IT'S FOR RESEARCH PURPOSES

Chapter 5

At school again, the bell rings, and it’s time for lunch. I got invited to eat lunch in a teacher's room. I told her I had no friends, so I was eating lunch alone, and she said she would introduce me to some ‘other nice nerds.’ I thought that was rude but if it makes me look like less of a loser, it gives me a smaller chance of being bullied. That’s always good. I’ve succeeded in not getting bullied so far in high school, of course, besides the occasional ‘four eyes’ that totally never gets old. The thing is I don't actually care what people think of me, but it really burns my biscuits when they feel they have the need to come up and inform me. Like it’s that big of a deal. I don’t even give a reaction, there's no point. I have no idea what kind of attention- ridiculing prize they’re trying to choke out of me. I haven’t been bullied a lot lately. Just the opposite actually. I walk into the cafeteria. I collect my food. As I am, a cute- a nice chick stares at me for a straight minute. Well, not… ‘Straight’ I wouldn’t say, but she looks at me for a while. I notice from my peripheral vision. “I like your style.” she says. She’s probably not but, apparently, in the l***q+ community that means she'd've been flirting with me. I’m not cocky or whatever I just remember Julie telling me that. “Oh, thanks!” I say. “You too.” I continue to be polite, knowing that she’s of course not actually flirting with me. She’s wearing a skeleton hoodie with barely less than thirty necklaces and little mythic bracelets. Her hair, despite being dyed looks like fluffy cotton candy. But blue, rich blue, boiled Sapphire. Piercings carve her personality, as she has a surplus of metal on her ears and nose. A septum piercing, a different color from Ari's. They stop at her face, as she grins I get a peek at her metal mouth along with a tongue piercing. Half bleached ripped jeans squeezing her thighs like leggings with scrappy safety pins at the knees. Scaling down, her boots are black and grey with little metal spikes coming off of every direction. She doesn’t have shoelaces. “Where did you get your shirt?” she asks. “My closet. HUhhehh…” I laugh awkwardly. “So um…” she looks back at her friends. Then at me awkwardly. She has bulky false eyelashes. “Can I have your phone number?” She asks nervously… Her head ducks down, and she looks up at me. As attractive as this is I'm pretty sure it's out of my control due to the rules of dating and for me fake dating. I pay for my food and get out of line after yelling “I don't own a cellphone!” yet another lie but at least I'm not making her upset by directly rejecting her or something. I’ve had to actually reject two people this past two months. Strange. I’m not into social s**t or anything. I mean I stopped wearing my hoodie this year. That could be something. Julie said people are attracted to open people usually. Possibly people speculate I'm a new chick? Could that be true? I wish Julie was here, so she could help me decipher why all this is happening. Okay but she would probably just think I’m getting a big head, the last thing I want is to let her think I'm cocky. It’d be nice getting her organization methods, having to do with the date research. I have good information, yet, I kinda have no idea what to do with it or what any of it actually means. Julie’s great at deciphering all the romance nonsense. She’s gonna get her doctorate degree when she finishes the assignment. I do have to wonder, how could anyone stomach hearing about so much lovey-dovey trash? She’s able to do entire projects on this one topic. Then again I bet she enjoys it. Okay, no, obviously, she enjoys it, that's not what I mean. She’s probably crazy obsessed with psychology, mambo jumbo and all that roundabout. Does it ever get boring for her? I guess not. She got on me about my ‘relationship’ that I hadn't started yet. Although I don't think it was because of her school assignment. I don’t think she knew about that yet actually… Then was she just genuinely trying to help me? Without anything in return… that’s interesting. As I trot up the exit stairs carrying my lunch, someone calls my name, and I'm busted. “Elaine!” A soft boy's voice yells. I turn my head and squint, my hands grip the tray holding my food more tightly. The plastic shatters in my mind. Ari’s standing at an almost fully empty table. Standing. His arms are extended over him, and he’s waving them like a sideways propeller, or an SOS signal. He continues making a scene and calling my name louder. “Elaine!” Regardless if we’ve met eyes. What the hell is he doing? People start to look over, just a few but not the point. My mouth stays zip-tied shut, I continue walking up stares acting like I’m ignoring him, 'cause I… am. “Elaine! Hey, come here. You don’t wanna eat lunch with your BOYFRIEND?” DAMN EXTROVERT! Now people are staring. A lot of people. Little mutters and whispers of words that don't stay secret get passed around. “Ari’s got a girlfriend?” “Woah look at the happy couple…” “I wonder if they’ve done it yet” “I thought he liked that other chick” “are they in a fight?” one after another rumor after rumor all incorrect. At least most of them. Then I remember, I promised him… girlfriend status. I slowly limp down the stairs out of cringe-influenced wounds. Suddenly I feel the lunchroom freeze like a deadly sea. Each student is a shark. Ari however is a dolphin. But I’ve read up on dolphins, he's just as bad as a shark only he doesn't seem that way at first glance. “Of course I do! B-boyfriend…” I say with a weak voice and weak knees as I get to the bottom of the steps. Weak ankles nearly snap out of embarrassment. People keep staring as if aliens have invaded earth to steal school lunches. They would probably use it to fuel the ships to get home, who knows what’s in the ‘food’ they serve here. Honestly, I'd prefer that over what’s happening now. Aliens invading earth sounds pretty good right now. I’d take that any day over what feels like millions of people dictating my next move as if I were in a mandatory talent show with fast typing skills and absolutely nothing else. I take a seat across from Ari and his friend