A/N: I just realized that this was on my fic Tumblr but I never got around to posting it here, so I figured I might as well do so.
Stevie's so busy scanning the cafeteria that she doesn't notice Kacey's plunked down next to her until she clears her throat loud enough to wake the dead and taps her, hard, on the arm.
"Oh. Hey, Kacey." She doesn't look over at all; just cranes her neck and swivels a little to peer around a crowd of boys in front of their table. "Do they have to stand right there? Shouldn't they be sitting at a table somewhere eating? It is lunchtime, after all. Most people are sitting at lunch tables with their friends."
"What's up with the cafeteria police?" Kacey asks Kevin and Nelson in a stage whisper. Stevie finally quits looking just long enough to shoot Kacey a glare.
"She's looking for Zander," Kevin informs her.
"Oh." Kacey pops a French fry in her mouth, shrugging. "I assumed he was sitting with-" Kevin and Nelson frantically wave their hands and make Xs with their arms, and Kacey frowns at them in confusion- "-Jocelyn Davies." There's a dramatic sigh as both Kevin and Nelson hang their heads in defeat.
"He'd better not be sitting with Jocelyn Davies." Stevie savagely spears a piece of broccoli with her plastic fork. The force causes one of the tines to snap off and she drops the fork, annoyed.
"But," Kacey begins, slowly, "aren't they kind of dating? He should sit with his girlfriend if he-"
"No, he should sit with his friends!" Stevie interrupts, snatching up the broken fork again to brandish it wildly. "His band. Us. We sit together at lunch, it's an unspoken rule and heknows it and I can't believe he doesn't even have the decency to tell us when he's going to ditch us for Jocelyn Davies."
Kevin, Nelson, and Kacey all exchange glances. "I sat with Dean Hollis at lunch for a while sophomore year," Kacey points out.
"That's different."
"How?"
"Because… he…." Stevie fumbles for an answer, latches onto the first one she can think of. "Because he started Gravity five! He doesn't get to just bail whenever he wants. If he's going to be part of this band he should be spending time with us, and I swear the next time I see him I'll-"
"Hey guys." Zander swings a leg over the bench and plops down next to Stevie, dumping an assortment of snacks on the table in front of him. "Sorry I'm late, I was just-"
"-making out with Jocelyn Davies?" Stevie cuts in, with a smirk that doesn't quite mask her irritation.
Zander stares at her. "Noooo?" he says, slowly.
"Then where were you, exactly?"
There's a crinkling sound as Zander opens a bag of chips and pops one in his mouth. "Talking to Mr. March about my history paper," he says, around a mouthful of chip. "See, he gave me a B, and I really think I deserved better than that so I was trying to talk him into a B plus at least, but you know how stubborn he is about grades…. Anyway, by the time I got out of there I figured they'd be done serving lunch, so I just picked up some stuff from the vending machines instead." He shrugs.
"So you weren't with Jocelyn Davies, then?" It's an accusation barely disguised as a question.
"I just said I was with Mr. March, didn't I?"
"Just checking. You know, that you weren't with Jocelyn Davies or anything."
"Why do you keep calling her by her full name?" Zander asks, clearly baffled.
"Why do you keep ditching us to make out with her?" Stevie shoots back. She's still holding the broken fork, clenching it so tightly her knuckles are white.
"Stevie, I said I wasn't-"
A whimper comes from Kevin. "Guys, don't fight." Nelson pulls him in and pats his head reassuringly.
"We're not fighting," Zander says, looking at Stevie. "Are we?"
Avoiding his gaze, Stevie stands abruptly, tossing her fork onto her tray. "Of course we're not." She climbs over the bench. "I need to get something from my locker." Without looking back, she strides out of the cafeteria and down the hall, leaving the four remaining members of Gravity 5 gaping after her.
"Your lunch!" Nelson calls out.
"I'm not hungry!"
Kevin and Nelson both eye Stevie's hardly-touched lunch with undisguised longing, their own lunches having been devoured within five minutes of sitting down. Kacey shoots them a "don't-you-dare" look and gets up. "I'll go find her."
"I'll come with you," Zander offers, a look of worry on his face. He starts to rise.
"No, you will stay here," she says, pointing at him. "She's never going to talk to me if you're there."
"But-"
"Sit!" Kacey commands, and Zander does, reluctantly. "Better. I'll be back," she shouts over her shoulder as she takes off down the hall.
—-
Stevie can't see Kacey approach with her face buried in her knees, but she can hear the familiar clacking of heels against tile, the sound growing louder and louder until it's right beside her. She waits for Kacey to say something, to ask what on Earth is wrong with her or if she's feeling okay (she honestly doesn't know the answer to either), but there's no words. Instead, she feels Kacey sit down next to her. She keeps her face buried. After the scene she caused, she doesn't quite feel up to looking at anyone. A few moments pass in silence, with Kacey rubbing her back comfortingly.
"I was awful, wasn't I?" she manages to mumble out eventually.
