Mindful Secrets

Chapter 3 - Lunch Time

Dakota

"Remember, class. Always check the labels before using a chemical. Some are poisonous and some can combust. So, make sure to always check the labels", the teacher said to us before dismissing the class. Right on time, the bell rang, signalling lunch for everyone.

I packed my stuff quickly and headed out to the halls which were packed with so many students. I somehow managed to squeeze past everyone which was surprising considering my build. Anyway, I made my way to the cafeteria. I left my bag at the side like most furs since I don't want to carry it around everywhere I go.

I went in and quickly lined up in the surprisingly short queue. It took me only three minutes before I was at the front. There was little choices of food so I just took a burger with some salad on the side. Once I got that, I went to my usual table which was, as usual, empty beside from me.

This place is my safe space from everyone in this place. Everyone knows that I liked to be alone and respects that. No one ever goes near this table besides me. In any case, I didn't start eating right away. I decided to just think about some stuff before I do.

It's just a habit of mine. I always think of stuff before doing the thing I needed to do. This time, it was about the dream. Why does it always appear everytime I sleep and why does it always ends in the same place. It just scares me because it reminds me of them.

What if the fur in that dream also died and this was my minds way of telling me everyone I knew is dying? What the hell type of cruel punishment was bestowed upon me? What did I do that had to punish me so cruelly for?

I can't exactly remember what I did due to amnesia. No one even told me what had happened before the car crash. There's still so many blank spaces I need to fill in. I need to remember who this fur in my dreams is. What do they signify? My fear? My loneliness?

I don't know. Okay, I gotta stop thinking now. I break out of my thoughts and grabbed the burger in front of me. I take a bite out of it and it tasted really bland. I wouldn't even give this to someone I hated. It was that terrible to eat. But, I was hungry and there was nothing else to eat.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone walking back and forth in the cafeteria, trying to find a place to sit. Looking closely, it was the new kid. He looked rather lost since no one wants to sit with him at all. It was very sad to see but quite annoying to see how much he's running around.

So, when he got in close reach, I pulled him onto the seat next to me. "W-wha?!", he yelled before landing on the seat. "Sit here. It gets annoying to see someone run around", I said. I just wanted to end the torment of running but I knew everyone was staring at him in shock right now.

Ah, the loner popular boy let the freak sit next to him. Like I care if he has heterochromia. That's actually a cool thing to have. "Oh, uh, thank you", he said meekly. "No problem. Next time, just sit with me. I don't really mind that much", I said. I just don't want him to run around anymore.

He silently ate his food as I continued to eat mine. "Cool drawings", I said out of the blue. "Huh?", he said. "You ran into me at the start of the day and you dropped your sketchbook. Nice drawings", I said. I looked at him and saw he had turned about ten shades redder.

"Y-you s-saw the dr-drawings?", he asked. "Yeah, at first, I wanted to find a name but instead, I saw the drawings", I said kinda guiltily. "O-oh", he said. Okay, this is just pitiful. "There's nothing wrong with the drawings. I really like the way you draw them", I said.

Actually, I just want to know why you drew them with really big bulges. "R-really?", he asked. "Yeah, they're really cool", I said. "Ah, thanks. Everyone else said my art was bad...", he said. "Then, they're blind. You can literally be the next Leonardo Da Vinci or Picasso or some other famous artist", I said.

"Oh, stop it. I'm not that good", he said, letting a small chuckle follow through. "Hey, it's better than mine. I can only draw stick figures", I said. "Yeah, everyone does", he said. Well, this is a great breakthrough. He's starting to relax which I'm totally fine with.

"Hey, wanna be friends?", I asked. Although I don't know him that much, I can already see that he can easily be trusted with anything I have. "Wait, really?", he asked. "Yeah, of course", I said. "Are you sure? You don't want to be friends with a freak like me...", he said. "I definitely want to be friends", I said.

"How about this? Do you have a phone?", I asked. "Uh, yeah", he said. "Give me it", I said. He fishes it out of his pocket and hands it to me. He even had the courtesy to unlock it. I went to his contacts and added my number to it. I called my phone and sent a text to my number before giving his phone back.

"That's my number if you ever need to text or call me", I said. "Ah, cool", he said. We both finish our food as the bell was about to ring. We both gave back the trays to the lunch lady before heading out. Before he left, I gave him back his sketchbook. After that, he left for his next class which was Arts.

I, instead, went to the gymnasium for PE. I don't like the clothes for gym because they're too tight for me even when I get the biggest size they have. Talk about size equality. I felt like the shirt was gonna tear if I even so dared to moved my fingers.