Chapter 4 A Good Friend
The cafeteria was bustling with students everywhere. Some were sitting down, eating, and others were waiting in line to get their food.
"This place is so huge. Do people ever get lost in it?" I asked Quint.
He took a second to think. "I suppose there might be a few who would if they don't remember where everything is."
I didn't know where to go, so I just kept following him.
"Hey, I have an idea. Since it is your first day here, how about I treat you to lunch?" he said.
"Oh, no, you don't have to do that. Really, thank you, though," I told Quint, not wanting him to go out of his way. He was probably doing that just to be nice, most likely feeling bad for me making a fool out of myself in class.
He shook his head. "Come on, Carnite. We're friends now. I don't mind doing this for you. Just take it as a thank you for me saving your butt in class". He chuckled as he said that.
"Wait, wouldn't it be me doing that for you, for you saving me? Oh, never mind. Thank you, I really appreciate it, Quint."
"Find a seat for the both of us, and I'll get us some food," and off he went.
The tables were arranged on the other side of the building. Some were lined up, and others were singled out. There were more students gathered together in the back of the cafeteria. I thought Grandpa had said something along the lines of "The troublemakers sit back there, so watch out."
Well, there appears to be a lot of them, Grandpa, so I'll find somewhere else less crowded then, I thought to myself. I walked around the cafeteria for a minute. Then, I finally found a spot with little to no students and sat down to wait for Quint.
I wondered about the weird tests the teacher had talked about, pondering what my future had in store, though no one ever knew what lied ahead. I could barely hear my thoughts with how loud the cafeteria was with hundreds of students talking simultaneously.
"Oops, it seems like I dropped my lunch," someone said behind me.
I then sensed a pile of slop fall on my head. My heart felt like it had burst out of my chest. There was laughter behind me. Without hesitation, I tried to play it off in a lame attempt not to panic again.
"Oh, sorry, was I in the way? If this is where you usually sit, I don't mind finding another spot."
The students started laughing at me. I began to feel a tight lump in my chest.
"Do you even know where you're at?" one of the students said crudely.
"You're at the users' spot, you dumbass," a female student told me.
"I-I'm sorry, I-I didn't know... I'll find another seat then." As soon as I got up and tried to walk away, something underneath me caught my leg and caused me to trip. I landed on the floor with a hard thud.
At this point, most of the cafeteria was silent and watching. The tightness in my chest became ever more painful; it felt like it was suffocating me.
There was laughter in various places in the cafeteria, though I couldn't tell where they were coming from. Unfortunately, the laughs became more prominent, spreading around the room as more students huddled around me. I felt like curling up into a ball and dying there. The humiliation of it all was overwhelming to the point I began to hate myself for not knowing the rules of this place beforehand.
Suddenly, the laughter came to an abrupt stop. Some students turned in a certain direction, looking at something, though I couldn't tell because they were blocking whatever was in front of them.
"Now, now, what is all of this?" a voice spoke out.
"Why are there a bunch of kids just huddled around our table?" another one spoke out.
There were a group of students walking towards me. Those in the way quickly moved aside as though if they stood there any longer, there would be harsh punishments.
It was a student, and others were standing around her, guarding her, from the looks of it. They all stopped in their tracks and looked at me with blank eyes.
"Wait a minute, isn't that—" one of them said but stopped midway through.
"Yeah, I think that is her," another replied.
"He-hey... I was just moving. Sorry about being in your guys' place... I didn't know you sat here," I told them, not wanting to make the scene any more chaotic.
The biggest student, the one in the middle of the small group, walked forward to me.
"Hey, Luna, I was just trying to get this commoner—" She wasn't able to finish her sentence when the big student put their hand over hers, and then they disappeared in the blink of an eye.
It only took a second until the big student, Luna, I assumed, came back. Though she was trying to hide it, it looked like some blood was on her knuckles.
"Now, is this how we behave? I am ashamed of how all of you are treating this new commoner here."
She held out her hand to me.
"Here," she said.
I grabbed her hand. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. It was probably just a bad start to the year, that was all. In a couple of days, I'd just be another student to them. Maybe I'd even make more friends like Quint.
Luna tightened her grip on my hand.
"This is how we treat commoners," as she said that, she launched her tray into my face.
The mixed food this time wasn't as bad as the other one. It didn't smell like mush or anything. Somewhat of an odd thing to think of at this time, but I couldn't help my mind wander.