"Not awful," Kacey says, but her reassuring tone falls a little flat.
Stevie groans. "Yes I was. I was completely awful." She leans back, finally, letting her head hit the lockers with a clang.
"You were maybe a little bit rough on Zander," Kacey concedes.
"But why? I don't even know why. I was just so mad all of a sudden!" She bangs her head against the lockers again a couple times. "Just thinking about him and Jocelyn Davies off somewhere, ditching us, ugh, stupid Jocelyn Davies-"
"You like Jocelyn Davies," Kacey interjects.
"I know I like Jocelyn Davies!" Bang, bang, bang goes her head on the lockers.
Kacey throws a hand out in panic, making a buffer between the back of Stevie's head and the cold metal. "Stevie, sweetie, don't take it out on the lockers, they didn't do anything to you."
"I know." Stevie drops her head back into her knees in defeat.
"And neither did Zander."
"I knoooooow."
"So then why…." Kacey trails off, and Stevie hears her suck in a gasp. "You're in love with Zander." It comes out as almost a whisper, and Stevie almost laughs because she's sure she didn't hear that right. "You're in love with Zander!" Kacey repeats, much louder the second time, and okay, maybe she did hear her right. Stevie looks up and Kacey's on her feet, pointing down at her. "Stevie, you're-"
"Will you stop saying that?!" Stevie hisses as she jumps up and looks around the hall. Empty, thank God. There's still a few minutes until lunch ends.
"But-"
"I am not-" Stevie says loudly, before realizing she's almost shouting and dropping her voice to a whisper, "-in love with Zander! That's ridiculous, Kacey!"
The look on Kacey's face has gone from one of shock to one hovering somewhere between amusement and pity. "Stevie, you just yelled at him about a girl in front of the entire cafeteria."
"I'm probably just running a fever," she says, pressing a hand to her head. Nothing. She grabs Kacey's hand, holds it to her forehead. "What do you think?"
Kacey pulls her hand away gently. "I think you do look a little green-" she begins.
"See? Sick. Told you."
"-with envy."
"Kaceeeeeeeey. Be serious."
"Stevieeeeeeee," Kacey mimics. "I am."
Stevie sighs, pacing back and forth. "I don't know why you're so stuck on this! I've never said a single bad word about any of his girlfriends. I even kept my mouth shut that entire week he dated Molly a couple years ago. And now I have one bad day because I'm… stressed or sick or something… and suddenly I'm in love with Zander?"
The corners of Kacey's mouth quirk up just a bit as she takes a step toward Stevie and puts her hands on her shoulders, holding her in place. "Look, Stevie. I know you want Zander to be happy. But you need to think about your own happiness sometimes, too."
"Who says I don't?"
Kacey opens her mouth just as the bell rings and Stevie steps back, away from her. Kacey's hands slip from Stevie's shoulders and fall to her sides. "I should get to class," Stevie says, turning. There's a buzz of noise as students start to swarm from the cafeteria and from classrooms. Stevie takes advantage of the rush, lets herself be caught up in the traffic even though it's pushing her the wrong way. She can always loop around.
"You're so honest with everyone, Stevie," Kacey calls after her, over the clamor. Stevie stops in her tracks – no small feat, considering. "God knows you've been honest with me even when I didn't want to hear it. But are you ever honest with you?"
She looks back over her shoulder. Kacey raises her eyebrows, mouthing "think about it." Her eyes flick to a point over Stevie's shoulder just before being swept off by the crowd, and Stevie turns only to collide with Zander.
"Whoa!" She nearly topples backwards, but he grabs her, steadies her. "You okay?"
"Fine, yeah, I'm fine, I just… class, you know, got to go." Her increased heartbeat, she reasons, is just due to Kacey psyching her out, and she moves to step around him but he grabs her again.
"We okay?" he asks. She shakes hair out of her face, smiling up at him in what she hopes is a reassuring manner.
"Of course. We're fine. I'm just sick. Or stressed. Or crazy. Take your pick. All you need to know is I'm sorry and it won't happen again, okay?" Her voice is forced and fake-bright and she can tell by the look on his face that they both hear it but she keeps talking anyway. "You are absolutely within your rights to spend lunch with Jocelyn Davies or Mr. March or the Queen of England or whomever you want." She can feel the illogical rage she felt during lunch build again and she attempts to stomp it down with deep breaths. Anger means she's not okay. Anger means she actually has to think about what Kacey said and she doesn't want to.
"Stevie," he begins, his grip tightening just a bit as she tries to pull away, "you know if there's anything you want to tell me you can… tell me, you know?"
"Yeah, 'course I know."
He gives her a long, searching look. She drops her gaze, examining a crack in the tile as if it were the most fascinating thing she'd ever seen, and this time when she tries to pull away, he lets her. "Okay."
"I'll see you in fifth period," she says, brushing past him. It takes all of her willpower to keep herself from sprinting down the hall in the opposite direction, away from him.
Of all the things for Kacey Simon to be right about.