Home For The Heart - Zachary Merrick

~4~

~Alyssa~
Max had dragged me from class to class all day and talked my ear off. I had only said the one sentence to her about Zack and I think, his friends.

It was lunch time and I was starving. I had gotten in line to get something to eat when Max tried to yank me out of line.

"The food here is God-awful. Come sit with me!" I pulled my arm away. "No, thank you. I'm hungry."

She shot me a look and when to sit with three other girls and a guy. I was assuming they were the school bullies, the populars, or both mixed into one.

Whatever it may be, I did not belong with them. "Alyssa!" Someone was shouting my name and I looked around.

I saw the guy who picked me up waving at me, with a girl trying to pull his arm down. She was the one glaring at him when he picked me up.

Assumption: girlfriend.

I got my food and looked around to where I could sit. Max was trying to wave me over but I was pretending I couldn't see her and stretched my neck around.

I noticed one of the guys that was standing near Zack when I ran into him. Maybe that's his friend group?

I'll try.

I walked over and set my tray down, sitting across from the guy. He looked up at me. "Hi. Alyssa, right?" I nodded and opened my milk.

"I'm Jack." The guy who picked me up and his girlfriend came and sat with us. "Hi, Jack."

It took him a moment to realize I was sitting there. "Hi, I'm Lisa!" The girl reached her hand over and I shook it.

"This is Alyssa." She looked at Jack. "Zack told us her name, dumbass." Zack and another guy came to the table.

I was between Zack and the girl. "Okay, so this is Alex and his girlfriend, Lisa, Rian, and Jack."

They all gave me some sort of greeting. So far, Lisa was really nice. I was worried that she thought I was going to steal her boyfriend.

"I noticed you were being pulled around by Max. Sorry about her. She's the queen bitch of the school and tries to control anyone who she thinks has potential for her group."

I looked at Alex. "It's whatever." Jack smiled. "She speaks!" Alex slapped his shoulder. "She spoke earlier!"

Why did I choose to sit here? I could've sat anywhere else, by myself. But no, I had to sit with Zack and his friends.

"I love your shirt." Lisa was quieter than the guys but still pretty chatty. I liked that.

"Thanks. My grandma gave it to me before she passed last year." Rian frowned. "That's sad. I'm sorry."

My life is full of sorries.

"It's whatever. She was old and sick." I poked my fork at my salad and shoved some into my mouth.

"So, what other bands do you listen to?" I swallowed and looked up. "New Found Glory, Green Day, Sum 41, Fall Out Boy, My Chemical Romance, blink-182, Good Charlotte, Simple Plan, Jimmy Eat World, and All-American Rejects."

Jack's jaw dropped. "Zack, she's perfect. Can we keep her?" All of a sudden, I felt like I was a pet.

"She's not a dog, Jack. She's a person. Freshman, right?" I nodded. "We're all juniors." I thought Jack and Alex were seniors since they look older.

"So everyone is sixteen?" They all nodded. "And you're fourteen?" I also nodded. "Well, you'll fit in with our group, doesn't matter your age."

I think I finally found some friends.