After working all day on their project, Antonia and Samuel finally finished. Their history project was done, and it looked outstanding.
Antonia walked into the room holding a giant bag of craft materials from Hobby Lobby. Samuel, on the other hand, had his leftover fabrics and star studs out on the desk ready to use. The two had a limited time to complete their project due to the fact that Mr. Olson got in a car accident and was not there the whole week. However, the two worked very hard together, aside from joking the whole time, and were ready to go home. The card stock, pain markers, and embellishments stood out against the paragraphs of information on the poster board. After cleaning the table off, Samuel stood it next to the rest of the projects in the classroom. Antonia tried to continue wiping the counter down to get rid of those pesky hot glue strings, yet they wouldn't budge. Samuel laughed, "Come on love, don't waste your time trying to get rid of that mess." She smiled, "I know. I just don't want it to stain the desk." She threw away the wipe in the trash can and turned around to see that Samuel had already gotten her backpack. She grabbed it from him, "Thanks." They walked out the classroom into the hallway, talking as they went out the school entrance. "So, what are your big plans this year for Thanksgiving? You celebrate it, no?" Samuel moved his lips to one side of his face. "I mean, we kind of started to celebrate it since moving to the States. It's just me and my mom right now so there's nothing big happening, ya' know? Recently I've been hanging out a lot more with Johnny for holidays. Also with Angel, Dominic, and Seymour anytime possible to get out the house. This year I think I'm going to their Friendsgiving." He felt his phone vibrate and took it out to see his recent text.
Seymour: We're in Billy's car
"That's cool. I hope you at least have a good time with your mates. Since I'm always hopping back and forth from here, New Jersey, London, and Auckland, I really never know where I'm going. Sometimes it's a bit of excitement as I'll visit my cousins, and I'll have to experience the spring season again back in New Zealand." She continued rambling on about what new things would come up on her vacations which truthfully began to irritate the punk. Samuel closed his eyes and looked the other direction. "It must be nice to leave anytime you want." He slowly crossed his arms and looked at the road. "Oh...," not realizing that she was basically rubbing in Samuel's face that she didn't have to worry about where she would go. Antonia hasn't realized that in her new environment, she has become oblivious to the lifestyles that other students deal with every single day. Sometimes she wouldsay something that may seem rude to another student without even realizing it. Antonia's phone went off and she had answered, "Nicole, where are you guys?" There wasn't very good signal, so her response was hard to hear. "We went to the mall for inspiration for Jiya'sfashion project. We didn't know how long you were going to take, but Jiya's almost done." Antonio's face grew warm, "I told you guys it wouldn't have taken me long to finish. And I'm getting reallyhungry/" She let out a deep sigh, Samuel looked over to her. "Don't worry, just stay there and we should come around 6:15. It's 5:43 now, so it won't be long." Samuel looked concerned as he heard the girl from her phone. "Ok, just hurry because I haven't ate anything all day, alright? Be safe and text me you are all on your way." "Oi, love, are you going to make it to home on time?" Antonis put her phone back in her pocket. "Oh yeah, I'm fine. My friends are at the mall,but they saidthey'll get here." Samuel could see that she shuffled her feet a bit. "I can give you a ride if you need one. I don't mind doing you the favor." "No, no, it's okay, really. I'll be alright." Antonia then looked over her shoulder to hear a loud engine approaching.A red car pulled into the school's parking lot and near the entrance. William whipped around the curve stopping, "Are you sure mate? Because it seems like your friends won't come till later." William rolled his windows down, Aerosmith's Uncle Salty blasting from the speakers. "What's up with doll face here?" He read her body language, noticing that she got a little anxious. Antonia was really was worried if her friends were going to come later than what they said. "Her friends are at the mall, but she needs a ride home." Samuel looked back to see that Antonia slowly moved away from the car. "What friends you got?" It was Angelita. She was sitting in the back seat with Dominic and Seymour. She then opened the door and moved closer towards them. "Look girl, we got room for one more." She giggled and patted the empty seat. Antonia honestly didn't know whether to get into the skunky-smelling car or to wait for her friends. "I mean, that's really sweet, but you are all packed in the car."Samuel will open the door wider for her, "Darling, it's going to get darker if you wait for your friends." Seymour looked at the two, then leaned towards William. He said in a hushed tone, "She might be weirded out by us. She can manage to be by herself, but it's not going to look good if we ditch her now. What if something happens and we're the last to see her." Seymour brushed against Angelita, looking at Antonia's flushed face. Samuel was trying to do his best to convince her to get in the car, but she was blushing immensely. "Look, we just don't want you to be by yourself whenthe school is closed. It's already getting pretty dark and we just want you to be safe." Antonia stood for a moment, looking at the group Dominic had a serious expression that matched Samuel's. She took off her backpack andapproachedthe sat down next to Angelita who was trying to get the other two boys settled. Just as she put her backpack in her lap, Samuel grabbed it. "I'll put this in the trunk." He carefully shut the door as Antonia sat quietly as she analyzed the decision she just made. William put out theschooland the group headed into town. Antonia grabbed her phone to text Nicole.
