• “Hey! You have a lot of cute boys in your class!” Janiquil almost squealed and Aurelia managed a confused look.
    “I do? I never really noticed.” Hearing this just made Janiquil sigh, evidently in disappointment, as the deflated look in her eyes showed but, quick as can be, the girl’s sprit flared up again as a new topic of discussion entered her mind.
    “Rea, you know what? One of the boys here has a major crush on ya!” She sang out and Aurelia just shot her another blank look as if the topic was totally alien to her, which it was, by the way and Janiquil smacked her forehead with her palm.
    “Girl, we’ve got a lot of work to do.” She sighed, causing another confusion filled look to be sent her way, courtesy of Aurelia.
    The girls made their way into the overly crowded canteen which was infested with students from all the levels and entered the line for their turn to grab a bite to eat from the cafeteria selection for the day.
    “I wonder if there is going to be any unidentifiable glob on my tray today.” Janiquil shuddered with avid disgust, making chills creep tiny evil fingers down Aurelia’s spine.
    “Better hope not.” She replied as the image of some kind of icky mouldy looking slop sprang into her mind, if she recalled right, that horror was what the lunch lady served on the last week before they separated for the school holidays. Feeling her stomach churn with apprehension, the two girls followed the rapidly shortening line to the front of the display case where a delicious sight met their eyes, for instead of an unidentifiable mass of slop; lunch that day was country themed, featuring some of the commonest country style food available.
    With hopeful hearts, both girls ordered oatmeal and got sizzling hot bowls of some kind of a weird concoction with highly suspicious origins answering their request.
    ‘Excuse me,” Janiquil demanded haughtily, her eyes flaring with anger. “I ordered oatmeal! What is this?” The lunch lady made no reply to her, instead, shoving her onwards, towards the counter to pay for their lunch. It was humiliating to the girl and her face was flushed with a deep red.
    “I don’t think this thing is eatable. Should we toss e’m?” Aurelia suggested, ignoring the fact that her stomach was rumbling like thunder clouds during a storm. Janiquil, on the other hand, shook her head as a dejected no and lead Aurelia to one of the seats near the view the cafeteria windows provided.
    “Mind if I join in?” At the sound of the voice, Aurelia cringed, her senses immediately set to hot alert, it sounded familiar and for the first time in her entire life, she was horrified to find out how right she was. For behind them stood Justin. The same charcoal hair and orange eyes drilled into her immediately and she almost let a groan slip from her tongue.
    “No problem at all!” Ever cheerful and friendly, Janiquil motioned with her hand the free seat next to Aurelia and Justin took it, plopping his tray of glop down beside hers. Ignoring Aurelia’s initial flinch of surprise, Justin proved himself adept at holding a conversation with Janiquil that wasn’t necessarily intelligent altogether. Seeing how well her friend bonded with Justin, Aurelia couldn’t resist a tight smile as she absentmindedly stuck a spoonful of slop into her mouth.
    Realising that the conversation had died away, Aurelia stared at the duo who had mixed reactions on their faces, Justin’s held amusement while Janiquil’s promoted shock and horror, as it could evidently be seen in the way her mouth fell open as if a silent scream was tumbling out and her eyes bulged in their sockets.
    “What?”
    “Rea! How are you feeling? Dizzy? Poisoned? ANYTHING!?”
    When Aurelia continued to stare blankly at the girl, Janiquil’s figure relaxed into her seat once more.
    “If you can still stare so blankly at me, I bet nothing’s wrong with you.” She mumbled and earned another puzzled stare. Justin was the next one to stick a spoonful of glop into his mouth and he chewed it with a thoughtful look on his face.
    “You know? This might actually be edible.” He commented, having swallowed the unidentifiable spoonful and he stuck the spoon back in it. Raising it to his mouth for a second bite. After studying him for the minutest of seconds, Janiquil followed and soon afterwards, Aurelia.