Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story, except for the ones I made up. They all belong to Disney (if they decide to keep it), Alliance Atlantis, and any other company that owns 'In a Heartbeat.'
A Date to Remember
Cafeteria squabbles
Jamie entered through the cafeteria doors looking depressed as though he had lost his best friend. In a way, he did. He went in line to buy his food and headed for his usual seat. He was hoping to see Val, but only Hank and Marianne were present.
"Hey Waite!" greeted Hank. "Why the sad face?"
"Nothing," he said before taking his seat. "Hey Marianne."
"Hey Jamie!" she greeted back. "Where's Caitie?"
"Caitie!" Jamie said as he turned his head. "Is she coming this way?"
"No," Marianne said. "I was asking you where she is. Are you feeling all right?"
"Yea. I'm fine."
A couple of minutes later, the three were still alone in their table. Hank looked over and saw Jamie staring at his food as if it was the last thing on the planet.
"Something's definitely wrong," Hank whispered to Marianne.
"Why is that?"
"Look at him. And it's Taco Thursday as well."
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It's only Jamie's favorite day of the week to eat cafeteria food."
"Why don't you talk to him?"
"What should I say?"
"Anything. Just talk to him."
Hank turned towards Jamie and said the first thing that came to his head.
"Are you going to eat that?" Hank asked.
Marianne kicked him from under the table and gave him a, unpleasant look.
"I don't know what to say," Hank mouthed.
Jamie barely even heard whatever Hank said to him. He just continued to look down on his food. Jamie finally looked up at the sound of the familiar giggle of his blond friend. Val was walking alongside Tyler who had a goofy grin on his face.
"Hey guys!" the two greeted their friends before taking their seat.
"Jamie? What's the matter?" Val asked with a concerned tone.
"Everything," he said quietly. "It's about Caitie…"
Jamie halted his words when he saw Caitie enter the cafeteria. She scanned the room and headed towards their direction. Jamie stood up as to offer her a seat but she completely ignored him and spoke directly to Val.
"Can you come with me outside?" Caitie asked in a rather commanding tone than a plead.
Tyler gave Val an 'OK' look and she nodded.
"Sure," she said although she had no clue what this was about.
Val and Caitie started to leave when Jamie called out Caitie's name.
"Caitie!" Jamie yelled. "Why are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"This! Why are you ignoring me? What did I do?"
"If you are the caring and thoughtful person you claim to be, then you should be able to answer that question."
By now, Hank, Marianne, and Tyler were exchanging confused glances. Val on the other hand got the hint of what might be wrong.
"Come on, Caitie. Let's not fight about this. You're not going to get anything from this."
"Oh really?"
Jamie gave her a helpless look. "What is she going to say now?"
"Actually Jamie, I did get something from this."
"What?" he asked reluctantly.
"I guess it's no secret anymore why Bobbie dumped you."
"Ouch!" Hank called out which got him another kick from Marianne.
Jamie had a hurt look on his face after what Caitie just said.
"Are you coming, Val?" asked Caitie impatiently.
"I'm coming," she said before turning her gaze to Jamie and mouthed 'I'm sorry.'
Jamie fell to his seat feeling defeated with a blank look on his face. The other three remained silent.
"I don't like this food," he mumbled before getting up and leaving the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the end of their English class, Val, Caitie, and Marianne headed out to the door. Somehow, the three managed to go through the period without bringing up the scene minutes earlier. As they walked out of the door, the three were greeted by Tyler.
"Hey girls," he said before going over to Val's side.
"Hey Tyler!" greeted Marianne before heading to her next class. "I'll see you three later."
"What are you doing here?" asked Val.
"Just stopping by to see you," he smiled before directing his attention to Caitie. "What was that about earlier?"
"Tyler, it's really none of your business."
"OK. It's just that Jamie really looked down. And that Bobbie thing was really uncalled for. I think you hurt the guy."
"If you're not Abigail Van Buren running 'DEAR ABBY,' then I really don't think I need to listen to your advice. And as far as I'm concerned…"
As the three turned the corner, they saw Jamie standing right in front of them. It was obvious that he heard what they were talking about. He looked straight into Caitie's eyes and Caitie did the same.
"…Jamie can go to hell," she finished before walking past him.
Jamie turned around and looked at Caitie leave. He was hoping to see any sign of regret from her, but she didn't even glance back towards him. 'Where did I go wrong?'
"Jamie," Val started to say to break the tension in the air. "We'll see you later at the station."
"I'll be running a little late," he said.
"Why?" asked Tyler.
"Detention," he gave them a weak smile as she showed them his slip.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I know that was kind of harsh, but don't blame me
