"Lavender, can you close my locker for me?" Evelyn asked as she shoved her French notebook into her designer bag.

"Yeah, sure." The locker shuts with a slam and click.

"So did you guys hear about Derek Reynolds?" Nova said. She was constantly gossiping about others.

"No, what happened?" I asked.

"I don't know for sure, you know how he had a thing with that sophomore? So apparently they were pretty serious or something, and they got pretty far, if you know what I mean. I heard he was just leading her on the whole time, and  ended up just quitting on her and totally breaking her heart." Nova said.

"Aw. Poor girl." I said. Derek was just about the biggest player in the junior class, and tended to go for unassuming girls who didn't know his methods.

Meanwhile, Evelyn was glaring at us. "Guys, this isn't news. Derek does stuff like that all the time. Do you have anything at least slightly interesting?"

Nova shrugged, and sipped her coffee. "Well, my sources say that Derek had his eyes on another girl the whole time and-"

"Nova. I thought I already told you to drop it. I don't want to hear anything else about Derek's previous relationships with random underclassmen. It's honestly quite gross and a waste of my time." Evelyn snapped.

When she turned away, Nova rolled her eyes behind her back.

Following Evelyn, we made our way to French, which we all shared 1st period. Evelyn took her usual seat front and center, Nova and I sitting at the desks on either side.

Brady Conners, star quarterback and good friend of Derek, walks into class just before the bell rings. Damn, that boy was fine. But it wasn't going to happen, since he and Evelyn dated at one point during freshman year, and friends don't cross those lines.

"Bonjour, class. Let's get started." Madame Lafleur takes her place at the front of the room. With her dreary voice and relaxed teaching style, it's easy to zone out during class.

As the period goes by, I force myself pay attention and take notes like always. Although French isn't my favorite subject, I still want to keep my grade up.

After the hour ends, the three of us turn our separate ways. I have an important chemistry test next period, and I want to get some last minute studying in.

"Hey, I'll see you at lunch, okay?" Nova says as we exit the classroom.

"Yeah sounds good." I say distractedly, already going over chemical compounds in my head. Whelp, time to go fail a test.

_____

After what seems like eight hours, lunch finally arrived, and I made my way to our usual table, right next to the large windows overlooking the sports fields. At the right times of year, you can see some of the PE classes out there playing different games or sports they've learned.

I'm the first one there, like always, so I pull out my phone while I wait.

Nova shows up shortly after, surprisingly without Evelyn.

"Hey, where's Evelyn? I thought you guys usually walked here together." I questioned.

"I don't know. She said she had to go to the bathroom or something, so she'll probably be here soon. Anyway, what crap has the cafeteria decided to serve today?" Nova said.

"I think it's tuna sandwiches, but it's probably catfish meat instead." I replied.

We both cracked up as Evelyn hurriedly walked over to our table, adjusting her skirt.

"Hey, what took you so long?" Nova asked.

"Oh, nothing, there was just a lot of people waiting in line." Evelyn said quickly.

Hmm. That didn't sound exactly right. Even if there was people waiting for an empty stall, they would have probably let Evelyn go ahead of them. But I decided not to say anything about it, since it was a likely story and no doubt could have actually happened.

I brushed off the thought as I started to listen to the conversation around me. Nova was commenting on everyone's business, and Evelyn was wrinkling her nose in disgust and judging.

"Um, excuse me?" A voice said and all three of us looked up at the same time. A girl stood there holding a tray.

"What?" Evelyn said, giving the girl an icy stare.

"Hey, can I sit here? I'm new, and I don't really know anyone yet." She asked.

"Why should we do that?" Evelyn said disinterestedly.

"Well, I kinda just said it. There's extra seats here, and I don't really have another place to sit."

"No." Evelyn said.

"What?" The girl replied.

"I said no. Now please go away, I'm trying to enjoy my lunch here." Evelyn snapped.

The girl stood there for a second, wide-eyed, then turned away. I thought I heard her choke back a snort as she walked off.

"Evelyn, don't you think that was a little bit rude of you?" I observed.

"How was it rude? I was telling her the cold hard truth, which was what she needed to hear." Well, someone was in an especially bad mood today.

"But what if she tries to sit with us again?" Nova asked.

"She can't be that desperate. If she's a good person and doesn't bother us again, we don't do anything about her. If she keeps persisting, we destroy her."