The cafeteria was a huge state of the art hall filled with countless glass tables that stood lazily over the shiny marble floors.
It was unlike anything Susanna had ever seen in her life. She couldn't help but stare in amazement at the unfolding beauty and resplendence of the cafeteria.
By the time they walked in, it was already filled halfway with students who to Susanna's relief, appeared to strongly mind their business.
Well, she wouldn't have preferred to be the face of the cafeteria at all.
The thought of being famous on her first day was totally terrorizing her mind. It all appeared as some sort of game, or even dream.
The thought of Alan being interested in her was even unimaginable, totally out of her entire line of thoughts.
Della and Audrey picked up a tray from a long counter. A short and rather old woman stood on the other side of the counter, her face looked as if it had been subjected to some 13th century Roman torturing procedure. Susanna found herself staring at her for a couple of seconds before the woman's Sharp gray eyes suddenly glanced at her . In reality, they were infinitely more terrifying than her face itself .
She quickly averted her eyes and directed them somewhere else.
"Let's go," Della said beside her.
Susanna heaved a sigh of relief. She had felt like the woman's stare had almost ripped her body apart.
"Who is that woman?" She dared as they slowly headed over to an empty table at one far end of the cafeteria.
"Who?" Della asked.
"The woman at the counter."
Audrey let out a slight chuckle as she casually took a seat on a round and wooden mahogany bench. She placed the tray on the glass table and turned to Susanna.
"Don't mind her, she has her own battles to fight."
" Battles? "Susanna asked, seeking further clarification.
Of course she needed that. Who in the whole world could understand what she meant the first time?
"You wanna know?" Della asked, raising her brows at her. She made it seem like it was some forbidden thing she was on quest for.
Curiously, it made her quite curious. Yeah, there we go again, Curiosity killed Susanna.
She nodded softly, her curiosity increasing its intensity.
"Well, the worst happened for her. You see, her husband cheated on her." Della said.
Susanna scoffed. Cheated? Only that? Who in the whole world doesn't cheat? Only her, and a couple of other saints, maybe.
"Seriously?"
To her surprise, Della and Audrey maintained quite a serious look.
She pouted, a feeling that she'd probably done a wrong thing nagging her.
"He cheated with her parents," Audrey dropped the bomb.
Susanna gasped, dumbfounded. Cheated with the parents? The hell!
It was unheard of, totally unthinkable.
"You serious?" She asked, directing her gaze back to the counter trying to catch a glimpse of the woman. This time, her eyes were filled with pity for her. In her mind, she could already imagine the pain she must have felt. Unbearable!
"Well, what can we say?" Della said, trying to cheer her up.
" Can we eat, guys? "Audrey said , picking up a burger from the tray.
Susanna didn't know which one to stare at between the quixotic glass table that made her wonder if she was in a school or Trump Hotel and the palatable and scrumptious cheese burger that stared at her invitingly from the long tray .
Hungrily, she picked up a burger and munched on it slowly, eyes closed.
"Like it?" Audrey asked with a smile.
Susanna scoffed,"Like ?Well, that's a huge understatement!"
Della giggled but then almost instantly turned her attention to the doorway,her smile quickly disappearing.
"What's wrong?"Susanna asked as she turned her head to the doorway.
At the doorway stood four guys, looking all stylish and really handsome.
But one of them stood out. He was at the front and the remaining three guys at his back. Susanna would have depicted them to be security guards if not for the fact that they all wore almost similar clothes.
He seemed to stand out and something about him made Susanna think that she knew him from somewhere.
"Who's he?" She found herself asking without averting her gaze.
"He's Juan Brailsford. Alan's older brother."
Susanna sighed. Maybe that's why he'd seemed familiar to her.
But she hadn't even thought that Alan had a brother.
But there was something else about this Juan. On his face, he appeared to have something like a scar, high above his left eye. Also to this, a permanent smirk rested on his lips. It made him have a far menacing look, a far more dangerous one.
Then suddenly, he did something that made her gasp. He stared directly at her. His cold dark eyes stared directly at her.
As if to worsen things, he began to walk towards her, his crew behind him.
Oh, God. Don't tell me he's coming here. She silently prayed, wishing she was wrong and he wasn't coming towards there table after all.
But she was wrong. Behind her, she heard a deep voice.
"Are you Susanna Dewell?"
