Aubrey Garcia's Journey home.

Chapter Thirty Two.

"Are you kidding me!" Eliana groaned and attempted to wipe some ketchup off of her white lacy shirt. "Godda-" She was cut off as Lexi elbowed her and pointed at a nearby teacher. Eliana sighed and went back to trying to remove a ketchup stain from her shirt.
"I told you to be careful opening it!" Lexi squeaked as she passed some napkins to her.

"Well I didn't know it would explode on me!" Lexi smiled ever so slightly and grabbed another napkin for her. Aubrey resisted the urge to laugh at Eliana's predicament. Eliana shot her a glare and said, "It's not funny." Even though she sounded serious, a smile was creeping up her face and making Aubrey laugh more. Aubrey, James, Eliana, and Lexi were all eating lunch in the school's cafeteria with various levels of good food. Only ten minutes before the ketchup incident they had been swapping food based on preferences, like kindergarteners.

"How come everything my Mom packs is gluten free, non-gmo, lactose free, sugar free, low calorie, and FLAVOR FREE!" Aubrey complained.

"Oh stop whining, at least you parents don't give you ten bucks and say 'go find food or whatever."'

"And with those ten bucks, you went to get Burger King! I have a cheese sandwich! The same one I have every day." Eliana said to James with pursed lips.

"Want to trade your sandwich for my creme brulee? My parents keep forgetting I'm allergic to eggs." Lexi asked, offering it to her with a shy smile.

"Really?" Eliana asked and happily grabbed it when Lexi nodded. "Thanks!" Lexi smiled and blushed, then went back to working on her homework.

After the creme brulee was devoured, it was then that the packet of ketchup exploded all over her.
"What am I going to do?!" Eliana asked with a small sigh.

"I think I have a sweatshirt you could borrow to cover it up." Lexi said, running off to go find it. Eliana smiled and shouted her a thanks as she went. Jame grinned and elbowed Aubrey.

"We are deciding the debate topic today."

"I know," Aubrey said with a smile "Lexi only mentioned it about one hundred times last week." James chuckled and added, "Don't you mean a hundred times today." Aubrey grinned.

"I hope it's not a stupid topic." Eliana said, still looking to see if Lexi was back with a sweatshirt yet.

"Yeah, but I don't know if I want it to be serious either. We don't get to choose our sides, so there might be some anger towards that." Aubrey nodded at what James said, when the bell rang. Just in time, Lexi arrived with a sweatshirt for Eliana.
"I got it!" She said, huffing a little.
"Thanks, you are seriously the best." Lexi smiled and blushed at that, turning to clean up the table.

"So, we should head to the gym for the voting on what to do?" James asked.

"Yep!" Lexi said with a smile.

"Okay, let's get going."

They all walked off to go meet up at the gym. Thirty minutes later all the students walked out, a mix of annoyance, disappointment, amusement, and excitement flooding their faces.

"Oh come on! Of all the topics!"

"This should be fun."
"Oh look, Aubrey and I are on the same team." Eliana said with a smile, looking at the sheet they had been given.

"See you!" Aubrey said to Lexi and James, who were over on the pro sandwich side.

"Not going to lie." Aubrey said, turning to Eliana. "I really do believe that a hotdog is not a sandwich."

"Eh." Eliana said, as they walked to meet up with their teammates. They spotted the other team, (Hot dog is a sandwich) and laughed.

"It doesn't matter what you believe, what matters is that WE WIN. We need to CRUSH the opponents. Will you let your pride get in the way of that?!" Lexi said angrily at a student on their team whom had been complaining about what side he was on.

Eliana laughed, and Aubrey smiled at that. It was nice to see Lexi standing up for something. She always seemed so nervous. Aubrey went back to focusing on the task at hand, her eyes scanning some of the claims and counterclaims people had set up. This was just like writing an essay, she realized. She smiled, and got to work.

----

"That was hilarious." Eliana said, shaking her head.
"Are any of you guys busy this weekend?" Lexi asked, looking up from her planner. Eliana sighed and shook her head. "I have to watch my siblings all weekend."
"Uh, I think i'll have time." Aubrey said with a frown, thinking about her weekend. She didn't think she had anything going on.

"I'm free." James said with a smile. Lexi made a small humming sound and jotted something down on her planner. Without looking up she said, "There's a beach clean up tomorrow, want to come?"

"Sure." James said, offering Lexi a smile.

"I'm down." Aubrey agreed.

"I didn't know you were into that kind of stuff." Eliana said with a frown. "I love volunteering." Lexi nodded shyly and muttered, "I do too." Eliana beamed at her and proclaimed, "We have to talk about that stuff." Lexi nodded, looking thrilled. Aubrey scratched the back of her neck, not noticing how easily her Locket would fall off. Without warning, the delicate chain snapped and it clattered to the ground. What might have been a calm moment only seconds ago, the feeling of tranquility, the safety of just being with her friends- all of that vanished within seconds, leaving her feeling bare and exposed. She snached up her necklace off the floor before anyone looked over and stared at it, praying to whatever deity was there that it wasn't broken.

She felt relief flooding her as she realized it was only the chain that had broken, and that could be easily fixed. Still, not having in on her neck for the first time in years, the first time since her father's death made her breathless. Her pitiful lungs couldn't seem to rake in enough air. It was only then, fifteen feet ahead of her, that Aubrey's friends seemed to realize she had stopped. Only then did they notice the tears that had since sparked in her eyes in the few seconds it had taken them to walk away from her. Immediately they rushed towards her, James putting an arm around her and Eliana asking what was wrong.

"I'm okay." She murmured softly, silently cursing herself. Without another word, Eliana, James, and even Lexi put their arms around her. Determined to make her stop crying. Aubrey knew they wouldn't succeed, as no emotion could make her cry as much as what Aubrey was feeling right now.
Not sadness.

Hope.