You, Me, and All The Spaces In-between

CHAPTER 3

Believe it or not, I never used to like lunchtime. I thought it was stupid, a waste of time that could otherwise be spent in class, furthering my education. Hell, if I could've lived on batteries and forgone the hassle of eating altogether, I probably would've.

But ever since Year 11 started, I've valued lunchtime more and more.

For one, it gives me an opportunity to see my other friends. Because Robert and I take a lot of AP classes, we see each other a lot, but I never get to have class with my best friend Martin Brown anymore, or our childhood friend Kylie Summers.

Granted, Martin and Ky are usually busy anyway. That's because of Lucy Thompson, Martin's girlfriend of two months, and Ky's increasing responsibilities as captain of the school's softball team.

Today, however, neither of those things were a hindrance-at least not initially.

"Alyx Miller," Martin crowed, dropping his tray onto our usual table. "Imagine seeing you here."

"Cutting it close, Brown," I shot back, squeezing the hand he extended. "Lunch started ten minutes ago."

"Oh, leave me alone. I made it." He leaned across and stole two fries from my plate, winking, then ran a hand through his slicked back hair. Martin had gotten increasingly fashionable over the past few years, and today was no exception-Although, his natural good looks did help. The man could make just about anything look good.

"I hope you're gonna reimburse me for those," I replied.

"Don't worry," Ky cut in, appearing suddenly and brandishing two fries into my face. Her eyes gleamed with mischief. "I can cover it."

I glanced up with unabashed delight. "No softball practice today?"

"Nope". She settled into a chair and lounged backward with an air of glorious boredom. "Coach is at some seminar...thing."

"Look at us," Robert mused, shaking his head. "The band's back together."

Martin scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck. "Yeah...Sorry it's been a minute."

"It's fine," I cut in quickly, unwilling to spoil the moment. These were my people. They were all I needed at this school to survive. "You're here now."

"There you are!" a voice sang, and I fought back a wince. Lucy materialised from behind Martin's chair and settled comfortably into his lap, draping a hand over his neck. "Trying to hide?"

"'Course not," Martin grinned, kissing her deeply. His hand weaved into her chin-length pink bob, and then they were making out, moving with the ease and precision of a choreographed dance.

"EW," Ky groaned, sticking out her tongue. A new piercing gleamed in the harsh cafeteria lighting. "Get a rooooom."

It was a struggle not to sigh as I averted my gaze. Don't get me wrong, I didn't dislike Lucy or anything. She was a nice girl, and she was on the design committee, so she was always making banners and posters for the school. She was good at it, too, and her hair was a different colour every second month, which was cool.

But if I was being honest, I guess I was a tad jealous of her relationship with Martin. Not that I was interested in Martin-He was about as straight as they came. But they were just together. Like, all the time.

"When did you get the piercing?" I asked Ky as a way of distraction.

She grinned. "Two weeks ago."

"And just how did you manage to convince your Mum to let you get it?" Ky's Mum was notoriously strict.

"Oh, you know..." There was a gleam in her eye. "We worked something out."

"Sorry to take him away from you, guys," Lucy said suddenly, standing and grasping Martin's hand. "But Martin and I have to go say hi to some people."

Martin stood slowly and let himself be pulled away. He glanced over a shoulder as they disappeared into the crowd, mouthing an apologetic 'sorry'.

"Whelp, that sucks," I muttered, snatching a handful of fries from his abandoned tray.

"Yeah, but it's not unusual." Robert shrugged indifferently. "I'm used to it by now."

My stomach panged with disappointment. I didn't want to get used to it.

"Oh, shit!" Ky cried suddenly, sitting upright. She was staring wide-eyed at her phone. "There was a meeting today! The seminar was postponed!"

Swearing colourfully, she scrambled to collect her things and waved a hasty goodbye, hurrying from the cafeteria.

Robert and I exchanged bewildered looks.

"You know," he said after a moment, chewing thoughtfully on a sandwich, "I think this is beginning to become the new norm."

My chest tightened painfully, and I stood quickly and excused myself to the bathroom. The truth was, I was hurt by how busy my friends were. Martin had recently grown quite popular, and he was probably in a completely different league to me now. We'd been friends since we were kids, but I'd never felt as distant to him as I did now.

And Ky...Hell, I barely knew what was going on in her life these days. I'd had no idea she'd gotten a piercing. She and I used to tell each other everything. She was the first one I'd told when I came out to my friends as gay.

I missed my friends. I wanted to know what was going on in their lives, and I wanted them to know what was going on in mine.

I stared into my reflection in the bathroom mirror and sighed heavily. I looked...tired. And my hair had seen better days. Taking advantage of the bathroom's emptiness, I splashed water into my face and ran my fingers through my hair. Then I met my gaze in the mirror again, shook my head, and left.

Ah, well. Life went on.

A/N: Meet the other friends ;D If you're enjoying so far, please leave a vote and/or a comment :)