Lunch Time

Third Chapter...

The bell rang to leave for fifth period. The obnoxious ringing echoed in Karen's ear canal as she awoke from her daze. Without thinking, she floated up and out of her seat, her book bag following her as it clung to her back. She found herself swept away in a river of people. She let herself be taken in by its current until she found a rock at the corner created by the convergence of the school's tributaries, and grasped it, pulling herself onto the shore where the number 767 was engraved.

She slung her book bag around so that it was situated on her front. She removed some papers from her bag and placed them in the locker that she was assigned to. She sighed as she closed her locker and turned to walk towards the cafeteria. As she walked through the halls, thoughts raced through her mind.

"It's already fifth period. It's seemed like no time has passed at all. I have to endure 180 more days on this, but, by the time it's over," she thought, "it will be as if it passed in a matter of days. Why do I have to suffer through all of this? Why can't I just skip ahead in time where I've already heard all the material? Is there some reason; some greater purpose? Whether or not there is does not matter. Memories are memories, and experiencing anything just becomes memories, as do the lessons I learn from them. So why can't I skip the learning and experience, and keep the lessons and memories? But, by then, it will only be memories...So why do I even think of this now? I may forget it, but for the moment being, I am aware that I'm thinking it. These thoughts do not sit well with me...I feel so confused..."

Before Karen had realized, she was already at the cafeteria, which seemed to explode with conversations when she entered through the door. She looked around, trying to find Alexa, or at least some people she knew. She saw neither. She found herself gripping to the tail of a dragon when she stepped in line for some food. She couldn't find its head. She only saw the smoke rising up from its flames. Karen sighed at the thought of having to claw her way to the head without anyone there beside her.

Suddenly, Karen's face lit up blood red and her eyes widened to twice their size. She spun around, hand raised, ready to smack someone until their face was just as red as hers. When she caught eye of Alexa, she froze, hand still raised in the air and face still as red as her left eye. Alexa waved gently at her dear friend, grinning.

"Alexa!" Karen softly roared, "What do you think you're doing!?" As fumed as Karen was, she dared not reveal to the cafeteria how Alexa had pinched her a*s.

"I'm waving." Alexa drawled, as if she didn't know what Karen meant. Irritation replaced embarrassment as Karen lowered her hand, now pointing at Alexa.

"You know exactly what I mean," scolded Karen.

"I just wanted to surprise you," Alexa said, weepy, "I don't know why you're being so mean about it."

Karen sighed before uttering, "I hate it when you twist my arm like that."

Alexa smiled, her face was filled with delight as she gripped Karen's shoulders, turning her around and forcing her forward. Their conversation had cut off a considerable portion of the dragon's body.

"Well, I'm just glad we have lunch together, at least." Karen said pleasantly.

"Yeah," Alexa agreed.

"Now, where do you want to sit?" Karen inquired after a few moments of refrain.

"Hmm," Alexa thought, peering around the cafeteria, before asking. "Why don't we eat outside in the courtyard?"

"Sure," Karen said, "that sounds like a great idea."

Alexa and Karen approached the front of the line. This was the first of five lines in the cafeteria. The lines offered different main dishes: the first two lines offered pizza; the third line offered "burgers" and "chicken" sandwiches; the fourth line offered wraps, subs, and salads; and the final line offered various sorts of ethnic foods; such as, "quesadillas," oriental-style "chicken," spaghetti, "seafood," and many other types of food.

Karen caught sight of some of the freshmen laughing as they took notice of the signs above the third and fourth line. Ironically, the third line had a sign labeled "Garden Spot," and the fourth line had a sign labeled "Grille." The school has never changed what could be a failure on one person's part, or simply a joke intended by the school itself. Perhaps it has more to do with how little space there is for the long lines at lunch, due to the amount of people attending our high school. The "Grille" gets very few people, and, perhaps, in order to make room since the third line is long and can't swing towards the first two lines, they had to switch the foods served at the different stations years ago, and it has remained that way ever since, but it's impossible to say. Regardless, it's part of what makes our school special. I'm certain that, if the school offered to fix the issue, most students would answer "No."

Karen requested a cheeze pizza as her main dish, with two sides; a salad, and carrots, and a bottled water.

"No milk?" asked the lunch lady. They always tended to be a little inquiring, mostly when the lines were short.

"No, I'm lactose intolerant." Karen replied, satisfying the lunch lady's desire for conversation.

Alexa ordered the same, except with Sun Chips, as opposed to carrots, and chocolate milk, as opposed to water.

They both started walking to the courtyard.

"What ever happened to the canned juices they used to sell?" Karen asked.

"I have no idea." Alexa said, "Didn't you drink those every day?"

"Yeah," Karen began, disappointed, "I loved those things. I couldn't drink milk, so I always had those to drink. And you know how much I despise bottled water."

"Yeah..." Alexa said with sympathizing tone.

The two girls found their way into the courtyard and headed for an empty table, which sat squarely in the center of 4 trees, where they were always shaded.

"Oh, good," Alexa said, "Nobody's here yet."

"Yeah," Karen responded, "We're pretty lucky. Not many people come out here, but once the ones that do take the tables, it's impossible to get one."

The courtyard was usually associated with weirdos and socially awkward kids. Alexa may have been considered a little weird, though Karen preferred to think of her as "eccentric," which she admired. The courtyard was good for eating because those kids tend to be quieter, or, if not, there was a lot of open space that prevented echo, as opposed to the enclosed atmosphere of the cafeteria, where people sat shoulder-to-shoulder and had to raise their voices in an attempt to be heard, creating an incredibly large and dysfunctional chorus of laughter and conversation.

Alexa quickly spotted someone coming outside and flung her arm forward, pointing at them. She made loud noises like an ape or a monkey instead of using actual words. Karen turned her attention to this sight of sights to realize it was their friend Alphonse, or Al for short. His face lit up as he made some strange, foreign gesture at Alexa, which caused her to light up as well. She jumped up and ran along a straight path to greet him with a warm hug, even stepping on the table as she went. Al hugged her back, utilizing his skills as a waiter to keep from dropping his tray.

The name, "Alphonse," may strike you as one of "regality." Incidentally, Al works as a waiter at a five-star restaurant. For a few hours every day, and several on the weekends, if he works, he drops his usual act to dress up like a butler and serve high-class meals to pretentious consumers, romantic couples, or, his favorite, kiss-asses attempting to make a good impression on their respective bosses. His stories always amuse Karen, while his alternatively wacky nature is nearly on-par with Alexa's and manages to keep her entertained. Though the two are unaware, there has been discussion and debate over who Al is better suited for: Karen or Alexa.

Author's Note

As you wish...

Reviews

[Iris Jayne]

looking forward to many more chapters. (:

[Punk rocker]

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