61. Mia has a boyfriend.

Mia.

The wind howls as we arrive through the school gates, hustling and bustling down the corridors. Friends were greeting each other with a hug or a playful punch while some others stood looking scared or idle. The seniors stood, tall and proud, confidence born of experience.

The halls were dressed in black and white and the tiles were a checker board with humans as the pieces. The whole building sent a chill down my spine and reminded me of something out of my nightmares.

‘I do not want to be here,’ I thought and I wrap my arms around my chilled body; this was the last place I wanted to be. Unfortunately, there was no way to avoid school because, apparently, it is a very important phenomenon, one that you have to do whether or not you like it. And for someone like me who literally had no friends, it was hard to just do a bidding because the society says so, I had even became a pariah because of the fight that I had with the girls who would not leave me alone, I was glad though because now they did not dare to cross my path anymore, but I was still concerned about the fact that no one talks to me, I literally had no friends.

Soon the bells rang and everybody ran except an occasional slowcoach or chatterbox. Hesitantly, I walked up to the door with the small twenty-one nailed above it, checking the paper in my hand as I do. I slowly opened the door, which let out a tired old groan as the hinges protested.

And then I walk into my homeroom.

Laughter sounded along the room, joined with excited conversations and shouts. Model worthy girls perched on the tables like exotic birds gossiping and giggling, a football flew above their heads between two jocks in varsity jackets parading their toned muscles. Groups of high schoolers sat around the room laughing and causing all kinds of ruckus, all except one group that sat silently staring at laptop screens with massive headphones which appear to be permanently strapped to their heads.

A breath of air brushes my ear; I follow the breeze and see a blue striped paper plane gracefully gliding through the air before sliding across the tiled hall to stop with its nose against the wall.

Everyone ignored me but I did not mind, I was not used to this anyways, I totally suck socially after all.

Our teacher walks in looking as inspired as a used tea bag and already, I feel a daydream starting, a really good one. This man's gonna have to be really interesting if he wants to compete. Our homeroom teacher had the look of one who had grown too fast in his youth, his bulk never catching up to his bones. He had to duck on entering the room, before edging toward his vinyl desk in his corduroy jacket and decade old flared trousers.

I could never look at him without being reminded of Basil Fawlty. He had the same waning but wild brown hair and the way he held his lanky frame and gestured with his hands screamed comedy. Within seconds of entering the room, the kids had spread picnics on the table and begun loud conversations about last nights television or a favoured computer game. Only the four girls at the front listened and read their text because even I was way more focused on the nature outside the classroom.

A lot of minutes later that looked like days of me taking a couple more classes, the lunch-bell rang. Pens and pencils were hurriedly pushed into their cases. Files clicked shut, satchels snapped and chairs desks got dragged aside. Scuffling feet raced towards the cafeteria.

The early birds were already seated on the benches, seriously eating away. An appetizing blend of aroma floated about the cafeteria while I closely observed every minute detail of the school cafeteria.

Located upon the green hill of my school, the canteen symbolized the heart of this school. Having various kind of delicate food, the canteen had long been nurturing chit chats, sharing of joys and pains and delicious meals. The school had long been well-known for its high standard of education. But the position of the school also attributes a major part in its reputation.

Located on a small green hill, the cafeteria made it special by lying on the middle center of the area. It was rather an airy place to eat as it had two sides opened to the sky and two beautiful verdant grass carpets sitting along the walkway. Standing from the staircase next to the art room, one could have the most detailed panorama of the canteen: colorful counters of food stall in the opposite view, blue and light yellow chairs surrounding around tables as if they were having some kind of conference or four monolithic pillars standing firmly around the place like guardians, watching over everyone’s meal.

As I approach the cafeteria and go further inside, my five senses were awoken. The sound, the smell, the sight, and the feeling… all were very typical and familiar to every students and staff in the school. Walking pass those tables, I could see some yellow specks on the surface as the result of previous break time. Adhered to the walls were many faded brownish yellow print of the oil smoke from the food cooking process in various wondrous shapes and features.

Some times when having my lunch, I look at those prints and feel like the cafeteria’s soul and spirit emerging. When I go further inside the cafeteria after getting my food, I go straight to a corner of the room to sit alone like I usually do before those girls always find a way to wherever I was at just to pick on me, although I was darn sure that they would do nothing this time, other than the glares and whispers that they kept throwing my way of course, but who cares about their acts of cowardice, only fools and dumb heads like them of course, definitely not me.

After taking a good and quiet spot away from their bustles and hustles, I decided to just take my mind of whatever has to do with school and my mind drifted to Ms. Elena. I was just very certain that something was going on with her but I did not quite know what it was. Dad and Ms. Sofia had been behaving weirdly about it all and I kept speculating on what the secret could be and why Ms. Elena could be this sick almost every time.

Even though what kept coming to my mind seemed so silly, asinine and so far off the mark, I could not help but think them. Could Ms. Elena be on the run from some mafia or mob? Could she have escaped a forced marriage? Or is she just a spy?

I felt a presence get onto the seat beside me and when I looked in the direction, I was shocked to see that it was Andrew and I rolled my eyes instantly.

“Why do you keep talking to yourself? Do you know that certain eyes are on you and they are convinced that you are very weird and crazy?” He said to me and glared at him, “I do not care, as a matter of fact, you should join them in that conviction and just leave me the hell alone.” I told him off but knowing Andrew, he was just hell bent on doing this, whatever it was that he was even up to.

“Hmm.. sorry but I want to talk to you and you have to too, because my social life is essentially ruined because of you and you just have to take responsibility and make amends.” He said and I scoffed at him.

“You must be very delusional, you seem to forget your priviledges of being the principal’s son and the fact that you are literally deemed the hottest and most popular boy in school.” I said and he suddenly breaks into a smile, surprising me.

“What?” I question, confused.

“Well, you just admitted that I am handsome.” He teased while wiggling his eyebrows and it all just seemed very cocky and unfunny to me.

What an egoistic idiot!

I ended up overreacting and blowing everything out of proportion by yelling at him and storming out of the cafeteria. I turned back just in time to catch a girl talking to her friend and saying 'I told you she was crazy,’ the girl also made the loony sign with her hands.

I ended up hiding out the rest of the school day in the library crying my eyes out and wondering why I was just so socially inept.

As soon as the school bell rang, I was the first one out the door into dad’s car because he had told us that he would be picking us up from school for sometime now, I guess he decided that doing these will make him get more closer to us but I beg to differ.

“Get me away from this hell, dad!” I said to him at the same time that I looked out of the window only to find Andrew waving me goodbye, I felt embarrassed and immediately looked away as my cheeks heated up while dad found it amusing.

Diego started to laugh while singing, “Mia has a boyfriend, Mia has a boyfriend-”

“Oh! Shut up, will you?” I snapped at him and then we all drove home in silence.