Dexter grinned as he entered the lunch room. He saw people bustling around with their trays and milk cartons, some with sodas, and the smells of the latest concoction the KND had come up with drifting through the air like silk curtains shifting in the wind, winding around him. He headed for the lunch line, and, once he had gotten his serving of vegetables, corn dogs, and a milk carton, he turned and looked for Dee Dee's table. He usually sat with her, Benjamin, Nigel, and whoever happened to be in the room.
When he spotted his sister, he realized that she and Ben were having a serious conversation involving smirks and devious glances. He immediately registered that they were flirting and averted his eyes.
Next he saw Nigel sitting with a troop of operatives. The troop was laughing at a joke Nigel had made. Dexter couldn't help but think that if he sat down with them, he would feel out of place and interrupt awkwardly.
Kevin and Gwen were also flirting on the other side of the room. That was out of the question.
Juniper Lee was sitting with her brother, dog, Courage, and Buttercup.
Speaking of the Powerpuff Girls, Bubbles and Blossom were nowhere to be found. Dexter scanned over the group of soldiers in the room and furrowed his brow.
A chipper smile was being shared with X-J9 and some teenage girls. Dexter just KNEW he didn't belong there, among the perfume and skirts.
Seeking the opposite, Hoagie and his team were making fart jokes and corny puns in the back table, tinkering with little objects.
Dexter groaned. There was nowhere he could sit. Everyone had their little group of friends or was busy; he'd have to sit alone again.
Only someone clearing their throat snapped him out of his melancholy revelation. He turned his head slowly and saw Mandy standing next to him. They were about the same height and were eye level. Mandy was peering at him out of the corner of her eye. "Shall we sit? I have something I need to discuss with you."
Dexter was startled about her sudden proposition but agreed with a numb nod of the head. He trailed behind Mandy as she led him to a table in the back of the room, very aware of the glances and muttering going around them. Apparently Mandy did as well, because as a boy leaned over to whisper something to his friend and both started snickering, she turned him around and grabbed him by the collar of the shirt. "Mind telling me what you just said to your little buddy?" she hissed.
"N-No, ma'am," the boy spluttered.
Mandy grunted and dropped him hard, his butt plopping back down on the seat. The boy was red in the face and wide eyed when he turned back to his friend, who was snorting at him.
When they reached their table, Mandy set her tray down on one side of the table and Dexter the other. "So, mind telling me what you were doing over there, groaning to yourself and looking like an idiot standing in the middle of the lunch room?"
"I was debating where to sit," Dexter stated.
"Really? Where did you decide before I came along?" Mandy asked, biting into her apple. Dexter couldn't help that her teeth resembled fangs.
"I was still debating," Dexter lied, closing his eyes and sipping his milk.
"Oh, I see. I'm sorry I interrupted your thoughts," Mandy bit back sarcastically. She put the apple back on her tray and Dexter examined just how her teeth entered the apple, with two large indents near the top where her pointy canines went in first.
"They weren't important," Dexter dismissed. "You know, Mandy, I don't know why you're always so bitter. Have you ever spoken to anyone normally without any sarcasm, anger, or command?"
Mandy glared at him. "Yes, I have. I've also smiled a perfectly nice smile for a beauty pageant and worn a really frilly dress while in a fake hot air balloon singing 'Somewhere over the Rainbow'."
Dexter couldn't help but laugh. It was obscene, the picture she had just described. "What?" he cried, laughing aloud. He put a hand over his mouth to muffle it and bit back tears of laughter. "Mandy, that's-so-WHAT?"
He missed the sweet smirk that Mandy had painted on her mouth as he was laughing. The truth was she had never heard someone laugh like Dexter, so cheerfully and sweetly. It was like a secret melody only she had heard. There was something about it that almost mesmerized her. She kept the smirk up until he opened his eyes again, when she replaced it with a vehement scowl.
"Shut up, idiot. I wasn't kidding," she spat. Dexter blinked and resumed laughing, but bit his bottom lip and tried to keep it back.
"You're so funny, Mandy. You always seem to surprise me," he giggled, wiping his eyes under his glasses. He took another sip of his milk and set it down. Calming himself, he couldn't get the image of Mandy in a frilly dress singing and smiling in a hot air balloon, so a smile remained upon his lips.
It was a split-second, but Dexter could almost swear that there was genuine…what was the word? Sincerity? Yes, genuine sincerity in her eyes. But it was gone as fast as he saw it, and Dexter could only infer that he had been seeing things.
Mandy, in the mean time, had finished her lunch while he was laughing and stood up. "I'm leaving," she announced. Doing exactly what she said, she stalked off, dumping her entire tray in the trash before exiting.
"She can always surprise me," he muttered softly, resting his temple on his palm and watching her back leave.