reminding me of the dynamic having to do with Wednesdays and wearing pink. It’s his other friend then Will. I don’t recognize him by name. I do remember that he was the one that was making Ari uncomfortable in class when we started the experiment. He was wearing a dirty piercing, not dirty in a putrid way with dirt and grime, more like in a s****l way. Ari takes a bite of his sandwich. “This is Sketch… I'm not sure if you guys have been acquainted yet. You already know… Elaine, ...sketch” He says a little more regret in his voice at the end. “So Mr steal yo girl” Sketch starts. I get a taste of rust immediately. “How long have you been handing- hanging out?” He asks. Ari’s face tries to avoid making a downturned expression. “Just a few days now… not too long... I wanna say a week.” he forces a smile. “We’ve been dating since Monday. We’re clearly madly in love already. So back off.” I say in a serious voice that's meant to carry satire. “Hah haeheh…” Ari laughs awkwardly catching on that I'm trying to lighten the mood as a warning. He’s most likely realizing that we’re not gonna get along, at least not where the conversation stands. “Have you guys gotten past the honeymoon phase yet?” he asks. What? But that’s actual psychology. I wouldn’t have pegged him for knowing something so advanced. Not that I'm pegging him for idiocy, it’s just that Julie taught me about the honeymoon stage when she first went to college for her associate's degree. She was taking a class about manipulating romantic situations. The honeymoon stage is the first part in the relationship where everything seems new and fun. Couples are usually very ‘in love’ for the short part of the relationship until they get into their first fight. “Dude don't.” Ari chokes. His eyes glare through his eyebrows. While there are hundreds of students screaming and shouting at one another, the tension in the silence is the only thing either Ari and I can hear. Ari is no longer taking tiny baby-sized bites of his sandwich. His hands are tucked underneath the table, and he’s looking into trashcans beside Sketch's shoulder. His eyebrows are pushed together; they’ve stopped resisting. He’s almost shaking, and he'll probably start soon. “Do you know what the honeymoon phase is?” Sketch smirks. “Yes, I know what it is. You don’t need to explain it.” Ari says. His voice is stiff but shallow as if he was just punched in the gut. He sounds fairly masculine, although now he is vibrating a bit. I snarl out my nose in what I meant to be just a deep breath. “Oh but your girlfriend,” He fake coughs and covers his mouth. “Which you stole” he continues “Probably hasn’t heard of it yet.” “Dude.” Ari warns him in more of a pleading way than a threatening one. “I’ll explain. The honeymoon phase is when a couple just starts dating and all they wanna do is touch each other... So in your case, you would willingly cancel all your previous plans and responsibilities just to eat--” He gets cut off by Ari smashing both fists less than lightly into the table. His food lifts as a reaction to the action. He begins inching away from Sketch subtly. Sketch doesn’t pay any mind to his 'friend's' discomfort. “It’s usually the time when you guys are super risque-” “No, we haven’t done that.” I say straight-faced. “And If we plan to or not it’ll be none of your concern. That's the problem with people thinking they can bring up whatever topic they want around people. You have no consideration for others around you. Don’t go sticking your nose in business that’s not yours, vermin. I promise you I will smash your nose into a mailbox. You probably don't even realize that you are way beyond breaking Ari’s boundaries right now. You’re that selfish to think that you can just go and say something that’s gonna make someone uncomfortable to give yourself a damn chuckle. You are one of the most pathetic pieces of scum I've ever met, taking advantage of someone like they’re some kind of--” He cuts me off. “Relax mama, I was just joki--” He starts again. “Did I say I was finished!” I say not as a real question. “Woof…” Ari woofs? As an exclamation I assume. I continue speaking my mind on the subject. “ If you were actually his friend you would pay attention to his boundaries and the way he reacts to the s**t you say. Or just don’t say it ‘cause he asked you to stop!” “He should just stop being a puss… Always hiding it in front of his girls.” He mutters under his breath. “Elaine… It’s not-” Ari says. He still considers Sketch to be his friend… he wants me to pull back a little. I should pull back, but I strongly want to cuss him out. With his disgusting crunchy, crinkly voice, and his slut piercing. Who is he to make fun of Ari’s innocent self? “It is a big deal… You’re shaking.” I say to him. “Woah, dude.” Sketch says almost compassionately in higher-toned gravel. So does he actually care for his friend? Then why the hell is he so inconsiderate? “Just think about what you say maybe before you say it. If that’s too difficult, don't speak.” I say before grabbing my tray and tossing it in the trash. I pull my backpack on and stand up. Ari just glances at Sketch then stares at me ghostly. He seems to see me forever. At this point, the lunchroom is almost silent. Everyone paying attention to just this one conversation very intently. I don't hear any whispers or giggles at all. Just my name with some inappropriate adjectives. Ari watches my every motion with a blank appearance in his pupils. Sketch watches him watch me and makes a sly face. Neither of them say anything as I begin walking up the stairs. Then speed walking. Ari’s just stuck on me like a little stalker. He won't let go of me with his gaze. I look behind me every couple seconds to check if he’s still looking. His eyes will not prevail. They follow me up little by little until I reach the door. Once I shut the door, the lunchroom starts up again, all with screaming and shouting. Along with loud music thanks to someone's grade-A speakers they hooked up to their phone to be detestable. I’ve left Ari in emotional shambles… But positively. I have a feeling Sketch is gonna start watching his mouth, at least when he's around me. I swear I saw fear behind his eyes.