I walked across the hall with Wailey, noticing a lot of stares and people shaking their heads in our direction. As we continued down the hall, more eyes kept looking in our direction. One would think I should have gotten used to this by now based on how many times it has happened, but NO! I was getting nervous as hell and freakishly sweaty too.
I glanced at Wailey, half-hoping she'd notice all the attention. Instead, she just smiled and asked, "Want to eat lunch?"
I gave her a look, feeling as though I should just punch her in the gut. Was she kidding? Couldn't she see that people were staring, practically seething at us? Couldn't she understand how her even walking with me was WRONG, now she wants me to eat with her?
I forced a smile and lied, "Err... no, I just ate." Wailey gave me a knowing look, barely hiding a laugh. "That's alright then. You can just watch me eat."
Swallowing my pride, I admitted defeat as she led us right to the cafeteria.
The place where Wailey sat was so far away from my usual corner. She sat in the middle of the cafeteria, on the raised platform where cheerleaders, drama queens, and their jock dogs sat. The platform was round, and Wailey's table was right in the middle of it, bringing me back to my original statement, 'Wailey sat right in the 'middle' of the cafeteria'.
Her reason for choosing this table was not because of the people sitting there but because of the lighting. According to her, that table had the 'perfect lighting' for her food art. Imagine that! Apparently, my 'friend' decided light for her food was worth more than my peace. Still, I reluctantly followed.
I walked up to the food stand when Wailey said, "I thought you weren't hungry." noticing I'd been caught, I decided not to go down so easily. "Now you don't expect me to just sit and watch you eat; now do you, Wailey," I replied, putting emphasis on the 'w' in her name. She merely smiled, but I could almost swear I heard her say, "Now what a pair we'd be, huhn?"
I tried my best to ignore everyone as I walked to the table, but they didn't make it any easier. I heard barking from one corner and hooting from the other, and I almost tripped. Damn, why do I always get so clumsy at times like these?
We finally made it to the table, and it was like a magnetic pull; every prissy, jockey, and annoying person came to sit on that table, all of them making careful efforts to ignore me by not ignoring me. One of the cheerleader girls said, "Aww, Ada, your food looks so lovely, way more than the shirt freak show (making a not-so-subtle gesture towards me) here decided to wear out of her house."
Everyone at the table sniggered at this except for Wailey and me. I looked at my clothes. I had worn black jeans with a tee and my favourite black hoodie that had dark grey leather vertical stripes on the sleeves. I looked great; what was she talking about? I began to wonder if Wailey was just weird or if she really didn't notice how the other students acted around me, or maybe it just brought her joy to see me in a slump.
Thinking more about it, I decided that it had to be the first. Wailey was nice and just weird-Ailey. She was too nice to derive pleasure from my pain and too nice to tell the other guys to stop bullying me because, according to her, they were just having a little fun.
Realising there was no point in keeping myself unhappy, I decided to focus on my food. The people around seemed to be pleased with that. I was now slouching with my face down. Finally, they decided to ignore me the way normal people ignore people, pretending I didn't exist, which was all I ever wanted! After bending my head for what seemed like forever, my neck began to feel sore. What could they be talking about that would be taking so long? I tried to listen in, and then I caught things like teats, rams, and cocks. Were they going to a farm or something? Or maybe there was a farm animal convention or something. Confused as to what their topic could be about, I decided once again to go back into my self-made limbo.
Hell! I was sleepy. I had tried getting up earlier, but Wailey had given me that, 'If you get up, I'm going to kill you' look. I was starting to get vertigo when, by some miracle, they all left.
I stared at Wailey and asked pleadingly, "Can I go now?" She looked at me so calmly that she almost seemed normal. "Please," I said, trying my best to pout.
"Fine. Fine. Where do you wanna go?" she finally said after a while.
At her asking this, I felt like burying myself. I needed to get away from her and go back to my peaceful, invisible life. "Anywhere that isn't here," I mumbled back.
Wailey didn't answer; she just wiped her mouth with the table napkin (by the way, there was nothing on her mouth) and started walking away. She got to the cafeteria door and stood there alone for like a minute or so, and then she turned back and started walking back to the table. She stood in front of me looking so disappointed that I almost felt bad for her. "I forgot my purse," she said without attempting to pick it up from the desk. Still sitting down, I raised it up to her face, asking, "This one?"
She looked at me furiously, as if she wanted to cry. "Yes! That one, can't you just come along peacefully? Do I have to drag you?"
"Err… First of all, no, and no, you don't have to drag me anywhere, and I don't have to go anywhere with you." I looked at her, and she looked as though the whole world had just seen her nudes and was "horrified." Realising I had somehow hurt her feelings this time, I added, "Because I have homework. Your purse?"
I raised it up again for her to take it. She took it this time and then said, "Whoa, for a moment there, I thought you didn't want to spend time with me, as if!"
"Yeah, as if…" I groaned under my breath.
"Right," Wailey said, sitting down again, "so which homework do you have?"
I sighed, rolling my eyes, and said "History." I said this because we didn't have it together.
