Rage

Chapter Three

Lunch on my first day was, without a doubt, interesting. After two more classes, it was time for lunch and my stomach didn't let me forget that little fact.

The cafeteria was unlike any cafeteria I'd ever seen. My old school had the generic, terrible cafeteria food that tasted like garbage and the room itself wasn't exactly a sight for sore eyes, either.

But this one was. It had two large, glass walls that overlooked a well-manicured school garden and one overlooking the pool. The floors, tables and chairs were all clean and looked brand new. It was fully air-conditioned and there was a separate salad bar.

"This is a really nice cafeteria." I whispered to Tamsin, who'd ended up being in both my English Literature and Calculus classes and, although she was pretty, she was too vapid and invested in other people's lives for me to take much pleasure in her company.

"Is it?" She asked distractedly, looking at something on her sleek, black iPhone 8. "I thought it was normal."

"Trust me, my last school didn't have one as nice as this." I told her, gesturing at the room around us.

"Uh huh." She obviously didn't care about what I had to say, too preoccupied with texting someone, her gray painted nails tapping away at the screen at an unimaginable speed.

I followed her to a table smack dab in the middle of the cafeteria. There was a fair mix of guys and girls and all of them were dressed expensively. It was pretty obvious that the popular group, as I'd come to realize that this was, was a little elitist.

Charlie, Ally and the boy who'd made the derogatory comment towards me during Physics were already sitting, along with a couple of new faces and people I recalled passing in the hallways.

After Tamsin sat down beside a girl who was wearing a cheerleading uniform that even Ally, while being head cheerleader, wasn't, I took the only free seat at the table which was fortunately beside Ally.

"Guys, this is Taylor Channing." Charlie said, effectively introducing me, "Taylor, this is everyone. Travis, Millie, Chris, Brad and Romi. You already know Ally and Tamsin." All of them greeted me in response and I offered a wave, examining them.

Travis was letterman guy from Physics, Millie was the girl chatting with Tamsin. Chris was a pretty muscular, tall guy with close-cropped brown hair. He was really attractive. Brad had the whole pretty boy look going for him, with coiffed blonde hair and angular features. Romi was a gorgeous black-haired girl with the most striking pair of green eyes. She seemed to be the quietest of the lot of them. I also found out that Brad and Romi were dating.

Ally then almost immediately drew me into a conversation about how my first day was going and how I was adjusting to the school. She wasn't the sort of friend I usually made, with her maybe too short skirt and top that left almost nothing to the imagination but, despite her image, she was a really nice girl.

"Anyway," Charlie interrupted, stealing one of his girlfriend's chips, for which she slapped his arm and scooted closer to me, tray included, "What do you think of Bridgetown High so far?"

"Never mind that!" Millie interjected, "Have you seen any guys that you might be into? Because, if you have, you need to tell us so that we know he's suitable. I mean, you can't date someone, you know, poor." Millie whispered the word as if it were the worst insult and my walls instantly went up.

I was just about to say something, my blood boiling at her comment, when Ally noticed the look on my face and interjected, "Well, it's only her first day. I don't think anyone's caught her eye yet." She caught my what-the-hell glance and leaned down to murmur, casually pretending to be eating. "We'll talk later. Just change the subject for now."