Snapping back to reality, I noticed students just standing there and watching me. No one seemed to want to help, as if, if they did, they would later regret it. Some had taken out their books and pointed them at me. I didn't know why they were doing that, but whatever it was couldn't be good. The tightness in my chest felt soul-crushing.
Luna squatted down next to me. "I hope you fully understand the position you're in here. Here, I am the King, and you are just the commoner, leaching off of what we do, with nothing to contribute. Why don't you sit over there?" She pointed to another section of the cafeteria where there were more students than where we were, all packed together. "Where you belong," she finished.
Luna stood back up. "Come on. Let's get me another meal. Not the one I just had; I have lost my appetite for it."
They walked away, including her group, following her like she was some kind of prophet or someone of importance you didn't want to mess with.
I was left on the floor with food all over me. It was hard to hold back the tears. They tried to gush out of the barrier I had created.
"Oh my god, Carnite. Are you alright?" I heard Quint's voice from a slight distance away.
He came running to me and dropped down to wipe off the food that was splattered on me. "Who did this to you?" he asked me in a frantic voice, putting down the tray he had in his hand.
I pointed to where Luna and her gang went to sit down. They were laughing along with her. Some looked like they were genuinely laughing, and others seemed like they were forcing themselves to chuckle.
I could hear Quint clench his teeth. "That damn Luna. Why does she always have to bully people? Even if you think you're some big shot because you are a user, that doesn't mean you have to treat commoners like shit."
Was it that obvious I didn't have an ability? The question scratched at my head like some tick that wouldn't let go. I couldn't help but think there was something that differentiated non-users and users.
"I'm sorry this happened to you, Carnite. If I didn't leave you alone, this wouldn't have happened." Quint helped me clean myself off. He got me back on my feet and picked up his tray. "Let's go outside and eat, get some fresh air. Sound good?"
I nodded my head and followed him outside. We found a place to sit underneath a tree's cool shade in the school courtyard.
"Here." He gave me some of the food he had on his tray. It was a nice variety of fish, rice, beef, and some soup.
"I don't know what to say. I've never had something like this before. What if I don't like it?" I told him, hoping not to disappoint him.
"Trust me," he answered. "You'll like it."
I grabbed a fork and sliced off a piece of fish. The steam exploded from the meat; it looked too good to be true. My mouth started to water uncontrollably. I put the fork with the fish into my mouth, and the flavor hit me.
"So? Is it good?" he asked me.
I nodded my head in glee. I couldn't put into words how delicious it was. Before I could shovel more food into my mouth, I looked at Quint. "Aren't you going to eat something?"
"Nah, I'm good," he said, waving his hands.
I took another look at the food and decided that instead of just shoving it in my mouth, I should actually eat it at a slower pace, making sure to savor the flavor.
"Ah, that was amazing. Thank you so much for it, Quint."
"No problem."
It suddenly became quiet, and then eventually, it became awkward.
"Thank you", I told him again, fiddling with my fingers.
"For the food? You already thanked me for it." He chuckled. "You don't need to thank me twice."
I shook my head. "No, I mean for being there for me, even if it was after it had happened. It's the first time I had a friend do something like that. I don't know what it's all like for you all since I am just jumping into the beginning of the year in a school where people have probably been attending for years prior. You know how things work, and I don't. I am kind of scared because of the pressure of fitting in. I was excited at first, but then I ran into some trouble." I tried to chuckle at that. "I just want to learn about computers as much as possible, and I am glad my Grandpa gave me the opportunity to attend since he works here. However, I can't help but feel bad about him taking on that big debt of paying off my uniform. I wish I could help him, but I don't know the first thing about making money," I told Quint, surprised that he sat there with me, just listening to me ramble. "Sorry. You probably didn't want to hear any of that."
Quint put his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, it's ok to tell me these things if you feel like you can trust me. Being friends is about trust and being there for one another."
I never had any friends, so I didn't really know if this was how it was supposed to work, but something told me I could trust Quint.
"I think it's almost time to get back inside."
We both got up from our spot and put our trays away.
When I threw away the scraps on the tray, I noticed the various food items inside the trash can. While some looked similar to the meal I had eaten, I noticed that others looked more like what I usually ate at home. I had to admit it made me sad. I wondered if Grandpa got to eat like this. Perhaps the food had just gone bad, and that was why it was in there. I didn't have much time to think about it since the bell rang.
"Hey, wait up!" I yelled out, running towards Quint, who was walking ahead of me back inside.
Chapter 4 - End
Edited by: Katepopa (Fiverr)
