Drowning

Spiderman is on Speed Dial

For once the cafeteria was quieter than normal, void of the typical chatter and horseplay that filled it while teenagers scarfed down supposedly edible food in under 30 minutes. Finley arrived later than normal, having to stay after class to ask a question about something she had gotten wrong on the test. The plastic tray clattered onto the table as she sat herself next to Eli. Typically she sat next to Miguel, but today he was in between the other boys and she definitely preferred sitting next to Eli over Demetri.

Yes. Typically. It had taken about a week of Miguel coming over to her table and stealing her lunch before she finally resigned herself to sitting at their table on a daily basis. It's true she would have preferred to sit by herself, but they weren't completely annoying. She didn't always participate in conversation, but she did enjoy listening to them. Whether it was Miguel excitedly talking about karate and his sensei or Demetri about some new comic book storyline that completely messed with the integrity and continuity of the last issue. Occasionally, in intervals that were becoming more and more frequent, Eli would chime in with something to add to Demetri's rants. So she sat with them. She didn't really know anyone else in that lunch period and it wasn't like anyone else had asked her to eat with them.

"Hey." Miguel said smiling at her as she took her seat.

She offered the same response back as Demetri just stared at her, and Eli looked up and offered a brief smile. He was finally starting to get a little better with opening himself up around her. It was fine when it was just him and Demetri, but adding two new people at around the same time had pushed him pretty far back into his shell.

"So are you going to the Halloween dance?" Miguel asked quietly.

The school's guidance counselor was giving a speech about cyberbullying, but that didn't stop kids from talking quietly amongst themselves. After all it was a speech they had already heard multiple times. Finley stuck her straw into her milk box and shook her head, missing the curious glance from Eli.

"No. Dances aren't really my thing." She noticed Miguel's face fall slightly. "But I will miss seeing you embarrass yourself in front of Sam."

His brows furrowed. "I'm not going with her. She's going with her group... and Kyler."

"Oh I know. But I have no doubt you'll still find some way to embarrass yourself." A mischievous smirk graced her lips as she said in a 'serious' tone. "I have total and complete faith in you Diaz."

"Thanks." He said sarcastically and rolled his eyes.

Further conversation was stopped as the guidance counselor spoke a little louder.

"Now I'm not going to name names," Eli's head snapped up, panic rising within him. "But the other day a mother called me up  because her son was crying after some kids online made fun of his facial deformity."

Finley inhaled sharply. How stupid was this lady? She might as well have just pointed a neon sign at Eli. The boy was glancing around the cafeteria as whispers echoed around the room and fingers were pointed in his direction. Demetri looked at his best friend across the table, wishing he could just protect him from all of the idiots making fun of him for something he had no control over. Eli's hand drifted up to cover his lip as his breathing quickened.

Finley huffed and muttered. "I don't see what the big deal is. It's not even that noticeable."

Wide, baby blue eyes fastened on her, but she was too busy glaring at the guidance counselor who was saying the school's goal was to be a safe space for all students.

Miguel looked over at Eli. "If you're sick of getting bullied my karate dojo's looking for recruits."

"Yeah right." Demetri scoffed, effectively wiping off the look of interest on Eli's face. "You hear that Eli? A little karate training and you're gonna kick some major butt." The sarcasm dripped off Demetri's tongue.