A few days later I stumble into lunch. Lunch has started to get more and more boring because all Sam will do is talk to his new friends, Liem's friend.
"Wassup, man?" Liem asks.
"Nothing much." I say, sadly.
"Listen, how about we go to another table?" He asks me.
"No. Sam's gonna get mad that I'm going." I state.
"It's fine. Just one day!" Liem says. My face barely budges. He grabs me by the wrist, seeming to let out his anger and runs to an open table.
"Dude!" He yells.
"What? You're the one you just yanked me across the lunch room!" I respond.
"No!" He yells.
"It's about Sam." He says, starting to get quiet.
"You don't like him? Why?" I ask.
"No! I'm perfectly fine with him. I know you aren't, though and you're not saying anything!" He continues to yell.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"He's blabbering to all of us and you're sitting there twiddling your thumbs. You're the one who brought him to the table! Keep in conversation!" He says. I get really confused.
"Why?" I ask.
"You're just letting him forget you're even there! You either get into conversation or stop being his friend! He could leave you in the dust and you would still think it's your fault." He says.
"I don't understand!" I yell. I start panicking along with getting agitated.
"If you wanna be friends with him, go out and show it. If he's not going to help you get into the conversation, help yourself!" He yells. I start to understand.
"So your saying that he doesn't wanna be friends with me?" I ask.
"No one wants to be friends with you! Not until you show them that you can be their friend. He's forgetting you. He prefers talking to my friends and you're completely letting that slide!" He continues to lecture me. I open my mouth and try to talk only to be immediately cut off by him.
"So, you are going to go back to that table and start talking or you're going to find another friend group. He didn't even realize you left! Come on! Show him you're not gonna be thrown away!" He motivates. As much as it hurts to think I'm that insignificant to him, I understand and slowly adopt Liem's principles. I stand up like a soldier, nod adamantly and start to turn around and march my way to Sam's table.
"Hey, I'm back. Sorry, I had to grab a snack." I lie. Only a few people, including Sam, notice me. Luckily, no one notices I don't have a snack.
"Oh, by the way, I went into gaming club. Why weren't any of you there?" I ask.
"My mom said I couldn't, man." Sam responded. Yes!
"Well, then tell me! I played with some dude and he said I was trash." I say.
"Ha! Imagine!" Someone pokes at me.
"Then, I had this really sick brawl with him and I almost won!" I say, ignoring the person who picked fun at me.
"Cool!" Sam shouts out.
We keep chatting and chatting on and on about whatever until the bell inevitably rings and we shuffle out of the room.
Later, I run across the wet pavement towards my bus.
"Yo." Liem says.
"Nice job." He continues, showing a loose thumbs up sign.
"Thanks!" I say, grinning childishly.
After I rush home, I sit down to think. Think about what happened. It felt like a scene from a movie. Rejecting my ideals on friendship, the amount of confidence he had to have to say that is laughable. So, I guess I continue on with that? I'm not totally sure. I wouldn't like to come off as desperate, but who knows if any of them will even notice. I'm not sure. I reconfirm my confusion to myself as I walk away.
The latter part of the day proves itself boring which leads into the next school day. I hurry onto and, soon after, off my bus.
The day starts off with homeroom followed directly by gym. Now that I have not one- but two friends in my gym, Sam and Liem, it has turned into one of my most favorite classes. However, today things seem to go for a turn because of the pacer test.
"Ladies and gentlemen, today we are going to be doing the mid-year pacer test." The teacher yelled. Everyone including Sam, Liem and I sag into the wooden bench.
"Shuffle out!" They yell as we lump forward and away from the locker rooms. Everyone angrily gets ready for the test, stretching and squeezing their muscles in hopes that it helps them run. The first and fastest people go up first. Well, they're not all the fastest. It's just what they claim to be. Liem stays behind with me as Sam confidently goes to run. The beep goes off and Sam starts running. First ten? Easy. Second? Pretty good! Third? Barely. Sam somehow makes it past the line for thirty, then misses it consecutively twice, landing him at thirty-one.
"Good job, Sam!" I yell, my hands amplifying my voice.
"Thanks!" Sam yells back, out of breath. Soon after, me and Liem decide to go on for the average tier running. The daunting beep goes off. First ten? Easy. Second? Pretty good! Third? Barely. I also somehow make it to thirty-one. I jog back into the crowd of people to see Sam sitting there. I look back to see Liem continuing to run.
"Nice job." Sam says quietly.
"Thanks." I say. We both patiently and silently wait for Liem to come back. When he misses the line, landing him at fifty-one, he shuffles back to us.
"How's your lungs treating you?" I ask both of them.
"Nice job, by the way! Fifty-one and thirty-one are both pretty sick!" I continue.
"Thanks. I'm surprised you got more than seventeen." Liem says. I click my tongue in annoyance.
"Gee, thanks!" I say, faking my enthusiasm.