brothers.

12~ Small World

The cafeteria was packed to the brim with students. Many of them crowded in the lunch line while others filled the numerous tables, their chatter echoing throughout the room.

I clutched my paper bag in my hands. For the rest of the day, I'd kept to myself. I didn't look at anybody, I didn't talk to anybody, I didn't try to make friends. And during the little 'icebreakers' my other teachers had, I stayed as hidden as possible.

Against my efforts, people still stared and whispered about me. They steered clear of me and ignored me. It was like I was a plague.

And it was happening again, in the scariest part of the school day. As I passed table after table, I noticed the surrounding students glance at me and whisper to their friends. Heads turned to look, like a wave following me.

I kept my gaze on my feet. I couldn't act up again. All I wanted was to find somewhere to sit and eat alone.

I finally found an empty table near the corner of the cafeteria. Sighing, I took out my sandwich and water. Maybe I would go online. Maybe I could shut myself away from the world.

Why did I even care about the brothers' opinions of me? Since when did I care about what the families thought of me? All I wanted was to not get beat up every day.

"Hi."

I looked up. A girl with chocolate brown hair tied in a French braid stood in front of me with her tray, smiling behind pink-rimmed glasses.

"Uh... hi." I cleared my throat, my voice coming out squeaky. "Hi," I said clearly.

"Is it alright if we sit here? My friend and I can't find a table." She jerked her head towards a girl behind her. The girl smiled and waved, also carrying a tray.

"Oh, uh... s-sure." I motioned to the empty benches curving around the circular table. What else could I say, anyway?

"Thanks!" She waved to her friend and sat down. I returned to my lunch. Did these girls want to just sit here, or...?

"So, um..." The brunette chuckled awkwardly, nudging her glasses up her nose. "I think we've met before."

I blinked. "We have?"

"Are you Diana Watson?"

I blinked again, surprised. "Um... yeah. How did you know?"

She brightened, her cheeks turning rosy with joy. "I knew it! I don't think you'll remember me, though... it's been, like, 12 years." She stuck out her hand. "I'm Thelma Williams."

Thelma... it sounded familiar.

"Thelma? From... Preschool?" A smile twitched on my lips.

She nodded excitedly. "Yes! You remember?"

"Yeah..." I nodded, looking at her with awe. "It's a small world." I couldn't believe I even remembered her.

She glanced at the other girl. "This is my new friend, Kate. She's in my Spanish class. Kate, I went to preschool with Diana."

Kate shook my hand with a bright smile. "That's c-cool." She was a tall girl with dark brown skin and long, beautiful black hair that shone under the light.

"I can't believe we found each other after so long! What are the odds?" Thelma twirled her school spaghetti around her fork.

"How did you recognize me after all this time?" I asked.

"Well, I have, like, a... photographic memory." She tapped her head. "So I'm good at remembering a lot of stuff. I recognized the shape of your eyes, your jaw, the color of your hair." She took a bite of her spaghetti. "My parents-" She stopped. "Excuse me."

She raised her napkin to her mouth and leaned to the side, spitting out the spaghetti. She placed the napkin on the tray and continued.

"Anyways, my parents had me advance a couple grades, but I was pretty lonely because I didn't fit in with the older kids. So they let me be with people my age. But I'm gonna take a lot of AP's, IB's, Honors... not to brag, though, sorry."

"You're not." I smiled at her. "That's really impressive."

She pushed her lunch tray away. "I remember the last time we saw each other. Remember when Celeste Zucker let you borrow her spring toy, and she didn't let me because I was still three? She said it was only for four-year olds."

I smiled as the memory vaguely blinked in my mind. "I... I think so... yeah. I gave it to you when she wasn't looking." I chuckled nostalgically and bit into my sandwich.

"Then, after that, you... left." She stopped, turning red. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry or-"

"No, it's okay. Don't worry about it."

There was a pause.

"Um..." I smiled at Kate. "So... Kate?"

She nodded as she bit into her hamburger. "That's right." She stopped, her face contorting in disgust, and sputtered the meat onto her napkin. She quickly gulped down her juice box.

I winced. "I'm guessing school food isn't that good?" I asked as I ate my own lunch. I mentally thanked Davis for packing it.

"It's terrible," said Thelma.

"So you know Th-Thelma? That's p-pretty awesome. Why has it been so l-long?"

"I, uh... moved," I said, taking a mental note of Kate's stutter. I was initially worried that she'd heard people talk about me and got nervous.

"Her parents-" Thelma stopped. "Ugh. Again. I'm sorry, Diana."

Well, people would find out soon enough, anyway. Thelma knew what really happened, so...

"It's fine, Thelma. Um... my parents died in an accident that last day, so I had to go with my uncle and aunt. But... they were horrible, so I became a foster kid, and... yeah."

"You're a f-foster kid?" Kate asked curiously.

I nodded. "I'm staying with a family here."

"Which family?" Thelma asked.

"Uh... the... Fields."

"Oh. I don't know them. But that's interesting."

"My mom actually h-helps foster kids. She d-donates to charities and s-stuff," Kate commented.

"That's nice."

"So that means we can be besties again!" Thelma stretched out her hand and wiggled her fingers.

My eyes widened as a memory slammed into my mind's eye. I gasped in delight and chuckled.

I wiggled my fingers against hers before interlocking them together. The handshake was a little clumsy, since I didn't remember it all, but we managed to finish it. We clasped our hands together and shouted, "Bestest friends!", throwing them in the air.

We laughed, renewed energy stretching my cheeks.

Maybe I could give school one more day... If I wanted to find out what was actually going on, it was my best bet.

Thoughts on Thelma and Kate?