink at these parties.”

My eyebrows furrowed. A party without drinking? “What the hell do you guys do, then?”

“We talk, we dance, we play games,” I burst into laughter after hearing that, but not loud enough to draw any unwanted attention to myself.

“That sounds awful!”

She leaned over the table closer to me and whispered, “I’m lying,” with a mischievous look. My eyebrows rose and my laughter died.

She motioned with her chin behind me, where I saw the principal of the school nearby and within earshot of us. I nodded in understanding.

She straightened her posture and said, “I would apologize for lying, but I don’t feel the need to apologize for making you smile.”

I raised a brow at her. Is she flirting with me? Didn't she just say that guy was her boyfriend?

She then stood up and took a step closer to me, extending her hand for me to shake, she introduced herself, “Aurora Williams.”

I took her hand and shook it, “Kiran Black.”

“Pleasure,” she smiled, “Oh, and welcome to Glenrose High.” She turned on her heels and finally walked away, back to her table.

I watched her retreating figure and hated to admit to myself that I was slightly admiring the girl. She’s annoyingly perky, but she’s easy on the eyes.

Once she was back at her table, the guy named Gabe put his arm around her and smirked, then glanced over at me and gave me a look. I raised a brow. What the hell was that? I didn’t ask her to come over here. If anything, I was trying to get her to leave me alone.

This guy better not push me – I have a feeling he and I are going to have some issues.

I stood up and slung my bag over my shoulder before heading out and toward my locker. I should figure out where my next class is before the bell rings, anyway.

I looked at the paper in hand and read it, ‘Chemistry, C118, Mr. Hammond.’ Easy enough, the first floor of the C wing – all I need to do is figure out where the C wing is in this monster of a school.

I pulled out my phone and decided to text one of my buddies who asked how it was going.

KIRAN: Bro, the girls at this school seem thirsty AF.

MIKE: Get it, dude!

I rolled my eyes and continued walking. I may be wrong about her flirting with me, maybe she's just one of those people whose kindness comes across in a flirtatious way? Either way, I won't steal another guy's girl.