Hollow Twilight - A LitRPG Novel

Chapter 29

There were several quiet days in the cafeteria afterwards. Reid and Reily would sit there at a table, trying to get early and make sure they could snag one. Nobody joined them, save for one time when a classmate stopped by to ask Reily something about a group project.

Reid could never fully enjoy the moments though. It was like procrastinating on studying. The real reason for sitting there loomed over both of them, kept them from ever sinking into a serious discussion. Whenever somebody would go by, they'd stop and check to see who it was.

There were still no messages between anyone either. Kari went back to completely ignoring all of them, even though Reily swore she was trying to convince her to hang with her for lunch. Issac didn't follow-up about Maple either, even though the date for the dance was closing in. Every time Reid went by a poster for it his chest would clench a little.

Finally, on a meaningless Tuesday, Maple slid into the seat across from Reid, right next to Reily. She didn't say anything as she did, and didn't say any additional words for the entirety of lunch.

The next day was Maple and Issac. And finally, by Thursday, Kari was there too, though nobody said a word. It wasn't until Friday that somebody finally said something.

"Learn your lesson?" Kari mumbled, shoving some chicken and rice around her plate. She tucked some of her hair behind her ear, a red streak at the front she had recently added at some point during the week. The stud in her nose glittered as she moved her face.

"No," Reid replied with a little smirk. He looked over at Maple beside him who had tucked her upper lip into her lower one. Issac was across from him shaking his head. Reid took a bite of his very plain sandwich.

"Well the flock kicked us out," Kari continued. "For obvious reasons."

"So Kari," Maple interjected, the discomfort plain on her face, "I heard that Cindy asked you to the dance, is that true?"

"Yeah," Kari said around a mouthful of rice. "We're going."

"Is that why you did your hair?" Issac added.

Kari wrinkled her brow and stared him down for a solid minute, slowing down her chewing and exaggerating the motions of her jaw. "No, I do this sometimes."

"Damn." Issac snapped his fingers. "One day I'll learn to speak girl."

"That means you have to like, pay attention to girl," Maple replied, rolling her eyes. "If you can see anything from under your hair."

"So we're just going straight into personal attacks."

"We're always in personal attacks. Also, you're ugly."

Reid snickered. A laugh burst out of Reily before she slammed her mouth shut and threw her hand in front. Even Kari smiled before both Maple and Issac broke down into giggles. Reid felt the tension underneath them simmering down, like someone had turned off the stove. They could all collectively relax just a little.

"I guess we'll start our own flock," Reid finally said, keeping his eyes down at the table. He was trying his best to remain the cool and composed one in this situation. Leadership had never previously been his strong suit and he knew if he saw everyone's reactions he would crack. This made it look like he was too confident to even need to see their faces.

Kari tossed her fork down onto the table, plastic on plastic. It made a pitiful sound given the nonexistent size and weight of the fork. "That would require a pretty high level smart guy."

"Are you that level?" Reid replied calmly.

"Yes." Kari reached back out and grabbed her fork, fingers tensing as he gripped it, nearly snapping it in half. "So you just push forward and do whatever?"