It was Miguel Diaz's first day at a new school and it was the part of the day he was dreading the most, lunch. He took a deep breath and looked around the cafeteria. These kids have been going to school together for years, everyone already had unofficial assigned seating. His eyes glance over Kyler and his group of friends, the bullies of the school he was already too familiar with. They were beating up the vending machine. He quickly looks away from them hoping they wouldn't notice him, that's when his eyes land on a table where only two students were sitting. He walks over to them, "Is it cool if I sit here?"
"Sorry, the table's really blowing up right now. I can put you on the waitlist, but it's probably next semester at the earliest." A boy wearing an orange flannel over a red shirt pointed at the empty seats.
"Okay," He went to walk away.
"No, I'm kidding. Sit, here or there." He pointed at the chair in the middle and the one next to him. Knowing that the one next to Eli was a reserve for someone else.
"Miguel." He took the middle seat.
"Demetri, this is Eli." He pointed to himself then to his friend. Miguel nodded to the sweater-wearing boy. Eli looks at him before looking down at his plate. "He's a man of few words."
Two beautiful girls walk by the table making Miguel watch after them. "Dude, don't torture yourself. Those are the rich girls." Demetri gave the new guy some advice.
"Do you ever talk to them or..." Miguel wonders.
"Oh, yeah! All the time. We hang out after school, make out, and give each other hand jobs." His sarcastic tone made Miguel roll his eyes. He looked back at the table the girls were around. "Eli here is the homecoming king. Gets laid more than anyone. Isn't that right, Eli?" He nods to his friend, who smiled in amusement. "Talk to them? You realize where you're sitting, right? You've pretty much signed away all hopes of losing your virginity before college. Pretty girls don't talk to us."
"Lee talks to us," Eli spoke up.
"Yeah, but Lee is a rare phenomenon. A hot rich girl who is into nerdy things." He waves his hand to say she didn't count.
"Lee?" Miguel asks.
"Don't get any ideas about her either, Eli has had dibs since the third grade. She likes him too." He put a hand on his shoulder.
"She doesn't like me, she's just nice." He shook his head.
"Please, I am constantly drowning in awkward sexual tension." Demetri scoffs. Eli hushes him as a curvy dirty blonde haired girl sits down next to him. "Speak about the devil and she shall appear."
"Trying to turn the new guy against me, Demetri." She playful rolled her eyes before sticking her hand out. "Presley Cole, but you can call me Lee."
"Miguel Diaz." He shook her hand.
"Oh shit, Yasmine's looking at us. Probably just making fun of me." Eli lowered his eyes, not wanting to meet the blonde's gaze.
"I don't think she's making fun of you. I mean, just because they're hot doesn't mean they're mean." Miguel tried to make him feel better.
The three looked at the naive fool that was sitting with them. "I hate to break your heart, but they are." Lee smacks Eli's hand down when he went to cover the scar above his lip that was left after the cleft lip surgery he got as a kid. "Fuck them, they're just a bunch of girls who have to talk shit about others because they got nothing going on for them but their looks."
"I don't care that Yasmine is the meanest girl in school. I'd kill all three of you just to get her to spit in my face." Demetri quickly glances at her before telling them.
"Please, we have been over this a hundred times. Moon is the hottest out of all of them." Lee looks at the pretty brunette sitting next to Yasmine. "Look at those full lips and tell me you haven't touched yourself thinking about them."
"Okay, you're becoming a bisexual mess again. I'm going to need you to calm down." Demetri pretends to fan her off.
"Don't tell me to calm down when you can't stand up right now, because you got a boner." Lee scoffs.
"If you don't make a move, you'll never have a shot." Miguel interrupted their argument to tell them. Eli looks between Moon and Lee. It was one of his biggest fantasies, but he didn't want it to become a reality because then he would never have a chance with Lee.
"True, but I'll also never suffer a humiliating rejection. I'm at peace with my depression. The last thing I need to be is suicidal." He picks at his food. Miguel stood up. "What are you doing?" He looks up at the new kid.
"Striking first." He walks over to them.
"Oh shit." He looks down at his pudding cup, not wanting to see this disaster. "Hope we don't get hit with the shrapnel." He took a deep breath before watching Miguel.
"He's not bad looking, maybe it won't be too horrible." Lee crossed her fingers.
"You think he's good-looking?" Eli asks.
"He's adorable, kind of like a puppy. People like taking home puppies." Lee shrugs. Demetri's nod was half-hearted at that logic. It wasn't wrong, but he still didn't see this going well.
Miguel was walking over when Kyler and his friends sat down at the popular table. "Hey Sam, you look beautiful." Kyler put his arm around her making Miguel freeze-up since the pretty Brunette was the one he was going after. Seeing him standing there Kyler gave him a mocking wave and laughed at him.
Lee got up to save him. "There you are Miguel, come on I got your lunch waiting for you." She grabs his arm and winks at him. Miguel nodded to show his appreciation.
"See you later, Rhea." Brucks, one of Kyler's asshole friends, called after him.
They walk back to sit at their table. "So, how'd it go?" Demetri asked. Miguel shrugs as he drinks his yoohoo.
"I see you collected another nerd." Kyler leaned against the locker next to Lee's.
"What's it to ya?" She didn't look up from her locker.
"You know he's got diarrhea, right?" Brucks laughed from behind his friend.
She rolled her eyes at their immaturity. "What do you want?" She asks the head asshole.
"You should keep your new freak on a tight leash, I would hate to have to break his face." He slammed her locker shut.
