EVENTUALLY

AMANDA SHIFTS HER HAIR FROM UNDER HER BLUE BEANIE.

She sighs a bit, stepping into the cafeteria along with Simon and Chase, a gust of cool air hitting her like a tidal wave. She shivers, goosebumps rising on her skin. She raises her hands to flatten her palms on her upper arms to rub them softly in hopes of getting some friction. She then remembers she put a sweatshirt in her backpack, and makes a mental note to get it. 

The trio walk up to the lunch lines, and grab a plate of food before walking off to find a table. When they arrive at one, Amanda notices a guy sitting there already. Chase perks up from beside her with a wide grin, "Heyyy, what's up big papiiii?" He says in a terrible accent, playfully dragging on his words. The boys drop their backpacks and sit down. Amanda sets down her bag as well, and takes a seat between Simon and Chase.

The guy grins and responds in a much quieter voice, "Whats up gringo?" with a heavy accent.

Amanda's eyebrows crease in utter confusion. What's a gringo?, she asks herself but she certainly isn't going to speak up. Simon glances over at her and when he sees her expression, he can't help but laugh to himself, "You look a bit confused Amanda." He points out teasingly, his voice sounding a - matter - of - fact.

She chuckles, shaking her head, "I mean, I just have to ask, what's a gringo?" She asks, still looking at him as she reaches over and rummages through her bag to grab the sweatshirt she needs. It's a red, NFL Alabama one and she loves it. When she pulls it out, she slips it on her head and lets it fall on her like a blanket, making sure to get her hair out of it. It's a little big on her, reaching her upper thigh, but she likes how much room it gives. 

Simon smiles, "Rodrigo's from El Salvador, and gringo is just a term for what they call Americans." He explains and she nods her head slightly. He, at first, expects her to introduce herself but when she stays quiet, he peers over at the guy, "Alright big papi, meet Amanda."

"Our newest addition to the group." Chase adds, nudging her slightly.

Amanda smiles shyly, gives him a small wave and says in a soft voice, "Hi." He nods back to her politely. He has dark skin, as well as dark brown eyes that almost look black. He has black hair and an almost blinding hoodie on, blues and reds mixing together to form a picture of a wolf, "I like your jacket." she compliments, nodding to the bright piece of fabric.

He nods and then mumbles a 'thank you' before Simon speaks up, "Yeah, he wears it all the time." he tells her, grinning broadly, "I wouldn't be surprised if he fuckin' showers in it." Amanda's lips pull into a smile before she starts to laugh a bit, her shoulders relax slightly and she leans back against the pillar behind her.

Rodrigo speaks up, "How did you guys meet?" he asks, his accent strong. 

Simon starts to explain how she walked up to them at P.E. but she isn't paying much attention to the story. From beside her, Chase is digging into his food and Amanda suddenly remembers her food so she looks down at it, and then grabs the plastic fork. Today is chicken Alfredo with rice. She softly pokes it and then dips the fork in it, grabbing a bit. When she raises it to her mouth, her glasses fog slightly from the steam. She ignores it and takes a bite; she expects it to taste disgusting like the usual lunch foods, but it actually tastes good to her. It's a bit hot, but she likes the flavours. She has tried to pack her lunch before, but her mom never buys anything good to pack. For her, at least.

As she munches away, she tunes back into the conversation, "And then she kinda just walked up and introduced herself." She hears Chase say as he shrugs, finishing the story.

Simon nods his head, and then peers over at the ginger. He reaches up and picks the blue and white beanie from her head, her hair pulling a bit and making a mess. She brushes it out of her eyes as Simon plops it on his head. And then, he takes the rim of her black glasses and pulls them from her face gently, careful with them. She lets him, waiting for her eyes to adjust. She looks over at Simon as he puts them on as well, and she watches him squint. "Holy damn, Amanda. You're as blind as a bat, I feel like my eyes are being stabbed to death." He says in a dramatic voice, green orbs blown wide.

She laughs, "Well yeah, my eyes are both different umm, like, prescriptions. So one sees blurrier than the other." She says, and then puts one hand over her right eye, and then doing the same with her left, "Yeah, my right is worse than my left." Simon and Chase both giver her a surprised look.

"Quick, how many fingers am I holding up?" Chase says from beside her, raising his hand to her line of vision.

She looks over at him and then chuckles, "I can see you're holding three fingers up, but I can't see much at a distance. I'm near sighted, I can see things closer rather than further." She turns to look at Rodrigo, "For example, I can't see Rodrigo's facial expression, it's all blurry. But I can see his hand on the table. Hold up some fingers, Rodrigo." He raises his hand and holds up five, "See, his fingers blur together and it looks like two."

Simon laughs from beside her, "Sooo, you're blind?" 

She shrugs, "Maybe." She dips the black fork back into her food and takes another bite of the food. When she sets down the fork, she grabs her chocolate milk, putting the edge to her lips and swallowing a gulp. She feels a stab of pain on her right temple, a sign she's had her glass off too long and to stop squinting. But when she looks over at Simon, she doesn't really wanna tell him to give them back. She tells herself she's just lazy.

"'Maybe' my ass," Chase says, also laughing, "If you can't see big papi over there, there's something wrong." 

