A glance around the table

 
     The one on the left is Tony—the one leaning back in his chair, so that his feet don't touch the ground and his fingertips are the only part of him touching the table. He grins up at the ceiling and then over at Michael Jenkins, who's sitting beside him, picking at the dirt under his fingernails. Michael smirks back like the two are sharing some kind of unspoken joke; or really they're just waiting for something to happen. Like that time when some kid threw apple sauce at the cafeteria wall... or when that boy's sister pierced his ears in the hallway. Anything with action is better than sitting still and listening to the special ed teacher keep you and four other kids after school, to talk about the importance of executive functioning skills.
     Tony rakes his fingers through his already messy dark brown hair and pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose. The glasses could make him look smart, if he wasn't always wearing that dumb happy-go-lucky grin on his face all the time—like life's some big joke that he's been let in on. Tony just finds it all to be so naturally funny, especially the way that kid across the table from him looks right now—all serious, like he'd kill the next person who made a sound. That boy's name is Evan. You know the quiet kid that no one seems to want to talk to because it seems weird that they don't seem to have any friends? "Lonely" isn't what you think of when you look at Evan...but it's true. What you do think of when you look at him is...unfriendly. All it really is though, is the fact that when he's concentating on something really hard, like he is right now, he frowns. The way Evan's dark, beady eyes become narrow with a shifty gaze—that could come in handy if you ever wanted someone to leave you alone.
     Evan wishes that he could be friends with someone like Tony—someone carefree, someone who stands out a bit more from the rest of the crowd. Across the table, he notices Tony looking at him with an amused expression on his face. Hesitantly, Evan gives him a small smile, which seems to make Tony surprised. After a few awkward seconds, Tony looks down at his lap and Evan wonders what he did wrong. 
      Beside Tony, Michael bounces his knee up and down causing the table to jiggle slightly. Michael's a small kid, with a delicate-looking face and high cheek bones. His eyes are a startling green-grey color and his hair is a mess of dark curls. He's wearing a hoodie and khakies like he seems to have done every day of his life. He's just as bored as Tony, but for some reason the feeling of apprehensiveness seems to crawl up his thin back like a snake, twisting itself around and around his insides until he can't focus. He can never focus and it doesn't help matters by having a best friend that seems to believe that everything is a joke, or done for his entertainment. He looks to Tony now, imagining him slipping out of his precarious position in the chair and onto the floor, with a sudden cracking sound of his skull hitting against the tile. Deep, red, blood beginning to seep through his matted brown hair and into a small maroon puddle against the brightness of the white tiles. Michael can hear the blood now, pulsing from inside Tony's brain, the steady drip, drip, drip onto the floor. He looks away, desperately trying not to let his worries get the best of him this time.
     Suddenly beside him, Tony falls out of his chair and onto the floor, just like Michael had feared he would. Although, in reality there's far less blood, Tony just sits on the floor, startled for a few seconds, and then starts cracking up at his own expense, while the teacher looks on disapprovingly. Michael begins to laugh, too, realizing that Tony isn't actually hurt. Shayla, a girl who's sitting across the table joins in. At first, Michael is surprised by this, since Shayla is one of the popular girls in the class and he had always figured that Tony's spontaneous, low-grade humor would be beneath her. But, then he remembers that none of Shayla's friends are here, so she doesn't have to keep her guard up as much. Michael never really did understand the whole "popularity thing" very well, since he had always thought that he and Tony were just as cool as everyone else, or more. Shayla stops laughing as the teacher gives her a glare and Tony gets back up. The lesson resumes as Shayla pulls back her long blond hair into a high ponytail. She's tall and thin, but her face isn't particularly attractive given that her features are slightly out of proportion. She does wear makeup, but not a huge amount, which always helps a little. She's wearing a light blue sweatshirt and dark blue skinny jeans today, but it's always going to be different tomorrow. She's weird, but in that popular sort of way that somehow makes it cool. She's loud, but now finds herself quiet.
     The teacher took their phones away at the beginning of the session and Shayla is dying to have hers back, so that she can see if Katelyn responded to her text where she had said she was sorry—sorry, for letting her new friends come between their old friendship. Shayla looks to Tony now, wanting him to distract her from her thoughts, wanting him to make her smile, but he isn't looking in her direction.
     Last at the table sits Lex. Lex is shy and quiet, dressing mostly in black, with a choppy, uneven, haircut, and blue hair. She isn't popular and pretends like she's cool with it, but really everyone wishes they were just a little. She has striking eyes, and it's obvious that she's beautiful as soon as you look at her...even though she doesn't know it yet. Most people who really are beautiful don't know it at first. She pays attention to the teacher, but also keeps a close eye on her peers, as if she wants to learn from them, too.
     Shayla examines her nails, and adjusts her ponytail, glancing at the teacher, then Tony, then back again. Tony continues to lean back in his chair, even though he fell out of it just a few minutes ago and looks at everyone except the teacher. Michael seems apprehensive, but grins at Tony from time to time and seems to relax a little afterward. Evan stares only at the teacher and occasionally at Tony, while otherwise remaining completely still. Lex looks around to everyone at the table all there for the same reason, and then to the clock on the wall. The minute hand moves to the six, marking 4:30 and Tony gets up instantly, followed closely by Michael and then Shayla. 
     "So," the teacher asks. "What did we learn today?"
"That we all need help with executive functioning!" Tony calls out over his shoulder, not wanting to stay a second longer than he has to. No one does. As they leave, the teacher rolls her eyes.

zazu

VT

19 years old

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