*****
The lunchtime bell echoed through the school’s corridors, and soon those corridors were filled with chatter, laughter, and stampeding footsteps heading in the general direction of the cafeteria. Kyle exited his geometry class and joined the parade of students. He knew Vance usually beat everyone to the cafeteria almost every day, sitting his backpack down on their usual table near the rear of the cafeteria to reserve it while he stood in line for lunch. As Kyle entered the large open doors to the cafeteria, he spotted Vance’s backpack on their table and shuffled his way through the crowd to set his backpack down.
The food lines were long now, and Kyle walked over to join one. As he stood in line, he spotted Adam walking towards their table to set his backpack down. Their small conversation in the hallway before their first class entered his mind. He thought Adam was obsessed with Kinkaid and he shouldn’t be, but something else disturbed him. Once they all returned to the table to eat, he would bring it up.
Kyle couldn’t take his eyes off of Vance as he headed back to their table. With two opened orange juice containers sitting on either side of his tray, Vance was devouring his pepperoni pizza. As Kyle approached their table with his tray of food, he watched as Vance glanced up at him and smiled, exposing the partially chewed food inside his mouth. What a pig, Kyle thought. Nevertheless, he smiled back then took a seat next to him.
“You always show me the food in your mouth. You’re so gross,” Kyle joked after he sat down and began opening his own orange juice.
While still chewing, Vance muttered, “You know you yove it. Dat’s why I do it. Mmmm…dis pizzas good.”
Kyle smiled and shook his head as wisps of steam rose from the whole kernel corn on his tray. He slid off a pat of butter and watched it melt between the kernels. He wasn’t sure why, but the corn at school tasted much better than the corn his mother made. Every time it was served for lunch, he was sure to get as much as he could. With expertise, he maneuvered his spork from his tray to his mouth, hauling heaping mounds of sweet corn each time. Between his unrelenting scooping and chewing, he saw Adam approaching. After helping himself to a few more scoops, he set his spork down and took a long sip from his orange juice. Vance greeted Adam the same way he greeted Kyle; with a food-filled smile and Adam responded by turning away jokingly. Kyle began thinking of a non-confrontational way to ask Adam a specific question. There was an inconsistency that only Adam could clear up, but instead of pouncing on Adam immediately, he allowed him to begin his meal while the three of them shared some brief conversations.
Vance finished his lunch first and Kyle chuckled at how fast he finished his food while enjoying a chocolate Hostess cupcake. Adam was just munching on the last of his fries. During this comfortable silence, Kyle said,
“Hey Adam. What did you do yesterday after school?”
“I don’t remember. What’s up?”
“Oh, I called you a little after six o’clock and your mom said you weren’t home.”
“I really don’t remember what I was doing.”
“Did you go outside?”
“What’s with all the questions?”
“Nothing! I was just curious, that’s all.”
“Well, I don’t remember what I was doing.”
“Geez Kyle. You sound like a lawyer or something,” Vance joked.
“Doesn’t he?” Adam agreed.
Kyle backed off and agreed with both explaining, “I’m sorry, dude. I was just curious, that’s all.”
Kyle’s curiosity pushed Adam a little further than he intended, but he still was unsure about some things. With Vance’s unintended help, Adam avoided answering Kyle’s questions. Something very weird was happening with Adam, and Kyle wasn’t finished asking questions.