Salvia High School

Chapter 7: Plans

As math ended Kaila rushed to her next class thankful to have some time away from Lauren until lunch. Actually being able to listen to the lesson with the intent of learning Kaila noticed time went by a lot quicker this way. School didn't seem so bad anymore.

As Kaila was getting through her day, the lunch bell had finally rung. She nervously walked through the halls getting to the cafeteria. She got a tray of slop before looking out at the door where Lain and Mallix's table sat. Turning to see Lauren staring at her with hawk eyes from a table nearby, it wasn't a hard decision to make.

As much as making friends scared Kaila, she was more willing to face them instead of dealing with Lauren. Walking out the back doors she saw the group sitting in their normal spot. However, only Alex and Zander were present. Sitting besides one another.

Placing her tray down, Kaila sat in front of Alex while the two boys were going at it with one another. "Kaila will you please tell Z here that surfing isn't a real sport." Alex asked.

"Surfing is a real sport Alex!" Zander defended looking towards Kaila for backup.

"Look all I'm saying is it seems more like a hobby than anything."

"It can be a hobby, but it can be a sport as well."

They went back and forth already forgetting Kaila was calmly sitting across playing with the sludge on her tray to distract herself. As the argument was getting to a peak Kaila saw Lain and Mallix walking over. Taking a seat besides Kaila, Lain glanced over at the boys. "Guys!" They both stopped. "What is it now? Can't you guys have one day where you aren't arguing over something?"

As they rambled on at the same time defending their positions the table got loud once again with their voices. "Enough." Mallix warned them.

'How'd he do that?!' She thought to herself. Kaila was stunned to see how they complied with his demand. They sat eating their own lunches in silence too timid to do something that would provoke a bigger response from Mallix.

As small talk casually made its way back onto the table they let their dispute fade away. Lain couldn't help but notice Kaila still playing with her pile of grey sludge. She could tell the girl was repulsed by it.

"You should know school lunches here aren't exactly the best. It's why we all prefer to bring our own." She dug through her bag pulling out a sandwich in a container. "Here you can eat this." She placed it in front of Kaila.

"No, it's yours. I'm fine with...this." She pushed the sandwich back looking down at her meal that jiggled when she poked it with her fork.

"Kay I'm serious just take it. I've got another sandwich that I can have. That was just a second one I made just in case." She whole heartedly passed it back over.

Feeling her stomach growl Kaila slowly opened the container looking to Lain for permission to go further. When she smiled and nodded Kaila happily dug into the sandwich. What she didn't know was that Lain in fact had a reason for making the second sandwich. Not wanting Kaila to just eat fruit or whatever disease the school called lunch, Lain had prepared a small lunch for Kaila herself. This way she knew the small girl was eating decently.

A few minutes had passed by when Nina and James joined at the edge of the table. "Miss me?" Nina smiled as everyone was watching her sit. Now with a full table once again there were smiles and laughter that lasted all lunch long. While Kaila didn't contribute much to their discussions she peacefully listened and enjoyed the comfort of their presence.

"So I was thinking this weekend we could all go to dinner before heading home." Lain checked with the group.

"Sounds nice," Nina noted. "Are you coming James?" She turned towards her boyfriend who was casually sitting besides her munching away at his lunch with his back hunched down. He had a blank expression as he mindlessly continued chewing. "James?!" She called louder still not getting a response from him.