Antonia: Hey, I got a ride home. You don't have to worry about me! :)
Nicole: Okay I'll tell Jiya!
Nicole: and from who?
Antonia: a friend
Antonia: I'll call you when I get home
"Are you hungry," William asked. Antonia looked up for a moment and responded, "Not really. I could just be dropped off at home if that's fine." Samuel looked at her from the passenger seat. Samuel turned around from the passenger seat to face the girl, looking at her indisbelief. "You don't want tacos?" "We're going to Mi Casita if you wanna join," Angelita added. William looked at her through the rearview mirror, "I know it's not authentic, but it's pretty damn good for this area." Antonia rubbed her knuckles against each other. "I guess I'll try it." About 10 minutes later, they arrived at a building that was painted a bright teal. They walked in and got a warm greeting from a short woman. They sat down and were handed the menus. William pushed his away saying, "I already know what I want." "They really need to give you a special membership for that," Angelita giggled and looked at Dominic, who was also smiling. Samuel looked across the booth at Antonia, "He comes here like every other week." Samuel rolledhis eyes smiling when he saw William ball up his paper straw wrapper shooting it at Seymour. "Hey! I don't judge you for what you eat." William aggressively started his root beer. "Mate, I was juststatinga fact." The group had to share the 3 menus, so Samuel decided to yank it under Angelita's arms. He received a dirty look from the they all talked, and Antonia quietly listened to their conversation. She usually wasn't ever this quiet. She always had something to say or share, but this time she was the observer. Every now and then, she did take the time to observe people. She looked at the way they dressed, the way they talked, their body language. Special little details that really made someone who they are. She also noticed the body language of the group when they reacted with one another. She specifically noticed how Angelita and Dominic worked with one another without even saying anything. Dominic knew when to hand her napkins or to give her drink back. Antonia ordered a small egg salad and a quesadilla meal. She was expecting a regular dinner but had never seen such large food portions on an alsovery large plate. They quieted down after eating their first bites. William was right, the food was pretty damn good. And the strawberry water drink she had was absolutely delicious. The waitress came back to get their empty plates, filling up their drinks and asking how the food was. "How do you guys want to pay the bill?" Antonia looked up, putting her used napkins together, "I'm by mys-" "Those two are together, he's by himself, and I am paying for the both of us." Antonia almost spit out her drink, looking at Samuel as he gestured towards her. The waitress walked away before she could say anything, and Samuel looked at the restaurant pretending to be observing everything else. Seymour giggled when Antonia looked at the rest of the group, who completely avoided making eye contact. After a minute, William looked up and said, "Hey, so since we gave you a ride and fed you, you're going to be our sacrifice of the night, right?" "Oi! What's your bloody problem mate? The hell is wrong with you?" Dominic threw his used napkin at him while Seymour laughed until he made eye contact with Samuel. "I thought I'd mess around with doll face a bit." The white-haired boy gripped his fork tightly. "It's supposed to be funny," William gulped. Antonia paid no attention to them as she had already taken her wallet out of her jacket. The waitress came back to the table with the booklets. Just as she was about to take out her credit cardAngelita took her wallet and wedged it between her and Dominic. Samuel handed her the cash and saying, "Keep the change love." Antonia watched as a girl walked away, the rest of the group returned to chatting. "You know, I always thought you were really pretty, Antonia." Angelita grabbed her strawdrinkingthe last bit of her drink, looking directly at the goth. "Your makeup always looks really nice." "Thanks, mate. That's really sweet." Angelita did her best to keep the girl engaged in conversing. She didn't want her to feel left out or even forced to be there. Antonia glanced once again at Samuel, who had already been analyzing her. His ears were tipped red. He knew she was nervous, which was odd for the type of character that she was. She still laughed at their jokes and showed interest in the conversations, but still never really said anything. He too, rarely said anything in the time that they were there.