You walk down the hallway to your locker. It took you forever to remember the combination, but now it's easy.
5(the number of marshmallows you can fit in your mouth at once) – 16(the number of sketch pads you have) – 35(the number of minutes you have for lunch)
You like to make up small games for remembering things.
The lock clicks and you open it with ease. Inside you see your text books, ranging from Spanish 2 to Calculus AB. You quickly deposit your notebooks and take out your lunch, shooting a quick look at the English homework you tacked up on the door. You curse yourself for forgetting to do it at home, as you yank it out from underneath the magnate. It's really simple, just annotating a short passage and finding the theme and tone, but it's going to take you 15 minutes at least. You close your locker and start walking towards the library, away from the cafeteria.
You were wrong. It only takes you 8 minutes to finish. You gather up your things and make for the cafeteria, hoping for an empty spot at your usual table. You see one and make a beeline for it, nearly crashing into a tall jock. After shrugging off his glare, you sit down next to your best friends, Equius and Aradia, and start eating your sandwich. After you finish about half of it, you turn around and meet a pair of grey eyes starting at you from across the room. You sigh as you see him pick up a spoon and tap out:
... . -.- / -.-. .- -. / -.- - ..- / .- - .-. -.- / - -. / - ... . / .-. .-. - .- . -.-. - / - - -.. .- -.- ..-..
It's hard to hear the taps over the noise of the cafeteria, so you and your friend bypassed the noise aspect completely, a tap straight down for a dot, and a tilted tap for a dash. You write the code on your paper and start deciphering it.
Hey can you work on the project today?
You pick up your own spoon and quickly tap back:
-. - / ... - .-. .-. -.- / .. / ... .- ...- . / - - / -. - / ..-. . . -.. / - -.- / .-. - . .-. - -.. .- -.-. - -.- .-.. .-.-.-
No, sorry I have to go feed my Pterodactyl.
You watch him struggle to understand the last word. He's cute when he's frustrated. He looks back at your smirk with an amused look on his face.
-. - .- -..- / - .-. ... .-.-.- / .-.. . .. .- - -. -..- / .. / -.. .. -.. -. .-. - / -.- -. - .- / -.- - ..- / ...- .- .-.. ..- . -.. / - ... . / .-.. .. ..-. . / - ..-. / -.- - ..- .-. / .-. .-. . -.-. .. - ..- ... / .-. . - / - - .-. . / - ... .- -. / -.- - ..- .-. / .- -.-. .- -.. . - .. -.-. / .- -.-. ... .. . ...- . - . -. - ... .-.-.-
Now, Mrs. Leijon, i didn't know you valued the life of your precious pet more than your academic achievements.
You laugh as you slowly decode the gargle of taps and start taping a message back:
- ... / -.. . .- .-. -..- / - .-. .-.-.- / ...- .- -. - .- ... -..- / -.- - ..- / .-. . .- .-.. .-.. -.- / - ..- ... - / .-. .-. .- -.-. - .. -.-. . / -.- - ..- .-. / - - .-. ... . / -.-. - -.. . / - - .-. . / - ..-. - . -. .-.-.-
Oh dear, Mr. Vantas, you really must practice your Morse code more often.
He scoffs and taps back:
... - / - - -.. .- -.- / .- ..-. - . .-. / ... -.-. ... - - .-.. ..-..
So today after school?
-.- ..- .-. -..- / ... . . / -.- - ..- / - ... . .-. .
Yup! See you there!
You smile as you set your spoon back down. Aradia is staring at you.
"What?" You ask.
"Nothing, I was just wondering how things on the telegraph were going."
You giggle. "Aradia! We were just planning a time to work on our project!"
"And then what?" She suggestively asks with a raised eyebrow.
"Ugghh. We're just friends!" you defensively reply.
"If you were 'just friends' you wouldn't be blushing from head to toe right now!"
Your blush deepens as you sigh and lean your head on the palm of your hand, "It's not like he's ever going to like me back anyways."
Equius looks up from his salad, "Nepeta, you could do so much better than that douchebag."
"He's not a douche bag!" you quickly object, "He's just grumpy a lot!"
Equius sighs, and turns his attention back to his salad. It looks as though you have won this argument. You hear the bell ring, and quickly stuff the remainder of your sandwich into your mouth.
It's going to be a long day.