Half of Chapter 8

8.

Lunch was crowded. There were people at every table, and were no empty spots, so Seth observed. It was a large room, and sound echoed even though there were blocks to prevent that sort of thing.
He went through the lunch line, and paid for a sandwich and milk with the money Sasha had given him that morning.
When he was out, he looked around for Jenn. Maybe she was around somewhere, saving him a spot with her friends. When he didn’t see her, his energy dropped. He wandered aimlessly around the cafeteria hoping he’d see her. Then, “Seth!”
He turned to see Sam and Jenn sitting at a table with a bunch of other kids that he didn’t know. “Hey,” he said.
Jenn scooted over on the bench and patted the seat next to her. “You can sit here,” she said.
He sat where he was told, and conversation started up again. “Is the science test hard?” a boy asked.
Another guy spoke up, “Not if you know the patterns in the Periodic Table. Like, um, atomic number, mass, and a ton of crap like that,” he said, and then pointed at Seth. “Who’s he?” he asked. “Jenn, is he another one of your ‘friends’?”
She looked hard at the boy. “Really, Flashman?” she said sternly.
The kid watched her for a second, and then his eyebrows went up and his mouth opened.
“Oh! Right, right, right,” the boy, Flashman, said, nodding. He was tall, maybe five-foot-five, five-foot-seven, or so, and had big brown eyes behind thick designer glasses. He wore a nice brand of sweater-vest with a collared shirt. His brown hair was cut evenly around his face, skater-style, and brushed to the side.
Jenn took a bite of her pizza. “This nut-ball’s Alex Flashman,” she pointed to the glasses-kid, addressing Seth, then to the other boy who’d asked the original question, “And that’s Chase Witthers. Flashman’s our best computer hack, and Chase provides funds.”
Seth watched her warily behind his dark hair. He spoke quietly, “For what?”
Chase spoke up, “Different things.”
“Revenge, getting even with teachers…,” Flashman counted off his fingers. “Grading systems…”
Jenn laughed once, elbowing Sam. Seth stayed silent as he chewed his sandwich.
“Attention, Eighth Graders!” someone on the mike up front fumed.
“Oh, God, here we go,” Flashman groaned, leaning back on the bench.
“Would you please check the lost and found for any lost items? We are donating all clothing items left over the weekend. I repeat. We are donating all the clothing items left over the weekend. Thank you.”
Everyone exchanged looks until Chase finally broke the silence and laughed. Then the bell rang.