Nowhere Girl ~ John Lennon/The Beatles

Chapter Five: New Information

After their last class before lunch, Stuart hung back to talk to their teacher about something, but instead of waiting for him Robin ended up just going straight to the dining hall, hoping to catch John there. She'd not seen him since they'd walked from the bus stop to college together, parting ways as they went to their differing classes. Robin had found in the last week at college that she enjoyed John's company most at lunchtime, mostly because it was the time she could relax. Lettering class was when she was meant to be working and so she couldn't fully appreciate his company, but at lunchtime she allowed herself to find his jests amusing.

That was why as she got to the hall she found herself a little disappointed to see their usual table empty, despite the two girls, Helen and Jenny. Typically during lunchtimes Robin only ever talked to Stuart or John, not quite socially confident enough to interact with the whole group. She still felt like an outsider, especially with the girls. Whilst she'd never had many friends before, she definitely didn't have girl friends, and all the girls at her last college had put her off female friends. She found the girls at her last college condesending and unnecesarily mean to each other whilst pretending to be nice, and that wasn't the sort of thing Robin wanted to get herself involved with.

So far though, she'd been settling into the prospect of making friends quite well, and though she was way out of her comfort zone by involving people in her life a little more, she knew it wouldn't hurt to at least talk to Helen and Jenny. Even though she wanted to go and hide until John or Stuart appeared, Robin knew that she was far too good to that. No one was better than her, and no one could make her feel uncomfortable if she didn't want them to. Taking a deep breath, she strode over to the table, faking confidence as she told herself repeatedly that she was just as good as them, that she deserved to sit there just as much as they did.

Repeating those thoughts like a mantra seemed to have worked, because as she got close to the table both girls looked up, offering her a welcoming smile. Maybe they weren't terrible, maybe they weren't like the girls in her last college.

"Hi, Robin!" Helen greeted as she took her usual seat at the end of the table. "How's your day been?"

"Not too bad," she said with a shrug, trying not to think about the bus journey that morning as she propped her elbows up on the table. "What about you two?"

"Good, thank you," Helen smiled at her politely before glancing to Jenny, and Robin felt as if she was signalling to her to say something, whilst her dyed-blonde friend merely stared at Robin, as if trying to read her and figure her out.

"Where are the lads?" Robin asked with a small frown, looking round at the empty table, specifically the spot normally taken by her neighbour.

"Oh, I think John's led them astray again," Jenny laughed as she rolled her eyes, laughing out an annoying giggle the way she always did whenever John got mentioned in conversation or he made a joke. It irritated the hell out of Robin. "They've probably gone to the pub for lunch, so I wouldn't count on John being in lettering,"

"Be reyt," Robin shrugged again, feeling a mixture of disappointment for not seeing John, but also relieved at the prospect of being able to get some decent work done in class for once.

"Listen, Robin," Jenny said seriously, leaning over the table slightly as if what she was about to say was of high importance. "I know you live next door to John, but I really wouldn't get any ideas about him, alright?"

Robin's frown deepened as she moved her elbows off the table so she could sit back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest. She wasn't entirely sure what Jenny meant or what she was insinuating, but she knew whatever it was she didn't like. She took a wild guess though, and she instantly wondered if Jenny thought Robin had an infatuation for John. Of course she didn't, he was just her irritating neighbour, but the fact that she would instantly think that she liked him in a way that was anything other than friendly wound her up.