"History... why do you always have so many history assignments? I guess they really drill you guys there. I mean, why would you even be doing history? It's just that it's so boring. Sitting for hours listening to how someone else led their life and how they either failed or succeeded. It's just depressing. In my own opinion, it's better to try to understand your own life than to try to understand someone else's—" she stopped her rambling for a second before continuing, "and they even grade you... whoo! (Sighing) I'm just so happy I don't have to do it." she finally looked at my face, and I was trying to look offended. Then she said, "Well, I guess it could be okay since you're doing it, but still, for me, it's an uh-uh", She finished her sentence, shaking her head dramatically at each uh.
"Yeah, it could be." I responded to her very subtle apology.
"So, do you need help with your homework? I'm not doing it, but I know someone who might be," Wailey said.
"You don't know people, Wailey. People know you. There's a difference. It'd be really nice if you'd learn that from time to time," I said, getting annoyed at how naively gullible she sounded.
She merely smiled and said, "That's not true; I do know people."
I sighed, frustrated at myself for even bringing it up. I decided to be the one to finally tell her the truth, "Alright, Miss, 'I know so many people.' Tell me any five names of the people who ate lunch with you."
She looked at me sort of shocked, which was strange because she was always good at hiding this shock. "Wait, they were that many?"
I looked at her totally speechless, then she asked: "How can I possibly tell you that when I didn't even eat with up to five people?"
I almost screamed. As calmly as I could manage, I said, "WaiLey, you ate with more than TEN people."
She looked at me with that same shocked look and said, "Well, that's not possible; this table can only contain eight people."
She was right, but the truth was that some of them just wanted to be seen around her, so they dragged chairs up to the table. My exact definition of absurdity.
"But if you want five names, they are—err—oh, yes! There's Braden, Christopher, err..., Dax, Melanie, err..., oh! Oh, and Ambe—"
"You can't add my name" I interrupted, and she frowned before finally saying, "Okay, then, and Axel".
Alright stop. Let me explain the situation here. You see, Wailey had people knowing her, but she really didn't know anyone of them, but in my case, I knew people, but people did not know me... or they just pretended not to, but either way, I can pin every name to a particular person. Everyone but Axel... I've heard the name so many times, but I've never actually seen him. Every time I had the chance, something always came up; either one of the teachers called me or I got my 'fits'. The fact now is that I knew everyone who sat at the table, and Axel was definitely not one of them.
I looked at Wailey sadly before finally replying, "First of all, Christopher didn't sit here and—," I started.
"No, no, he sat here," Wailey interrupted.
"No, he sat with Trisha, his girlfriend." I said, trying not to get annoyed.
"Wait, when did they start dating? I thought he was dating Diane," she asked, actually looking confused.
"Well, no, he's dating Trisha, and he sat with her. Dax and Melanie didn't come for lunch because they had practice—" I started again.
"Hold up, I thought Melanie was removed from the team," Wailey said again, interrupting me.
For fuck's sake, Wailey, will you please stop interrupting me?" I asked, annoyed.
"Well, I'm sorry, I—," she started trying to apologise.
"WAILey—Interrupting..." She raised her hand slowly and dramatically to her mouth and used her fingers to pin it shut.
I sighed before continuing, "She was, but now she's back on the team." Wailey looked as though she was about to ask another question, so I quickly added, "I don't know how or when, so don't even ask." She looked at me as if she were asking if I was done, and since I didn't say anything else, she just said, "Well, at least there's still Braden, Stacy, and Axel."
"Uhh, Wailey, you didn't say Stacy before," I stated in a matter-of-fact manner.
"Yes, I did. I said Braden, Christopher, Stacy, Dax, Melanie, and Ax—wait—why d'you let me call six names?" She was actually looking at me, pouting angrily.
I decided to ignore this as Stacy had actually eaten on the table; she was the one that made that comment about my shirt and Wailey's food. I calmed every nerve in my body before finally replying, "No, you only said five, and—you know what, forget it—Axel didn't sit here."
"If not, then where did he sit?" she asked smugly.
"I—I don't know, but he didn't sit here," I replied snarkily.
"Well, you know where everyone else was, so how come you don't know where he was?" she asked smugly.
"Well, I don't know," I answered, almost screaming.
"Then I'll stand my ground; he sat here," she said.
"Oh, and so did Barbie," I said sarcastically. She sighed and then finally said after a minute or two.
"Well, then, Braden and Stacy. Two persons. Still counts as people. So, I do know 'people'," she said, making the air-quote sign as she was saying people.
"Why do I even bother?" I give up. Literally! It was no use trying to explain to her; I'll just have to let experience do the job instead.
I just said, "Err... whatever, if you say so. I have to do my assignments anyway, so I'll be going now. Bye!"
I was about to stand up when Wailey started giggling. Then it dawned on me: Wailey's in school.
"Wailey…" I began sitting back down.
"Hmm..." she replied prissily.
"What are you doing in school?" I asked.
She simply said "Math," and then she started getting up, noticing I was still sitting and looking lost, and she added, "And we'll soon be getting late." I looked at her for a few seconds before my mind finally understood what she was talking about.
"Wait—Math?!" I asked, probably with my most awkward face.
Wailey, smiling as if she had no worries in the world, just smiled and said, "Yah", She stood up, beckoning for me to do the same, which I did, and we both headed to class when I suddenly blurted out.
"You know that doesn't explain why you're in school, right?" I pressed.
She gave that smile again, and I could swear she said something like, "I paid for it now, didn't I?"
Classic Wailey.