Euphoria

CHAPTER 3

*FINN’S POV*

I headed towards the lunchroom like usual and headed straight for my usual seat. My mom always packed tasty leftovers for me.

When I reached the table though, my usual seat was taken. By Jax. I frowned, "What are you doing in my seat?" He turned around and grinned up at me. I shot him a glare in response and opened my mouth to say something when he waved to someone behind me. I turned around and lord and behold it was Tinsley.

She was maneuvering through the crowded tables in the lunchroom towards us. When she got closer, she raised a hand and waved at us. Unconsciously I raised my hand and waved back at her, momentarily forgetting that Jax had taken my seat.

"Hey! Nice seeing you two," Tinsley said when she finally got to us. I turned back to Jax and opened my mouth to yell at him when suddenly he said, "Hey Finn, your mother packed good food again didn't she? Come share!" The rest of my friends around the table nodded their heads and grinned up at me.

"Tinsley join us!" Jax smiled and looked up at Tinsley, like how a wolf would look at its prey. Tinsley, oblivious to his predatory ways, smiled softly and said, "Sure, that'll be nice."

Next thing I knew, everyone was shuffling around, making room for the small girl. Our friend group wasn't big but there were always people bringing their friends over so our table was always packed.

Jax made Evan and some other guy move over, making room for both of us.

I opened my lunch box and took out the two containers of food my mom packed. Guess it was a sushi kinda day. I kept the first container and slid the second one towards the middle of the table. It was empty in seconds.

The people at our table went crazy, people screaming at each other because they didn't get one, others trying to split the sushi in half, etc. I laughed quietly at their behavior and opened my own container of sushi.

"Do you think I can have one?" I jumped at Tinsley's voice and looked over at her. She was staring at the sushi in awe or wonder, I wasn't sure and looked like she really wanted one.

"Sure. Which one would you like?" Before I knew it, I had offered her the whole box and allowed her to choose whichever one she wanted. She smiled at my actions and nimbly chose one of my favorites. I watched as she took a bite and then made a little noise in the back of her throat.

"It's so good!" She smiled softly at me and finished the sushi. I smiled back at her and said, "My mom made it." Then I went back to eating my sushi. After a few minutes of quietly chewing, I watched as Tinsley pulled out a small bag of Goldfish. She started eating them and when she finished she just sat there listening to Jax ramble about some weird party he went to.

That's it? That's all she had for lunch? I sat there, uncomfortable with what little food she ate. No wonder she was so small.

Before I could overthink my actions, I was offering to share the rest of my sushi with her and laughing along with Jax’s stupid stories.