Night at the theatre

Part 17

He kept talking to his friends as if I wasn't there. He was covering for me. This way I didn't need to talk to anyone. Unless I was asked something directly. Oakley was joking with his friends. One of his friends kept his eyes on me. He was going to ask something soon.

"So what did you think of the play?" He asked. There it was. He was only asking about the play because Oakley brought it up. Relax he doesn't know. Yet..

"I liked it. Sadly it was really cold." I tried my best to immediately focus on what Oakley was talking about, but everyone around him had fallen silent. Most of them were looking at me. I had pulled the attention to me in only a few seconds.

"So why come to the party tonight? Why not yesterday?" The tallest asked. He was probably the friendly one.

"I was working yesterday. We only came to the party today because my way home was blocked. You know how the underground is these days." The group around me started laughing. All very loud.

"The underground. Oakley you didn't tell me she was such a funny one." A girl beside him laughed. Tears were filling her eyes. She was laughing too hard. What was wrong with the underground? Were they all so rich that they didn't take the underground? There was nothing wrong with it. Right? Oakley was the only one besides me not laughing. His face was flat of emotions.

"She travels that way because it is better for the environment." He spoke. Everyone around us stopped laughing. Was he one of those people? Focused on the well being of the world? Was he like me? The group was silent again. There was a girl my age walking around with something that looked like it would come out of a bakery. She offered me first. I could see there was meat on the plate. Even though I was hungry, I decided not to.

"No thank you." I took a step back from the plate. The feeling of Oakley his arm against the lower of my back almost scared me, but I had to act like it did not bother me. Everyone looked strange.

"You are not one of those people who barely eats, right?" The shortest one asked. Everyone around him was grabbing something to eat.

"I am vegan." The words made everyone stop what they were doing. It seemed that whatever I said seemed to shock them in a way. Except Oakley. He was beside me. Smiling like a fool.