She turned her head and met those dark eyes poking her.
Silently, she nodded, unable to speak. Clearly, he was hot and handsome despite the scar which was now insanely visible from her angle. But he wasn't nearly as handsome as Alan.
Then his eyes, She noted something in them. She couldn't tell exactly what, but she knew there was something that she didn't like.
Was it, passion? Or lust?
She could see the way his eyes roamed her body, like a beast surveying its prey. And she didn't like it. She began hating him.
"Could we talk outside for a minute?" He said, his bushy eyebrows staggering up and his lips carving up a cheeky smile.
Outside? What did he want to tell her?
"Why? I'm quite busy," she said after some silence.
The smile on his face almost disappeared before it appeared again so fast, this time much bigger.
"Well, I can see that. But it's only for a minute, isn't it?"
Susanna evaluated his voice. He was trying to flirt with her. And she wouldn't give Him the chance to.
"I'm sorry, maybe another time."
Despite her attempts, he was persistent almost like he was really bent on saying something to her. But she wasn't giving him a chance and she could see his visible annoyance.
He was about to speak again when a voice suddenly boomed behind them.
"Leave the girl alone."
Susanna gasped. She knew those words. She knew them by heart and totally memorized them each day to her heart.
The words brought a deep sense of nostalgia that she couldn't wipe off her mind. They were from her first day in Moses lake, from her rescuer, her savior.
All of them immediately turned to the voice to find Alan and his crew standing facing them.
Susanna could read his eyes. They were burning with rage, it was easily visible and terribly fierce. Susanna could also read something from them;they were overly protective, territorial . She didn't know why, but she felt safer with him there.
However, Juan didn't take that interruption lightly.
He instantly flared up, "Whatcha doing here, little bro?"
Alan didn't seem to flinch. Instead, he focused his eyes on his brother's and moved forward slightly.
"I said, leave the girl alone."
"Or what?" Juan smirked.
" You really wanna know what I'll do? "Alan asked as he drew even closer to Juan.
Wait, are they gonna fight? Susanna thought, her heart racing so fast than she could keep track.
"Let's go, Juan," One of his boys said behind him.
With visible rage, he lifted his chin towards Alan before muttering deeply," You're right, Aaron. Let's go. "
They hurriedly retreated from the cafeteria, one could hear them echo their anger as they hurtled away.
Susanna turned to Alan and couldn't help but suddenly get lost in the ensnare of his eyes. She gulped hard as she tried to force words to come out. You can't even say thanks? Stupid! She heard her inner mind scream at her.
"Thanks for that," she muttered shyly, casting her eyes to the floor.
"You still don't remember me, do you?" She heard him say. His voice was calm, so calm as if he hadn't been involved in a confrontation just a while ago.
Of course I do remember you. You saved me! But can I surely know it's you? What was , then a rich person like you doing in Moses lake?
Of course these words didn't come out . Instead, only a stutter formed itself on her lips as she forced herself to look up. But she knew she couldn't conclude anything, and she didn't want to appear desperate, not once before a guy. She fixed her eyes on him.
"I don't."
She could see disappointment cloud his face and she instantly regretted her answer. You could have said yes!!!
But what was done was done.
"Well," he said, "I hope you do."
With that, he left with his crew behind him out of the cafeteria.
Susanna heaved out loud and turned to her friends who had been quiet all along.
"That wasn't nice, Susanna!" Della scolded immediately.
Yes it wasn't. But that was the only thing she could do at the moment.
"Why didn't you tell him your mind?" Audrey asked softly.
" I need time to think. "
"You know? Let's get out of here," Della said quickly standing up.
Susanna immediately looked around to see almost all students in the cafeteria staring at them.
Shit! Not again!
"Yes, let's go."
As the three of them walked out of the cafeteria, headed for somewhere quiet to clear their minds, it seemed as though it was never meant to be.
As soon as they jumped on the huge hallway, they suddenly stopped on their tracks as a group of girls immediately stepped before them.
Among them, Susanna noted, was Georgina.
And she could see the humongous smirk that was planted on her lips, as if an evil ploy was cooking in her mind.
But she didn't know the other girls. She turned to Audrey, "Who are they?"
Audrey herself seemed shaken as she replied, "That one, Susanna," she pointed at a dark haired girl who held the meanest look of all of them, " Is Lola Adams."