Dialogue with Them

The Luncheon

As I finished reading the email, sighing at how unreliable E was, I suddenly noticed the unusual silence around me. Lifting my head in a daze, I found Mr. Kerry holding a textbook, looking at me with an angry expression on his face.

Feeling somewhat embarrassed, I placed my hands on the desk and stood up.

"Ethel, it seems you are quite confident about securing your credits this semester. We were just discussing the historical impact of the ancient Roman city-state system, and Jessica has already provided her answer. Now, it's your turn to address this question."

As soon as the question was asked, the gaze of the entire classroom converged on me like a spotlight. Truth be told, having been low-key and introverted for so long, I really wasn't used to being stared at by nearly twenty pairs of eyes.

Although I knew Mr. Kerry liked to go off on tangents during his lectures, being asked to discuss the historical impact of the ancient Roman city-state system in a World Civilization class still caught me by surprise.

I tried to muster a friendly smile, forgive me for my usual expressionlessness that made my smile resemble cracks on marble. Then, facing the gaze of the entire classroom, I said very seriously, "Class is over, teacher."

The moment I spoke, the bell signaling the end of class rang throughout Intley Middle School.

Mr. Kerry clenched the book in his hand with anger.

I hope that by tomorrow's Civilization History class, Mr. Kerry will have forgotten all about this question.

The school's cafeteria is one of my favorite spots, far more than the square classrooms—I prefer the randomly placed yellow round tables and chairs here. My standard lunch is a piece of frozen pizza, a vegetable salad, an apple, and some soda water. I've never been good at cooking, and my uncle Trevor isn't much of a chef either. The only time I get to enjoy a good meal is when the Millet couple come to visit me during their holidays.

Today, the cafeteria was even more bustling than usual, with all the chatter centered around the enrollment of new students, specifically three of them. It's said they've moved here from the eastern region.

Everyone was whispering among themselves, and there I was, sitting alone in a corner, eating pizza with salad. I was the only one in the entire cafeteria sitting at a table by myself. This made me feel like a pitiful hamster, silently and solitarily nibbling on lunch in a dark corner, away from the light.

My classmates lacked the sympathy to approach me, mainly because I had scared them quite a bit when we were younger.

Thus, I was always the last to know about various happenings at school. Often, when everyone was abuzz about something, I would have no clue it was even happening.

The table closest to me was occupied by Ryan and a few others. Ryan leaned over to whisper to Rachel beside him: "I heard they moved here from the east. The three of them aren't brothers but are always seen together. The boy with black hair is William, and the one with golden hair is Robert. Their fathers are both policemen, apparently moved here because of a job relocation to Intley. The one sitting in the middle, looking cold, is Frederick; it's said both his parents are renowned lawyers. It's a mystery how these three ended up together."

I sneakily glanced over at their table, and just then, my eyes met with Frederick's.

For a moment, I felt like prey under the gaze of a dangerous creature, fear momentarily taking hold of my body.

Then, he rose from his chair, his eyes fixed intently on me, such a conspicuous stare that once again drew everyone's attention back to me.