The lunch room boomed with voices as students gathered to chat with their friends before heading off to the rest of their classes. Around me, other students were forking down a variety of foods from one of the five lunch lines, not really paying attention to what was going on outside of their own tables. Many were laughing, some were whispering quietly, others giggling as they gossiped, and a few more focused on the televisions near their tables.
I waited, alone, at my lunch table, with a tray filled with country baked steak, mashed potatoes, chocolate milk, and a roll. Blake came over with his tray of food and sat across from me at our four person booth. He was young, of above-average height, with a rather slender but muscular build and lightly tanned skin. Ears perkier than most, he had thick ash blond hair, which was combed into a fade away from his forehead, and his eyes were sharp and shrill, bright blue in color.
Blake jumped straight to today's school day drama. "Troy, you have to forgive David sometime."
"No, I don't. The idiot backstabbed me. I told him in confidence Cindy Martin is my crush, then he goes and spits that out to her. Now she won't talk to me."
"She barely talked to you in the first place," Blake teased.
"Not yet, but we were getting there. We're on the same basketball team in gym, and I thought we were really getting to know each other. Now everything is just awkward between us."
"Blake, it's because you make it awkward. You have to loosen up some. You're too shy."
"I just like to take things slow, Blake. I'm not like you."
In all realness, I envied Blake. He was everything I wanted to be. Athletic, fit, confident, funny, and he was very social. I wasn't good at any of those things; I was just average. Everything I've ever tried, I was average. Not good or bad, but in the middle of the crowd.
"Troy, look. There are plenty of hot females to talk to. I'll even help you find someone."
I chuckled. "But other girls aren't Cindy. Sure, she isn't the prettiest or smartest girl in school, but she's into everything I'm into. She's adventurous, active, funny, and that smile… man, that smile. It's like the--" I tried to think of some cheesy comparison fast. "--the most beautiful smile I've ever seen," I finished, unable to come up with anything.
Blake laughed. "You're pitiful, Troy. Come on, you couldn't have come up with anything better?" He prepped his impression of me. "--and she has the most beautiful smile." His spot-on impression of me made me laugh with him.
"Blake, give me a break. I think I'm in love."
He roared with laughter. His chest heaved as he couldn't contain himself. "Troy, you wouldn't know love if it slapped you in the back of the neck."
"And you know more?"
"Probably. I'm dating someone right now. That's more than you can say."
"Well… that's not a bad point."
"See."
"I was just hoping Cindy would be my first girlfriend. But maybe it's not meant to be."
"You just gotta stop being such a creep around girls. Try and get some practice before talking to the smoking hot ones."
"Yeah, I'm just a big weirdo." I laughed.
A few tables down, Blake and I noticed some shenanigans going down. "That's the new kid, right?" I asked Blake to make sure, but I was pretty sure of the answer. Our school is in a small town, with a small enrollment class. It's the type of place where you know everybody and everybody knows you.
"Yeah. That's him. He just came from Michigan yesterday."
"What's his name?" I asked.
"Don't know. But people already say he's trouble."
At the table, the new kid was speaking with a group of freshmen. He, like me and Blake, were sophomores. I could see he was locked in a heated discussion with the kids. Tempers flared to a fire as one kid stood up to face him. The freshman looked like a fourth grader compared to this new kid - this new bully. That's when the bully pushed the kid back into his seat. Their whole table grew silent, and the bully traveled over to us.
He sat next to me, the smaller individual when comparing Blake to myself. "Alright, look ladies, this is how it's going to be. I'm the new boss of this school. If you want somebody beat up, you come to me. If you want to be beaten up, you come to me. Now, if I come to you, I want something, and you better be prepared to give it to me. It's time to spread the word around, you hear?"
He was about to leave when I shouted something at him. I don't know what came over me, call it a brave moment or foolish blunder.
"And what if we don't?"
The new kid looked back at me and smiled. He leaned in closer to me and grabbed my shirt, then twisted it into a ball with slow turns and stared me straight in the eyes.
"If you don't, then your first ass kickin' comes right now. Haha, you know what you are? You're a half-breed; one black parent, and another white. You're a mongrel." The bully was now attacking my skin color.
