My head slumped on my arm resting on the desk with my forearm blocking the sight of my eye only seeing the blackboard in unequal halves. I was barely tired or losing sleep over anything, but it was school. My eyes stared at the white fabric of my long sleeve that showed my tanned pink skin under a thick white mesh. I leaned my forearm to one side to see the part of the blackboard hidden so as the class. The scribbled laid by the teacher was, of bare arithmetic that was well understood and didn't trigger a cognitive reaction. I swung my forearm up again to hear the sheepish loud voice call, "Yes, you have a question. Umm, Miss Boyle?"
He stood before the blackboard with the piece of chalk dwindled by the tip of his fingers. She can feel a few stares hit her perimeter, the feeling of exposure in a classroom setting never truly wears off. "No, nothing. My hand was lingering up there. Ah?!" I dropped my hand and felt my eyes fall to the desk like stones.
"Ohhh, okay," his voice unsteadily revealed slight disappointment before resuming the lesson. The bell rang a few minutes after the incident, the corridors bustled with bodies of student pushing past the classroom to settle into groups with the courtyards and beyond for their lunch break. I walked through the corridor and stepped into a courtyard before making my way across towards the edge. The courtyard would break into a gentle slope of a field populated with benches and a few picnic tables under a tree The slope would flatten further to a marked area with a short gate towards the sports fields. I stepped onto the grass feeling my arm tapped lightly with a finger marked by a nail above my elbow from behind. I turned around with a half stride broken into a split over my shoulder to see her standing behind me.
Her long red hair was styled into pigtails that barely reached her neck below was her black school blazer that was a little tighter with her signature too dark navy long dress. I felt my heart droop seeing her stand behind me with her blank expression that watched every micro expression. "Hey, Carly." Gig greets with a slight nod with a smile.
"Heyyy…" I held waiting for her interjection.
"Call me, Gig." She fills in. "That's my nom de guerre."
I nod to her statement and begin to feel myself struggle to resume communication with my eyes slowly diverting away.
"Let's have lunch together, over there." She pointed to a picnic table near the centre of the slope under the open sky.
We began to descend with ease. I walked with Gig following from behind, I couldn't fathom what she wanted with me and what was going on. We reached the bench, I sat with my bag placed on the table looking out to the field while Gig sat near me but faced the other direction with her legs stretched out and crossed at her heels.
"Aren't you going to eat?" she asked.
I opened my bag to retrieve my lunch feeling like a hostage being commanded.
"Recently, I started reading books around Sci-Fi, I would finish them but never got around to getting them." She stated.
"Do you read Carl?" my upper lip tingled feeling a moustache at the shortened name and corrected.
"No, and don't call me that."
"Okay, Carly is the Go." I couldn't handle myself but turned to her to confront her. "What are we doing here? Is it about the toilet thing? I mean I kinda snapped at you so I'm sor-"
"What? Oh, that toilet thing? I thought we were just being sarcastic and bumping heads a little. Did I offend?" she asked.
Carly can sense genuine concern in her voice which can calm her anxiety.
"No, but you are just hanging out with me randomly is strange."
"You make it seem like being friendly is bad or something."
My face ached with a frown that crinkled the edge of my nose feeling frustration build inside of me. Those didn't hurt but instead prodded a part of me that woke my pent emotions, thoughts and soured memories. I looked away for a moment feeling those emotions fade with my mind emptied before looking at her. Her grey eyes looked at her intently before releasing a sigh followed behind with a question.
"Is that lunch box for show? I would like a sandwich or something." She asked.
I pooped it open to see the sandwich cut diagonally with a small pack of Oreos. I grabbed a sandwich and gave away the other half to her.
"Your mom loves you, it leaks of strawberry," she exclaimed at the ooze that rested on her thumb that was licked off.
"What happened to your lunch?"
"My parents don't do much on small gestures, I don't like bothering my maid and I'm lazy," she listed off "Besides I can't have this brilliant body without long hours on an empty stomach."
"Fear of a little weight?"
"Not really, you seem proud." I wrapped my arms across my belly with a small smile. "I like being Momma's little piggy."
She laughed out loud which caused me to smile a little harder as I took a small bite from my sandwich.
"I'm planning to lose the weight soon."
"Really? How about being momma's favourite piggy?" she asked between chews.
"Time to grow out of my shell and become someone." I smiled before stuffing my whole sandwich down.
"Cool," she responds.
The bell rings for the end of the lunch period and kids begin to retreat to class. "Well, I see soon…" She stands up and begins to walk away. I pack my bag away and begin to slowly ascend the slope in thoughts about the interaction. I felt strange talking to someone who was barely friendly and noticing me as a friend. We were mostly cold to each other and had a few bad interactions in another life, but I can tell that how we spoke today, reminded me of how we met again fresh out of college in that brief time.