"He's learning karate, so maybe you should put yourself and your fellow douchebags on a tight leash." She gave a fake smile before turning away.
Kyler grabs her arm to roughly pull her back to him. "You should watch how you talk to me, I could make your life hell."
"By what? Making up rumors about me. You would have to do better than that." She rolled her eyes. "Now, get your hands off of you."
"Like anyone would want to touch your fat ass." He pushed her against the locker.
"I'm not the one that has to pretend to be a different person to get a girl to go out with me." She snaps at him as she moves out of his reach and to her next class.
Eli, Demetri, and Lee were hanging out in her room after school. Demetri was going on about a comic that only he was a fan of. Eli was staring at Lee as she bites her bottom lip trying to solve a math equation.
Tom Cole, Lee's dad, leaned against the door frame. "Hey guys, how was school today?"
"Good, we met a new friend," Lee told him.
"New person would be good for you guys. It's always nice to mix it up." He nods. It has been the three of them since kindergarten, so new blood would be good.
"How was work?" She asked.
"Good, as always. You know me." He smirks.
"Did you think of a new commercial yet?" She questioned.
"No, but we are brainstorming? Too bad, Elvis isn't pulling them in anymore." When she was a kid he used to dress her in an Elvis costume and have her sing for them to come down and get a car.
"Well, bad singing is cute as a kid, but as a teen, it's just ear-bleeding," Demetri commented.
"Shut up." Lee threw her pen at him. It hit him in the cheek.
"That could have hit me in the eye." He whines.
"But, it didn't." She sings.
"Aw, my ears." He put his hands over his ears.
"I swear to god, Demetri." She looks for something else to throw at him.
"Alright killer, calm down. I'm sure I'll think of another way you can be in a commercial someday." Tom laughed. "I just came up to check on you guys. Anyone staying for dinner?"
"No, my moms should be here so… oh that her." Demetri checks his ringing phone. "Bye guys." He waved as he walked out.
"If it's not too much to ask, I'll stay," Eli said.
"Never too much to ask. What do you guys want?" They normally got take-out since neither of them could cook. The only time the kitchen was used was when her grandmother came over.
"Burgers?" Lee suggests.
"Sounds good. I'll get a bacon double cheeseburger. Order it on Uber Eats and let me know when it is here, I'll be in my study." Tom gave her a thumbs up before walking away.
"Make like he's going to take care of it then passes the buck." Lee pulled out her phone to order burgers from her favorite place. "What kind of burger do you want?"
"I'll have the same as your dad and curly fries." He orders.
"Alright." She got him that and herself a mushroom burger and a litter of coca-cola.
"It must be great to have a dad that is more like your older brother." Eli always thought it was neat how cool Tom was about everything. He was supportive in everything Lee did, even if he didn't understand it. He would watch all the anime that she did just so he could have something to talk to her about. Since it was only him and her, he wanted to make sure she felt comfortable telling him anything.
"Yeah, he could have some boundaries though." She was horrified when he gave suggestions on how she could put the moves on Eli.
"But, at least he understands you, ya know. He gets that when you come home ranting about your bad day. You don't want him to step in, you just want him to listen." He sighs.
"What happened?" She asked.
"I told my mom about the bullying and she called the school. Nothing has happened, but you know they're going to have to say something soon." He put his head in his hands. He was always more open about things when Demetri wasn't there. As much as he loves his best friend, he could be a condescending dick. He was glad to have Lee in his life, he could tell her anything and he knew she wouldn't make fun of him.
"It's probably another anti-bully thing. I'm sure they'll leave your name out of it." She reassured him. "Hey, you want to see what my mom sent me from France?" Her parents weren't together and her mom worked for a hotel chain. She helped set up and manage the foreign ones. Tom's mother would complain that she could manage the one in California but her child wasn't a priority. Tom always hushed her about it, not wanting it to reach Lee's ears.
It used to bother her as a child, but as a teen, Lee didn't mind. She understood that some people weren't meant to have kids. It was better that her mom was out there doing what she wants than being here where she'd be resentful to her and her father. Every month, she got a box of goodies from whatever country she was in.
Eli stood up and followed her to her closet to see all the new clothes, shoes, and perfume she got. "They're all pretty. I'm sure you'll look great in it." He blushed as he imagined her in the mini skirt.
"Thank you….Come on, the foods here. I'll grab it, you get my dad." She checked her beeping phone.
They sat at the diner table. "So, is this new friend, male or female?" Tom asked.
"Male." Anna bites her onion ring.
"Cute?" He asked.
"Why are you interested?" She winks.
"No, are you?" He winks back. Eli looked at her, waiting for her answer.
"No," She shook her head.
"So, he's ugly." He nods in understanding.
"No, he is not ugly but he's not my type." She shrugs.
"So, he's good-looking?" He pushed.
"I guess to some." She sips her soda.
"How is he good-looking but not your type?" He tilts his head.
"Because I don't know he's just not." She glares.
"You're getting flustered." He teased.
"No, I'm getting annoyed." She huffs.
"The lady doth protest too much, methinks." He put on an old English accent. Eli was beginning to think the same thing.
"I'm going to tell old lady Kathy that you like her." She spoke of their old neighbor that had a crush on her dad.
"Don't you dare?" He hissed. "It's scary enough that her robe 'happens' to open when she is bending over to get her newspaper, whenever I'm around." He put air quotes around, happens.
Eli shuddering wishing he went home for dinner now. Between the new worry that Lee had a crush on Miguel and the disturbing mental image, he much prefers having dinner with his delusional mother who thought she solved all his problems with one phone call.