One of the Boys

Lunchtime rolled around faster than I expected. I bought a burger and fries, two items that were easy to pick out and got me out of the lunchline quickly. However, a seat wasn't as easy to pick out. As I stared out over the many tables neatly lined up around the cafeteria, I noticed that millions of eyes were watching my every move again.

Annabelle was sitting a few tables over, chattering away with a bunch of other girls decked out in Hollister when one nodded in my direction. Annabelle looked my way, said something, and smiled at me and waved me over. As much as I detested of it, I wanted to have someone sitting with me rather than sitting by myself at an empty table.

However, as soon as I took my first step in their direction, someone wrapped an arm around my shoulders and guided me in the completely opposite direction.

"What the hell?!" I exclaimed, breaking away while trying to maintain my balance for the sake of my lunch. I whirled around to find that Hunter had been the one to drag me off, a big grin on his face.

"That's not the way you want to go," he said, tugging on my arm again. English with Hunter had been somewhat quiet, to be honest. He goofed off the entire time, disabling me from my sleep and making small remarks to me here and there.

"And where do you suppose is the right way?" I asked in annoyance.

"This way," he said as he lead me to a table full of guys.

There had been a few attempts today from people trying to make me feel welcome, but none like this. The three guys at the table looked up at me from their enormous trays of food, curiosity playing up their features.

"Sapia, who's this?" one of them asked. He appeared tall and extremely skinny, but his arms were toned with just a hint of muscles. My question? Who the fuck was Sapia?

"Everyone, this is Lydia," Sapia said, and to my surprise, it was Hunter. A nickname of some sort? "Lydia, this is Squirrel, Eddy, and Pugsly." He pointed to each guy as he rattled off their names. Eddy wasn't super skinny like Squirrel, nor extremely fat; he was right in between. His face was round with babyish features, his almond shaped hazel eyes full of mischief and his head topped with short black hair. Pugsly was a bit rounder in the body than any of them, and his black hair was nearly all shaved off in a close buzz cut. His dark brown eyes were tiny slits, but his smile lit them up and softened his naturally serious expression. The fact that they were all full-out rednecks didn't bother me, but the nicknames threw me off into another dimension.

"What the hell were your parents thinking?" I asked. The skinny one of the group, Squirrel, smirked while Eddy and Pugsly chuckled a bit. Obviously they were used to people questioning their nicknames. Sapia sat down across from them, motioning me to take the seat beside him.

"What makes you think I want to sit here with all you hicks?" I asked, although this entire table seemed more at home than anyone could have provided so far.

"Cause I can tell you don't belong over there with all them stuck up btiches," Sapia said, looking in the direction of Annabelle's table. Sapia's tan face contorted into disgust suddenly, his eyes dropping onto his tray. "Speak of the devil," he mumbled.

"Lydia," Annabelle said as she hurried over. "Aren't you going to sit with us?" she asked. I blinked, wondering why in the hell she was even bothering. I was a threat to her reputation.

"I think I'm gonna stay here," I replied, sitting down in the seat beside Sapia.

"Why?" she asked in disbelief.

"Cause she's not one of you," Pugsly remarked. Hell, I didn't even know the guy and he was sticking up for me. A smile eased it's way onto my lips, and not a fake one, but the first real one since my expulsion two days ago.

Annabelle's face was no longer a smiling glimpse of sunshine, but a shock-riddled frown.

Can't be happy all the time, now can we?