Chapter 5 Not so good afternoon

" You could have guessed it by yourself, " I said, getting up from the table. I think I could ask him to eat lunch with me. Atleast, I can talk about something other than studies.

" You don't have a boyfriend. Am I right?"

" Yeah. It's easy to say. What about you?" I asked before asking him to come with me for lunch.

" I don't do the girlfriend-boyfriend thing at all. There's no guarantee for long last relationships for anyone. I can rather hook-up and move on." he simply answered it. I frowned. The way he judges all the relationships isn't good.

Suddenly someone approached Ryder. " He's back in the city, Ryder? What can we do?" the first guy spoke with fear.

" He's back again. Iam not letting him leave alive. Iam coming now." Ryder spoke with anger. He nearly forgets to say 'bye' to me.

" Ryder, are you leavin..." I started.

" I need to go. I will see you later, Emily, " he rushed off with that word.

He left just like that. Who's back to the city? What are they talking about? Iam still upset about his opinion in relationships. I absent-mindedly stood up from my table. I stopped myself before I bump into someone.

" Hey, Milly. Do you want to have lunch with me?" Jason's voice rings in my ears. Of course, I can.

" Yeah, sure. But I think my friend will be joining us too. Is it okay? She really wants to meet you." I told him, looking for Pearl in the class. She's sitting looking at the ceiling, lost in thoughts.

" I'm okay with that. I guess." He said with hesitation. I guess he's not comfortable with that. I can't leave my friend alone.

" I will get her now. Wait here, " I walked towards Pearl. " Hey, I know how to get your mind out of Andrian thoughts. Do you want to meet Jason?" I patted her shoulders. Her eyes brightened up.

" Oh, really. Where is Jason?" she stood up fastly as her eyes wandered over the whole class. When she got a glimpse of him, she rushed off with a pen and paper.

All I can see from a distance is she's pleading him for an autograph.

" Keep the note down now. Iam so hungry. I need to eat." I told her.

" Yeah, sorry. Iam coming." we three left the class and went straight to the canteen. We all got lunch and settled on a table. I had a chicharron and Cuban sandwich. I got so tempted by the food that makes me forget about every other thing.

" Will I get your sisters autograph too, Jason?" Pearl started her annoying talk.

" Stop it, Pearl. We are here to eat and talk like every other student. You got his autograph. I think that's enough. Do you get it?" I harshly spoke for a minute. She stared at me. She must be thinking ' When did Em have the courage to talk to me like that?'.

" I get it." she took her spoon and started eating silently. I didn't expect the lunch would go without a single conversation. But it did. And then Pearl spotted someone from a distance.

" Andrian's here. I can't take this anymore. I'm going to talk now." she left the lunch unfinished and ran off.

" Finally, I got some time to talk. Puff." Jason said with relief. I laughed in return.

" Don't get annoyed by Pearl. She won't behave like this every day." I assured him.

" I won't be talking with her every time. I'm here to talk with you, " he said, wiping his mouth after finishing the sandwich.

" I'm hoping to talk with you too. I can hear about Pearl's fight with her boyfriend later." I said, slowly taking a bit of the sandwich so that I could get some time to know him.

" Where do you live? If your mom's a celebrity, you must be living in a mansion. You should also be studying in a rich school, right?"

" This is how everyone thinks. Edgewood High is the nearest school we found in this city. Iam living in a mansion near the Miami beach." he said.

" Oh, that's cool. Do you have any other friends in Edgewood high?" I questioned him, eager to know them.

" Yes, I do. But I don't speak with everyone. Many girls irritate me by their deep intentions. I don't like those who are coming after me for sex and money. I can identify their intentions and cut them off." he talked with frustration like he had a million problems like that. It's good that I don't have anything he mentioned above. I never had sex. How do these girls have sex in their seventeen years? Gross.

" It seems like you won't talk with someone without analyzing them. What did you saw in me which made you think, you can approach me?"

" Um...I guess you forgot something. You got bullied by a dick. I came to help. You looked calm and a total outsider to this high school. I thought I could help you. That's all I guess." he said.

" Yeah...right. From my point of view, you don't look or act like a rich person. I like that. But I need to say, you looked gorgeous in that magazine. You are the reason, I bumped into that guy. I saw your photo while flipping the pages." I admitted what's happened in the garden.

" I didn't see that coming. It was my fault in some unknown way but I got to meet you."

" Yeah...In the ground looking like a coward. Maybe, we should stop talking about that. I regret that I didn't yell back at him."

" Okay. We can stop talking about that. Say something till the bell rings." he asked. A though ran over my mind about our above conversation.

"I have something to ask. You said girls are after you for sex and money? Does that mean you already had sex?"

" Of course, I had. What type of question is this? There's no virgin in Edgewood High. What about you?" He slightly laughed like it's a silly question? For me, it means a lot. But I can tell a lie now.

" Yeah...you are damn right. I was about to say whether you have a girlfriend or not. It ended up by asking about sex. It's silly. I had sex too."

" With who?" Suddenly he got a little serious. Am I good at lieing? I can test myself now.

" With a boy in Paris. He was my boyfriend. But not anymore." I calmly said with any emotions. How can I have any emotions? I never ever kissed a boy.

" Oh, okay. So, you don't have a boyfriend now?"

" I don't have..." I trialled off when Pearl hurried to our table again.

" What's going on, Pearl?" I asked her, finishing off my lunch.

" Whatever isn't supposed to happen is happening. Hereafter, I won't have a boyfriend who's a senior, " she said, eating her lunch again.

" Did he broke-up with you?" I assumed it by myself.

" Hell, no. Then I wouldn't be eating at all. I will be crying hard in the bathroom." she said with her mouth full of rice.

At that time, Jason faked a cough. " I will meet you later, Milly. You can talk with your friend." he politely said and left. I watched him leave and turned my head towards Pearl.

" Do you want to share anything with me?" I asked her, keeping a hand on her shoulder with care. She ate the food without giving a reply. Then I noticed tears from her eyes. She's trying to fight back her tears.

" Pearl..."

" Thanks for asking. But I can't talk now, Em. I need some alone time. Sorry." she left with her plate in her hands.