I'm Still Here

It's the Whole Gang!

-Lily-

I plopped down with my lunch tray, scooting next to my boyfriend and planting a kiss on his cheek. 

"You're not wearing your hat today," I observed, messing up his hair.

"Hey!" he chuckled. "I know, my Mom told me I couldn't wear my hat on the first day of the senior year..." he sighed. "Plus, I want to make a good first impression on my teachers this year," he winked. 

I laughed, the memory of the first day of 9th grade coming back to me. The day we first started to get to know each other, in Social Studies class when the teacher yelled at him to take his hat off. 

I shook my head, staring down at my blob of mashed potatoes and flavorless meatloaf.

"So you were unable to convince your mom to let you have cold lunch?" he asked, a knowing smirk on his cute dimpled face.

I shrugged. "I didn't really bother asking to be honest, besides... I don't want to break my constant hot-lunch streak! I've made it from kindergarten till now, I can survive another year," I smiled at my achievement, only to frown as I looked down at my unappetizing meal. 

"We'll see about that..." he chuckled.

Our gazes drifted to Abby and Andre as they took their spots at our table.

"Hey, guys!" Abby chirped happily, motioning her boyfriend, Andre to sit.

"Hey! You guys finally got together?" Jack asked, smiling from ear to ear. Abby had always been jealous of me because of how she didn't have a boyfriend and had been crushing on Andre since the freshman year, and they'd finally gotten together.

"Mhmm!" Andre smiled, giving Abby a loving look. "We should've made that decision a long time ago," he chuckled as Abby nodded vigorously.

I rolled my eyes. Almost the entire school had known that they had feelings for each other but they were too scared to actually tell each other, afraid that they were just rumors until recently.

"Are Grayson and Will coming?" Abby asked, looking around the lunch room.

"Hmm... not sure, they might be sitting with Will's friends," I shrugged, looking around the lunchroom again. My eyes fell on the cute Asian girl who was looking around, trying to find a place to sit.

"Melody!" I waved her over, recognizing her as the girl I'd showed around the school this morning. When she saw me waving her over, I could see the relief on her face and immediately felt glad that I asked her to come.  

"Hi guys!" she smiled when she came to our table.

"Yo!" I welcomed her, patting the spot next to me, indicating her to sit there. 

"Do you remember Melody, Jack?" I asked him, motioning to her.

"Of course!" he rolled his eyes. "How could I forget? I'm not THAT forgetful..." he chuckled.

"Keep telling yourself that..."I mumbled in a teasing tone, causing him to gasp.

"I'm offended!"

"Well, I guess there always has to be someone at the bottom," Melody piped in, causing me to double over in a fit of giggles.

"I was only kidding!" I wheezed out, slapping my hand on the table as I continued to laugh, causing Jack to roll his eyes.

Melody sat quietly, not saying anything while I laughed obnoxiously. Eventually, my laughter subsided, earning an unamused glare from my boyfriend and an annoyed look from Abby. 

"Anyways, welcome to our table!" Jack greeted as the rest of us nodded.

"Err... thanks, guys!" Melody smiled, looking back down at her pants, then gasping and quickly jumping up.

"Crap! My period just started!" She whisper-yelled, the panic evident in her face. She seriously just sat down, and now this was happening on the first day of school. I hardly had time to say anything.

"Oh man! That sucks! But I've totally been there, do you need anything?" I asked, sympathizing her struggle.

"No, I think I'll be alright, thanks though!"

I smiled, nodding.

"I'll see you guys later!" She gave us a small smile, pulling her shirt down in the back before heading out to the bathroom. 

I sighed, looking at Abby, "That really has to suck..." 

"Ha! We've all been there!" She grinned, giving me a knowing look.

"Err... not all of us," Jack interrupted.

"Wha- oh..." I rolled my eyes, giving him a playful shove.

"Hey!" 

I giggled, looking back to my friends and finding a pleasant surprise.

"Hey guys, mind if we join you?" I look up to find my nerdy, gay friend along with his boyfriend.

"You're always welcome at our table Grayson and Will, do you even have to ask?" Jack said, motioning for them to sit down across from us by Abby and Andre. 

"I thought you were sitting at a different table?" Abby asked, giving them a confused look.

"Nah, Will's friends were throwing food and stuff," Grayson said, rolling his eyes.

"Ahh, I see," Abby replied.

"So what have you guys been up to?" Will asked, looking to all of us.

I watched smiles begin to creep on to everyone's faces, knowing we'd all been up to the same thing... hanging out together. 

"Nothing really new to share, is there?" Jack asked, voicing what we all had been thinking.

"Nope! I'm thinking of getting a job though, it's really time I start saving for college," I said, knowing that it would take time away from the already little time I had with them during the school year.

Jack's face dropped a little as he also reached this realization, but his frown was swept away quickly by a happy facade.

"That's great Lily! Where are you planning on working?" he asked.

I shrugged, not knowing myself. "I'm not sure yet."

"Well, my grandma could use some help at the library! Plus I know how much you love books," Will piped in, eyes lit with excitement.

I found the same excitement coming to my eyes as well. Working at one of my favorite places in the world? Yes, please. I could tell this year would be busy, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Not when I had all these amazing people by my side.