"Max?"

"Yeah?"

"I need you to be so honest with me right now."

His face has worry written all over it.

"Yeah?"

"Please tell me you brought pizza again."

He chuckles by the unserious question I asked.

"Okay, I did."

I could finally breath again. I forgot my lunch. Again. It must be the third time this week.

"Thank you so so much!"

"No problem."

We sit and have lunch together in one of our teachers classrooms. He never has asked why I forget a lunch, or if I have any other friends. I don't, of course, but he never seems to mind. The bell rings and we say our goodbyes.

THE NEXT DAY

Ugh. I forgot my lunch. Worst part, Max isn't here today. He's at a dentist appointment or something. So now I have to face the lunch line. And try and plead that I don't have any money but still give me the food.

"I don't have any money, but can I still get hot lunch?" I ask when I reach the front.

"No."

"Please?"

"No. You need money to get hot lunch."

"Just this one time?"

"No. Now get out of line."

I start walking away when I hear someone say "I'll pay for her."

The lady glares at me when I get my food.

"Thank you so much!" I say to the person who payed.

I turn around to see a tall, built guy who must be on the football team.

"Of course," he says with a grin.

I blush as I turn around. He is fineeee. I quickly walk to a corner in the hall since Max isn't here. I sit in shock that a guy like him payed for a girl like me, for school lunch. My heart is beating a million times per minute it seems.

I see him standing in the cafeteria looking around for something. I turn and eat my food, and try to stop thinking about what just happened. I hear footsteps coming closer to me and I gulp.

"Hey," he says.

"Hi," I say and slowly turn around.

"Are you eating lunch by yourself?"

"Maybe."

"Can I join you?"

I am totally in shock. How could this guy have nowhere to sit? He must see the expression on my face.

"If that's okay with you."

"Sure."

I scoot over so there is room for him. I cannot believe what is happening.

"So, you normally get hot lunch?"

"No. A friend usually has some extra food for me."

He nods and continues to eat. You would have thought he hadn't had food for days. It makes me laugh.

"What?" he says with his mouth full and a grin on his face.

"How long has it been since your last meal?"

"Uhh, I had breakfast at 7:30?"

That makes me laugh even harder. The last meal I had was dinner last night, which was a lucky occurrence. And even still I don't eat like that. He joins in on my laughter. He has a great laugh too. Gosh I need to stop thinking about this.

"Where do you normally eat lunch?"

"Oh, I just moved here."

"Oh."

"Yeah. Kind of a weird time to move. But it's been chill here so far."

I think to myself that it will soon be more chaotic for him. All the girls will want to eat lunch with him, heck even I did.

"What do you have next period?"

"I have history with Ms. Berkeley? Is that how you say it?"

"Oh my gosh no way. I have that too. And yes, it's pronounced that way."

"Haha what are the chances? Glad I have someone to walk with."

His smile is so bright that I feel like it's fake. Why is he hanging out with me out of everyone? Does he feel bad for me? Does he pity me?

"Yeah."

We walk to class together and I grit my teeth with a sharp smile. This isn't real, he must be faking it or something. Luckily when we get to class I go to my regular seat, which is far from his. I feel like his eyes are on me but I ignore it, because I'm probably just dreaming that he is.

NEXT DAY

"Heyyyyy Max, do you have some extra food?"

"Yes of course," he chuckles.

I'm so glad because I am starving. Which makes me think of the guy at lunch yesterday. Wow I didn't even get his name. Oh well. Probably for the best.

We past the cafeteria and I catch myself looking for him. I need to seriously stop thinking about this.

"So, how did it go without me yesterday?"

"Umm fine."

"Did you bring a lunch?"

"No."

He looks disappointed that I probably haven't eaten in a while.

"But I did get hot lunch."

He raises his eyebrow and asks, "Oh?"

"Someone else payed for it, luckily."

"Good," he says with a smile. I compare both guys smiles. Gosh, stop thinking that brain. I eat the food in silence and hope he doesn't ask anything else.

NEXT DAY

I find Max in the halls and we walk to the classroom together. We pass by that corner I ate at two days ago, and I see the guy sitting there by himself.

"Hey, wait up!" he calls out. I'm in horror that he remembers me, he's eating alone, and Max is right next to me. Max continues walking, because nobody would be calling for me, right?

"Hi" I turn and say.

"Where were you yesterday?"

"Umm eating lunch in a teachers room like I normally do."

"Oh" he says and looks sad.

Max now realizes that someone is talking to me, and sends me looks that I can't quite figure out. It feels awkward for a few moments, before I break the silence.

"Do you.. want to eat with us?"

I regret my words as soon as they come out of my mouth. I don't even know this guys name, he's new, and it's always just been Max and me. He grins.

"Sure."

How did this come to happen. I'm in the middle of two guys walking to lunch and I don't know what to do.

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heyyyy guyyyyys, i'm still alive... 😅 sorry it's been a while life is busier than ever... school until 4:10 every other day and marching band tuesdays and thursdays, monday night acting, friday football games, out of town weekends, and guess what. i booked another commercial! it's for a car (i can't tell you what car, it's confidential information aka illegal) and i had two callbacks and other crazy stuff soooo yeah. 😅 i've been working on this one for some time, chunking piece by piece (slowly but shirley) and now im leaving you with a cliff hanger. a part two will be out someday (busy life) so around a week, if sooner it will be short, if later it will probably be better quality, but yeah. hiiiiiii and byeeeee 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