I’d eaten the exact same lunch every day for as long as I could remember.
I had just dropped down onto the bench seat and opened up my lunch when Mayra came up beside me.
“Hey,” she said quietly, “how’s your day going?”
Joe stopped eating and looked up from his pizza. His gaze darted back and forth between Mayra and me. I froze with one of my hands halfway in my lunch bag.
“It’s okay,” Mayra said. She slowly reached out toward me, and her finger brushed lightly over the top of my hand. “I’m not staying or anything. I just wanted to let you know I have to leave early today. Dad has to take his car in for maintenance in Hamilton, and I need to drive him back. I won’t be in ecology class and won’t get home until later tonight. I talked to Travis, and he said your Aunt Bethany will pick you up when school is out. We’ll work on the project some more tomorrow.”
“No project tonight?” I said with a rush of breath. I didn’t realize I had stopped breathing.
“No, I’m sorry,” Mayra replied. “I didn’t even know until about an hour ago.”
“You talked to Travis?”
“Yeah, he gave me his cell number.”
“Oh.” I stared down at my sandwich. The edge of the crust was bent outward a little bit, and I wondered if the whole loaf was like that.
Mayra pulled her hand back and then leaned forward on the table. It put her lower than my head level, and she dropped even lower, turned her head sideways, and tried to look up into my face. I glanced at her but looked away again when she smiled.
“I’ll be there tomorrow,” she said. “Promise.”
“Okay,” I said. I started pulling the rest of lunch out of the bag.
“See you then,” Mayra said as she stood back up and turned away.
I continued to arrange lunch. The sandwich, chips, and carrot sticks all went together, since I ate them all together. I would always eat one bite of each in a circle and try to make them come out even as I ate. I was pretty successful at it, too. I drank the Coke throughout, and the apple was always saved for last.
As I ate, I felt weird. That little tickling sensation was back again, and I didn’t understand why. It occurred to me that I was a little disappointed that Mayra wouldn’t be driving me home or coming to my house this afternoon. Why was that?
I was startled out of my thoughts by a loud bang caused by Justin Lords jumping up onto the bench seat of our cafeteria table and then sitting on the tabletop itself. I tried to ignore how wrong that was—sitting on the top of the table while feet rested on the seat—but I couldn’t. His actions were so obviously wrong, no one would have to point it out to a high school senior.
“You aren’t supposed to sit on the table,” I said in a low whisper.
“Fuck you, you fucking freak.” He practically snarled as he glared down at me. He placed his hands on either side of where my lunch was arranged on the table and leaned his face close into mine.
I wanted to back away, but I was frozen at the same time. His hands were so close to my lunch, it was nerve-wracking, and I couldn’t focus on anything else. I was starting to get lightheaded and wondered if I was hyperventilating.
“I don’t know what the fuck you are trying to do,” Justin said, “but I was really close to getting Mayra back in time for prom until she got distracted by the little stray dog project named Mattie Rohan.”
“Hey, Lords—leave him alone,” Joe muttered. “He hasn’t done anything.”
“Did anyone ask you for an opinion, Joe-Joe?”
Joe didn’t respond.
“So here’s what going to happen, stray,” Justin said as he leaned even closer to me. “You’re going to stay the fuck away from Mayra, you hear me?”
“We have to work on the ecology project,” I heard myself say in response.
“Finish it yourself!” he snapped. “I don’t care what you have to do as long as you stay the fuck away from my girl.”
That was when he reached his meaty hand over and flicked out his fingers. They came into contact with my apple, which then went flying off the table and onto the floor.
On the floor.
The floor.