Author's Note:

You know, guys? In the initial planning of the story, this arc never existed, but I guess I'm glad I'm able to write out a back-story like this. It feel fresh, fun and unique. I just hope it doesn't disappoint! Second chapter, coming right up!

Chapter 2: Lunchtime Dilemma

Inner Feelings.

School back then was.. well, eventful. I can say with confidence that not everyone got along with me in elementary. Naivety was my problem. Kind-hearted and forgiving, I brushed it off when people bullied me, and did not feel any ill content towards those who did, even when it really hurt. Perhaps it was those events that helped shaped the personality I have today, I cannot say for certain. Still, I knew deep down that I was doing the right thing back then, and to this day, I try to remember the qualities I held so close to my heart from way back then.

I walked down the cafeteria as I searched for a place to sit, and, as usual, no group welcomed me to their side until the last table. As long as I could remember, things has always been like this. I never could figure out why I was treated like this by everyone. Sure, I may be a klutz, but I never hurt anyone, ever. As I saw their faces, those of indifference as they looked to the side, the memories came into my mind. There was that one time when I knocked down most of the science experiments in the science fair. Or that time when I tried to play dodgeball and struck the fire alarm instead, setting off the sprinklers and drenching everyone and everything in water.

"Sigh..." I sat down at the side as I look down at the floor, putting my bag at my side. I guess I was spacing out, thinking hard on the memories that came into my mind. I.. guess I should earn my place in their hearts first.

"Oh boy, she's at it again." A familiar voice began talking to me.

"K-kiera? You okay?" Another voice meekly calls out to me, sounding really concerned. Those words were all it took to perk me back up.

"Viela, Neil... I'm fine." I gave my reply, looking up at my two best friends.

... The memories of them are still there in my mind, you understand? Viela Russo. She was a shy, meek girl, who was the embodiment of honesty. Never will she lie, and sometimes it even pushes her to do thing you wouldn't expect. Because of her red hair, she was quite ostracized by the other students. That didn't stop her from helping me out when I fell into a public pool once. She's almost always present with a cute, light-colored dress. Neil... Neil Kelly was a hero of justice, that's what he always declared. He was very active, running around the school so much it was as if the dark streaks of his hair flashed across our grade everyday. He would stand up to the students who was doing wrong, and not punish them, but teach them why it was wrong. I recall him taking it upon himself to protect the two of us, and naturally, the three of us became best friends.

"I wonder what Big Brother's doing right now?" I wondered as I stared out the window, the summer sun strangely faint in its yellow rays today.

"Kiera? Kiera, you're missing lunch again." Neil called me back as he chomped down on a sandwich, sitting across the table.

"Um.. Don't worry, Kiera... You don't need to change yourself for their sake.." Viela says it as though she read my thoughts, giving off her signature pausing in-between each word or sentence while biting down an apple. As my eyes turn to them, I could see worry in their eyes. Even Neil, with his gung ho attitude and all, was worried.

"Sorry." I gave out softly, showing a soft smile on my face. "Right, I'm just over-thinking stuff!" I say it out to myself, shaking my head from side to side.

"Did.. you forget to buy lunch, Kiera?" Neil asks out with curious eyes when he spotted no food in front of me.

"No. I brought my lunch-box!" I replied happily as I remembered, and began digging into my bag. However, two clinks caused me to raise a brow. Amidst my notes and books, there lies two metallic lunch boxes in my bag. "Eh?" I find myself saying out in surprise. Viela and Neil only got confused at my reaction.

"Wh- what's wrong?" Viela asks with her usual soft voice.

"...This is Fionn's lunchbox."

Before I knew it, the situation exploded. I think.. it was mainly my fault back then. Everyone had their sights on our table then, but we didn't give a thought, or maybe it was just me. I was too focused on what was happening, what I wanted to do. And.. Neil and Viela was against it.

"We have to get this to Fionn!" I cried out, eyes closed as I raised the lunchbox above my head. It was a simple, ornate designed lunchbox, which shares the same design as mine. We got it together before school started. Covered with stickers my brother got himself, the stickers are the only thing that differentiates the boxes. Neil and Viela was holding me down, struggling to dissuade me from that decision.

"I told you, we can't do that!" Neil's voiced boomed out as his words clash with mine.

"O-our school has got two c-cafeterias! On-one's for us year twos, as well as year ones and threes, but the other's for the seniors!" Viela cried out as well, looking as if she was losing her grip on me. In fact, they both look like they were losing their grip.

"But! Big Brother didn't get any allowance for today! He's gonna starve!" I explained, while frantically packing my stuff into my bag, already preparing to go.

"I'm pretty sure he can go one lunch break without having anything!" Neil cried out.

"I don't care! I'm still going!" I say it out with fervor that no one expects, standing up from my seat with my bag in hand. Neil and Viela by then had collapse on the table from the last struggle. Catching his breath, Neil finally relented.

"All right, all right. Just let us finish our lunch first." Viela was too tired to say anything. I guess I'll have to apologize to them later.

"Okay, we all ready?" Neil asks out as we gathered in front of the door into the seniors' hallway, which will lead us to the seniors' cafeteria as well.

"Ready!" I exclaimed, determined to return the box to my brother.

"...Ready." Viela gave out softly, with a reluctant tone. My friends had worried eyes as we walked throught the door.

Meanwhile, in the senior's cafeteria, the sunlight of summer was beating into the hall through the windows, resulting in an impressive array of lights beams and shadows cast all around the hall. Unlike the juniors' cafeteria, the seniors has the priviledge of having a more open hall, with the doors wide open, the wind always blowing through, giving the cafeteria an ever-present cool breeze. But, at a time like this, the start of summer, it has, in fact, backfired. Because the lunchbreak has already gone for a while now, most of the students had already left the cafeteria for the more breezy spots at the higher levels of the school. In the empty seats of the last table nearest to the open doorway, Fionn laid on the table, sweating and groaning.

"Kiera..." He whined, the tone of his weak voice suggesting the scale of his hunger. A couple of growls from his stomach can also be heard as loud as any sound in the cafeteria. "Next time, I'm buying my own lunch!" Fionn roared out with sudden ferocity. "Gurgh.." And yet, the growl from his stomach forced him back down.

Ha ha, Big Brother actually told me how much he suffered that day. In fact, he kept it a point to remind me of his desperate situation whenever the thought of food comes to his mind. His conversations of food would somehow shift to one of hunger and then to poverty, before being completely intergrated to his recollection. School was not easy back then, but I cannot say I did not have times when I enjoyed myself. Big Brother as well as my two best friends were always there, smiling. Even if the other students ignored me, detested me, as long as I know Big Brother and my friends was close, I could take on anything the others threw at me.

The end of chapter two, with the story progressing along. I wonder if the protrayal of school was acceptable? School life in Singapore is quite different, so I cannot say this is something I went through myself. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and learned a thing or two about my characters!