Paranormal

The next day, which was Friday, Sarah decided to eat her lunch inside the school cafeteria. She wasn’t quite sure why, but she didn’t feel like leaving the premises just for lunch. Besides, she only received a thirty-minute lunch break.

She found an unoccupied table and took a seat. She sighed as she removed her turkey sandwich from its wrapper and took a big bite. Not even two seconds after she completely filled her mouth up with food, a girl walked over. She had medium-length reddish/brown hair and brownish/green eyes, and she looked to be about Sarah’s age.

“Mind if I sit here?” the girl asked, pointing at the unoccupied chair across from where Sarah had taken a seat. Sarah continued to chew her food as she shook her head, giving the girl the OK to sit down. “Thanks.” She politely took a seat and sighed. “All the other seats are taken, and I really don’t feel like sitting next to some guy who can’t keep his hands to himself.” As Sarah continued to chew her food thoroughly, she snickered at her lunch companion’s snide but true comment.

“I know what you mean,” Sarah said after swallowing. “Some of the guys around here really creep me out.”

“I know! Like Bill McDonald, for instance. That guy is beyond creepy.”

“Huh. Haven’t met him yet. Only guy I’ve had a problem with so far is Paul Richardson. He just seems like a spoiled brat. He started some trouble in my Civics class the other day.”

“Good old Pauly boy? He annoys the living crap out of me. He’s always trying to start some kind of trouble. If I were the principal, I would’ve already expelled him several times.” Sarah laughed quietly.

“Yeah…”

“So, what’s your name?” the new girl asked, taking a bite of her salad.

“Sarah. Sarah Jones. You?”

“Judith Rosenberg. Haven’t seen you around much. You new this year?”

“Yep. It’s my first year here.”

“Oh, that sucks.”

“It does?” inquired Sarah.

“Yup. This college sucks in my opinion. The people here are so immature, it’s not even funny. That’s why I hardly get along with anyone here. I’m a loner. Always have been and always will be.”

“I see where you’re coming from. Some of the guys here are still giving each other wedgies out in the hallway.” Judith rolled her eyes.

“I know. It’s retarded. Our generation puts me to shame.”

“Same here. Same here…”

“So, what are you going to be once you get out of prison?” Sarah laughed a little.

“I’m not really sure yet. What about you?”

“I wanna be a shrink .”

“Wait, you mean a psychologist?”

“Yup.”

“…why?”

“Because I want to find out how the human mind works. I wanna know what makes some people smart, and some stupid. I wanna know the mystery behind why guys our age are so idiotic, and why some people are just weird all their lives. I wanna know what people think when they do the things they do!” Sarah stared at her new acquaintance, not saying anything. “…what?”

“Oh, nothing,” Sarah replied, coming out of her trance. “What is the difference between a psychologist and a psychiatrist? I’ve always wanted to know.”

“Ya think I know?”

“Well, I figured you would…”

“Well, you figured wrong. All I know is that I am going to be a psychologist.”

“Oh, okay…” Sarah mumbled, taking another bite of her sandwich. She wondered if Judith was like this all the time, or if she was just having a bad day.

“What classes you taking?” Judith randomly asked.

“Algebra 1, Civics, Biology, English…”

“Who is your Algebra teacher?”

“Mrs. Rutherford.”

“Don’t even get me started on her! She is one weird excuse for a woman.”

“I know! But as much as I hate to admit it, I find her more amusing than anything.”

“Eh, to me, she’s annoying. And she is really embarrassing! She calls me Judy McFruity in front of the whole freaking class!” Sarah began laughing really hard. “It’s not funny, it’s embarrassing!” She stopped laughing so hard.

“I know what you mean. She’s done that to me before, too, except she called me something really weird, like Sarah N. Dizzle or something. She was in one of her ‘gangsta’ spells.”

“Oh, God. I hate those.”

“Me, too,” Sarah agreed.

“I’m just waiting for the day that she asks all of her students to pitch in and buy her a bandana or something. Or a fishing net for one of her Australian spells.” Sarah giggled a little.

“I would pay good money to see that woman in a so-called ‘gangster’ bandana.”

“I wouldn’t! She’d look like an idiot, which would actually match her personality…” Judith mumbled. Sarah laughed even more as she began to realize that she might actually end up getting along with Judith.

“Rosenberg…is that Jewish?” Sarah questioned.

“Yeah,” Judith mumbled. “My father is Jewish. He’s a rabbi. He even has his own synagogue. He’s really into the Jewish…whatever stuff.”

“I’m guessing by the tone of your voice that you’re not?”

“Nah. I don’t really get into all the religion crap. When I was younger, he made me sit down and study the stuff. He forced it on me, which turned me against it.”

“So you’re not into religion?”

“Why, it’s my favorite thing in the world! Haven’t you noticed?!” Judith exclaimed sarcastically, then she rolled her eyes. “No, I’m not.”

“Oh.”

“I could tell you every word the Torah says, though. Like I said, my father made me study it when I was younger. Every Saturday, he would make me study the Bible for hours and hours. It got old and I got burned out.”

“How could you possibly get burned out on the Bible?! The thing is huge!”

“Yeah, but I only studied the Torah, which includes the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy.”

“Oh, that’s neat.”

“No, not really.” Sarah didn’t know what else to say, so she decided to change the subject.

“What time is it?” Judith pointed at the huge clock hanging on the wall of the cafeteria. It read four minutes to one. “Ah, crap! I gotta get to class!” Sarah said, jumping out of her seat and collecting her garbage. “Nice meeting you, Judith.”

“See you around.” Sarah threw her trash away and rushed off to her classroom.