The New Student

Chapter 4

     The first day went by rather quickly, as it was already time for lunch. Derek left his Economics class and headed for the cafeteria. It served as an indoor hub for all the students and a decent food selection. As he made his way down the main hallway, he was ambushed from behind.

     "There you are, my man! What's up, dude?" A student a few inches taller than Derek smacked his right shoulder as he caught up to him. The familiar voice, along with his wide smile, brown skin, and snapback supporting the local hockey team gave it away.

     "What's up, James?" How's your first day going so far?"

      "Oh, you know. The usual. But you know I have a cooking class for the first period, right? My dude, there are so many girls in there it's ridiculous."

      "Is that right? Well, about girls, let me tell you what happened earlier."

     Derek gave James all the details as they entered the cafeteria and got their food. James' thick eyebrows were raised throughout the entire conversation. They walked towards an empty table and sat down.

     "So this Sydney girl sounds like a chill girl. So what are you gonna do? Ask her out?"

     Derek thought about it for a few seconds, but got interrupted by his sister approaching. Sandra sat down next to him and didn't say a word until she noticed both boys squinting at her.

     "What? She asked, acting like they did not invite her to a party but showed up, anyway. Don't let me interrupt you. You were talking about a girl, right?"

     Derek and James both turned and looked at each other. James thought it was a good idea to just say the first thing that came into his mind.

     "Yeah, your brother here already has a crush on somebody. He just asked me to be the best man at the wedding." Derek didn't find that funny at all.

     "Will you shut up?" He then turns his head back to Sandra. "And yeah, I was talking about a girl, but that's none of your business. And why aren't you sitting with your friends?"

     Sandra looked as if she really didn't want to answer that. "I just got in here, but I didn't see them at first. I didn't feel like looking around for them. What, you don't want to have lunch with your sister?" James could tell that she was just messing around. He was used to witnessing this sibling banter, so he stayed quiet and observed.

     "Whatever." Derek let out a sigh and diverted his attention back to James. "Did you hear about the school rally in the gym tomorrow? I think we are supposed to be leaving early as well."

     "Sweet. And I heard the clubs are already established. Video Game Club will be right after the rally in Mr. Dean's class."

     "Oh boy, here we go." Sandra said as she rolled her eyes. "I'm not staying for this." She got up and quickly left the cafeteria. Both Derek and James widened their eyes in confusion.

     "What's going on with her?" James asked.

     "I don't know. It's only the first day. It's probably some girl stuff. I'm sure she'll figure it out. Anyway, don't forget to bring your controllers tomorrow."

     "Don't worry about me. You should figure out how to get Cinderella to fit in that shoe."

     "What? That analogy was terrible."

     "Yeah, I know."