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After gym class I walked into the cafeteria for lunch. Next to me was my best friend Tamara. She was grabbing a beef burrito and nacho with cheese.
"What do you think about Brad?" She asked me.
"Brad?"
"The new guy. Don't even try to deny it," she said.
"What?" I asked as I grabbed a burger with fries.
"You know who I'm talking about. The new guy with the perfect smile. Are you denying that he's hot?" She asked me. Tamara was like that, she was so direct, she sometimes took my breath away. I laughed nervously.
"Tamara, relax. He's just some guy," I said. There wasn't any fruit punch today, so I grabbed a bottle of water. I hated milk.
"Some guy, huh?" she said and then pointed behind me with her chin. Brad was sitting next to Rob and Joey.
"So what?" I remarked as I walked towards an empty rectangular table and I noticed that Brad was looking at me. I swallowed hard and ignored his stare. I placed my tray on the table as my friend did the same and sat next to me. I could see Brad from three tables away from me.
"Is he looking at you? Oh my God, he's looking at you!" Tamara said twisting her dark curls and grabbing a nacho. I glanced over at his table to see if Tamara was telling the truth and I saw him move his eyes elsewhere.
"Tamara, stop making that stuff up. He's probably just looking around to see who his classmates are. He is new here," I reminded her, and then I ate my burger. It was nice and juicy. Tamara grabbed her beef burrito and ate it. I could tell she really liked it. She wanted to grab another one.
"Tamara, you'll lose your waistline," I reminded her.
"So what? I'm hungry," she said. I laughed. I didn't care what people thought about Tamara, she was the coolest and funniest girl ever. I wished I had her personality. She was about to grab another plate when Gina was at the line getting an apple for herself.
"Well look at what we have here, little Miss Porky," she said cockiness. I stood up from my chair to defend my friend.
"That was really uncalled for Gina."
"Oh, look at who we have here girls, a member of the loser club. You know Natalie, you could have been one of us, but you chose to be a failure," Gina said. I grabbed Tamara's burrito and passed it to her. Then, I patted her shoulder so that she could return to her chair.
"Sorry, but I rather be part of the loser club than have a membership of the bitch squad," I replied.
"What did you call us?" Gina's friend, Steph asked.
"I'm sorry, but I don't have time for slow learners, bye," I replied.
"You're going to be so sorry for messing with us," Gina warned me. I didn't like her tone, but I decided to ignore her warning. I was too tired to care. Gina and her friends Steph and Melanie walked to Brad's table. I supposed they were going to introduce themselves and warn him about the loser squad. I didn't care one bit.
"She was so out of line," I said and noticed that my friend Tamara wasn't eating anymore. She was just brooding over the beef burrito.
"Tamara?"
My friend started to cry. They were silent tears, but she pushed the plate away from her and ran to the bathroom.
"Tamara?" I asked as she passed through the cafeteria. Gina and her friends were all laughing.
"There goes the whale girl," they all said. Right now I wasn't in the mood to confront them. I passed them by and chased Tamara.
"Tamara?" I asked as she locked herself in one of the bathroom stalls. I could hear her whimpering from the door.
"She's right you know," she said.
"Who? Gina? No way," I replied.
"You warned me too. I'm too fat," she said. I shrugged my shoulders and pressed my hand on the door.
"You're not fat Tamara, but you will be if you don't control your appetite," I said.
"So basically, I'm fat," Tamara replied.
"Are you trying to get me to argue with you? Open the door already. I would never make fun of you. I was just trying to look out for you," I said.
"Yeah, right. You're probably just embarrassed to hang out with me."
"Didn't I pass you your second burrito even though I told you to be careful? Didn't I just defend you back there and called them the bitch squad in front of the entire school? You're welcome," I said marching out. I heard the door open wide.
"Are you serious? You called them the bitch squad?" Tamara said.
"You know I did, stop pretending that you didn't hear me," I said as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"Let's just go back to the cafeteria," I said.
"I don't want to," Tamara said. I nodded.
"Okay. I wasn't that hungry anyway. Let's go to the ghost section," I said. Tamara smirked.
"Okay," she said and we left to the ghost area.