Blake, who was completely unfazed by this new kid's attitude, got up from his seat. He marched up to the new kid and gave him a shove, causing him to let go of my shirt. Both of them then stood head-to-head, but the new kid had about twice the mass as Blake.
"Get off him. You aren't a bloody king, and you sure don't run this place. In fact, you aren't even worthy of being called a peasant."
As testosterone filled the air, I couldn't help hoping for a teacher to walk over. The problem with our table was the seclusion. This small part of the cafeteria was hidden from the view of the supervision of teachers.
The new kid gave Blake a shove backward. "I don't think you understand your place. I'm a black belt in karate. I'll knock you out before you can scream for your mother."
By this time, we'd drawn a crowd. All the kids from the nearby tables moved their seats and held their newest Sparkarc phones high in the air, hoping to capture the brawl for their social media pages.
"If that's true, then answer me this question. Does a roundhouse kick to the temple require the kicker to use his toes or foot to complete the move correctly?"
"Foot, dah," the new kid answered.
Blake flicked his fingers back and forth. "Nope, incorrect."
"And how do you know?"
"Because I've been taking karate lessons since I was six!" Blake yelled.
The new kid didn't blink. He cracked his knuckles and flexed his jaw, then let a punch go, launching a Hail Mary swing at Blake's jaw. Blake ducked and let the kid's momentum carry his body closer to himself, then jabbed the kid right in the gut. Stunned, the kid hunched over in pain, and that's when Blake kneed him in the face. His head flung backward and smacked the hard floor.
Blake spat down at the kid. "Its 2023, and we still have racists! How sad."
Blake walked over to me and let the new kid run off to where he came from. The crowd was cheering for Blake. His already popular reputation just doubled in size.
Now sitting at our booth again, we let the cheers cease and waited for some privacy before speaking again.
I said, "Sometimes the only reason I think you hang out with me is because we've known each other since we were five."
"Come on, Troy. I hang out with you because you're cooler than some of these suck-up wannabes. You see me as a friend, not the school quarterback. When we talk, it's real talk."
I smiled, feeling better about myself. "You know, Blake, you're a cool kid. Not because you're the quarterback, but because you have a solid mix of heart and charm."
Blake chuckled. "That's not the only thing I have. Check this out."
He pulled out a map from his backpack and laid it down on the table. It was a map of the St. Bernard Asylum. Every room layout was drawn on the map. Its design was a non-batwing Kirkbride Plan asylum, meaning it was asymmetrical and designed to keep inmates mostly inside.
"I know it's early, but Happy Birthday! Now we can finally go investigate this place!"
Surprised, I mustered a half-smile. "I don't know, Blake."
"Troy, what was the one thing you told me you loved to read, watch, and learn about?"
"The supernatural," I answered him.
"And this here is your chance. It's your dream, and I'm not going to let you waste this opportunity."
"But you heard the news: Stay indoors at night. They say we might have a serial killer snooping around our town, remember?"
"That serial killer has only attacked people in the city. Our town may be close, but he or she would be a fool to come here."
"Why? He could be hiding in the abandoned town of Heartstone. And last I checked, St. Bernard Asylum is rather close to the town."
"And both are many dozens of miles from where his target area is. We'll be fine."
I sighed. "Alright. I guess we'll check it out. Just don't forget your gear."
"I won't," he said as the lunch bell rang. "Wanna hit up Beefcake Burrito first?"
"Eww, no. You know I hate that place. Plus, I heard on the news they're suspected of using untraditional meat in their food items."
Blake laughed. "Yeah, I remember Aaron loved that place. Too bad he moved away."
The mention of our former friend Aaron almost took me off my feet. "Too bad," I agreed swiftly.
The last thing I wanted was to remember the dark shadow tied to me and Aaron, haunting the deepest parts of my mind. I shivered.
"Well, anyway, I'll see you tonight, then. Meet me outside the asylum at six in the afternoon by the main gates."
"You're on." I nodded.
We both picked up our unfinished lunch trays and tossed the scraps in the trash before heading to our next classes.