Simon leans toward him, "That's why she has glasses, you fuck - tard." He says, grinning.

Chase pretends to be offended as he puts a hand to his heart and sighs, "'Tis a sad day." He says, closing his eyes for a moment. Amanda laughs, her cheeks hurting from smiling too hard. It's an unfamiliar feeling to her. 

"Anyway," Simon says, taking off Amanda's glasses and putting them back on for her, "I'm getting a headache." 

She laughs slightly, "So am I." She mutters, putting them back on and giving them a moment to adjust. Her temple feels like it's being hit, but after a few moments, it stops. When she looks over at Simon, she can't help but notice how bright his eyes are. They're the most beautiful shade of green she has ever seen. She quickly looks away.

Amanda, Rodrigo, Simon and Chase continue their conversation, talking about random things and laughing at stupid jokes. Amanda feels comfortable with them, and it's safe to say that she considers them friends. She hopes they do too.

...

"AND THEN I WATCHED YOU WALK AWAY."

A tear hot tear rolls down Amanda's cheek. She sniffles softly to herself, trying to gather her last bit of confidence, "Do you know how many times I've broken down and told myself, I should have went after you?" Her voice cracks and breaks, her heart throbs. Finally, a sob rips through her throat, her legs start to feel weak, and she falls to her knees. She covers her face with her hands and continues to sob quietly as she hangs her head from view. 

A smile pulls at her lips as people start to clap. She raises her head and her fellow classmates are standing up and cheering her on. She laughs to herself as a friend of hers, Jade, starts whooping and hollering, whistling with her fingers hooked in her mouth. 

Amanda's sixth period is Drama. Drama class wasn't appealing to her before, but ever since she started taking it by accident, she has come to love it. She has found that she has a true passion for it, she loves getting up on the stage and preforming a scene, monologue, whatever she feels like. She absolutely adores it.

She stands to her feet, wipes her fake tears and bows. Then, she steps off the stage and plops down in the seat next to Jade, "Hey girl, you did awesome!" She says enthusiastically before taking a hit from whatever she's got in her sleeve.

Amanda shrugs, "Eh, was nothing." She says humbly; to her, it really was nothing.

"Oh come on," her friend says, her blond hair getting in her eyes a bit, "that was amazing, you killed it! You ah, what did you do?" She snaps her finger, "You broke a leg!" Jade giggles, blue eyes sparkling. 

Amanda shakes her head and smiles. Jade has been by Amanda's side since they met in seventh grade. If she's anything, she's very loyal, even though she can't remember anything half the time cause she's always stoned or drunk. But Amanda can't blame her, she's had a rough time with her family, always has. Jade likes the feeling of forgetting, even if only for a little while.

Amanda grins at her, "You bet your ass I did." She says, laughing slightly, "Also, how's Lance's transition going? What kinda pronouns should I use?" She asks, feeling slightly awkward. She doesn't want to offend Lance on any circumstance. Amanda knows that Jade swings both ways so she's not sure.

Jade smiles, she really loves that Amanda is so open to the her community even if she's not in it, "He's doing really good, we're happy together." She tells her, putting emphasis on the he so Amanda gets the gist. Jade then remembers something, "So, who were those guys you were sitting with at lunch, in the cafeteria?" She asks. Her glasses fall on her nose a bit, but she pushes them up. Jade has beautiful pale skin and wears very little makeup although she doesn't really need any at all, in Amanda's opinion. Short blonde hair that's pulled into a ponytail with a large sweatshirt and some jeans. Jade is small, short in height and thin in figure, but she has curves that Amanda is jealous of.

Amanda feels her cheeks flush, "Oh, they were just some new friends. Simon, Chase and Rodrigo. We met a coupla days ago in P.E." Amanda shrugs, "Ya know, I just wanted to make some new friends."

Jade nods her head, "Who was the one wearing your beanie?"

"That's Simon." Amanda tells her, kinda curious as to why she's asking.

"Oh yeah?" She smirks slightly, "You think he's cute?" 

Amanda laughs and shakes her head, although not at the question, "I mean, sure?" She shrugs her shoulders, "But what does it matter?" She doesn't really see a point in this conversation really; Simon is just a friend, and he will only be a friend. He's too old for her anyway.

"Come on, maybe he's a potential boyfriend?"

Amanda shoves her shoulder playfully as Jade raises her eyebrows, "Really? We literally just met, and besides, I don't even think of him like that. He's just a friend." Amanda says, shaking her head and shrugging again. 

Jade nods her head, "Okay true." The drama teacher, Mr. Elting, who is also her English teacher, starts to get on stage and teaches some tips for new actors. Jade starts to pay attention before speaking again in a low voice, "But I've got to say, he's quite the piece of eye candy." Amanda shakes her head and tells her to pay attention to the teacher. 

Amanda won't admit it, but that response annoys her.

A/N

Hey everyone! I'm so sorry it's been so long. This has literally been the hardest chapter I've ever written in all the time I've been writing. It was so hard to find some funny dialogue in for this chapter and I felt I didn't do it justice. But that's okay, it's finished and I hope you liked it, I worked so hard! thank you for those sticking around, i love you all. stay amazing, sent with a hug.

- Mal