A Love-Hate Relationship

5~ Meet Johnny Calloway

When I got to the cafeteria after going through the lunch line, all the bravery I got from burning that jerk vanished.

It was huge.

For a moment, my nightmare flashed back into my head; everyone staring at me, whispering, giggling, and taking offensive pictures of me.

But none of that happened. It wasn't real.

I gulped as I walked through the numerous crowded tables. I wasn't sure where I could sit. There were all kinds of different groups, and I didn't know which one to choose. Not to mention the cafeteria seemed endless.

I looked at a circular table with around six girls that looked my age. One of them happened to glance at me and notice me staring at them. She grabbed her backpack and set it on the seat next to her.

Okay, so maybe that does happen in real life.

It reminded me of that lunch scene in Mean Girls where Cady faced the same problem; finding a place to sit at lunch on her first day. The first table she looked at was the Cool Asians table, and Trang Pak put her backpack on the empty chair when she noticed her. At least, I thought it was Trang Pak.

In this case, the girls weren't Asian, but they looked 'cool'. They had expensive clothing and backpacks— one of them even had a Gucci backpack.

Wow.

I passed table after table, unsure of who to sit with. I was starting to lose hope when my eyes fell on a certain table.

It was a group of around seven people; two boys and five girls. They didn't look like those other people, with expensive things and proud attitudes. They seemed to be fun. They were laughing together and sitting relaxedly.

I looked around before deciding on that table. My hands clutched my lunch tray, trembling as my nerves affected me.

Once I got within earshot, I mustered up the courage to speak. "Excuse me."

Their conversation halted and they looked at me. Their faces didn't fall, and they didn't look nasty, only curious.

"Hi, um... is it okay if I sit here?" I nodded at the empty seat next to one of the girls.

"Yeah, sure." The girl pulled it out for me.

I sighed in relief, my anxiety fading. "Thanks."

I put my tray down and took my backpack off to sit. I said a quick prayer under my breath before starting to eat my spaghetti.

"Are you new here?" asked the girl across from me.

"Yeah, today's my first day," I said.

"What's your name?"

"Um, Marissa. Marissa Baker."

"Oh, right! You're the new girl from English class!" said the girl next to me.

Now that I saw her, she did seem a bit familiar. She had long black hair and brown eyes, with freckles on her cheeks.

"Uh, yeah, that's me."

"From... Iowa, right?"

"Mm-hmm."

"Cool! Nice to meet you. I was actually mentioning you to these guys earlier." The girl motioned to her friends. "I'm Emmary Barton. And this is Penny Zachary, she's in our English class, too."

A redheaded girl sitting on Emmary's other side waved at me. Her hair was ginger red, cut into a bob reaching her jawline, and she had pale blue eyes. She also had freckles all over her face.