Marshall

      The cafeteria smelt like a toxic cloud of awfulness composed of different bits of gross creamed corn, green beans, and baked potatoes that the lunch ladies were serving for lunch today. I stared in horror at one of the giggly freshman girls passing with a tray of the heinous muck. It was highly possible that I was going to puke.

  I decided to go to the Grill and grab a somewhat acceptable hamburger instead of complete crap. Hamburger in hand, I craned my neck to scan the cafeteria, hoping that one of the guys had second lunch. I so did not want to sit by myself on the first day of senior year. Or better yet, some ridiculous group of preppy girls that think if they get on my good side I’ll introduce them to Justin or Nick.

 Hah. As if.

 I almost let out a shout of relief when I caught sight of a familiar head of tousled dark hair and black rimmed glasses. It was definitely good news that Alec Hastings had this lunch. If anything, Alec was the most sensible one out of our entire group and always thought with a straight head before he acted on anything. Sure, he got a lot of shit from a lot of people about the things he did – or rather, didn’t do – but he was a good guy and I’m glad he’d been in my life for so long.

   I did this weird half jog thing to get to the table Alec was sitting at before any more people could take a seat and quickly sat down beside him.

 Alec glanced up in surprise and gave a half smile when he recognized me.

  “Hey, man,” he said in his deep, somewhat calming voice. “It’s been awhile. What’s up?”

   Alec was right. It had been a while since we’d all last hung out as a group. He probably would have hitched a ride with Justin and the rest of us this morning to school, but he’d mentioned something a few days ago about having to take his two younger brothers – John and Jason – to school today.

   “Same ol’, same ol’,” I replied, giving a noncommittal shrug.

 “So, you’ve pretty much been silently obsessing over Avery and avoiding the guys because you don’t want to get ragged on 24/7?”

  “Yep. Pretty much.”

Alec gave me a somewhat pathetic look that I quickly ignored, ducking my head to quickly unwrap my cheeseburger. 

 That was sort of how sad my life was at the moment. 

  We chattered for a few moments about how our first day of school was going, but other than that, we were quiet. I was glad that Alec was in my life. He was easy to talk to and didn't nag a lot. 

  That was something Jack and Nick needed to learn. 

I'd barely taken a few bites out of my cheeseburger before someone was knocking into the side of th etable and my head nearly collided with Alec's thick AP Lit textbook.

 "Thank Jesus you two have this lunch," Nick sighed heavily, unwrapping a chicken sandwich as he babbled away. "I thought I was going to have to sit all by myself."

 "Uh, Nick?" Alec said, glancing around shiftily. "I hate to break it to you, but - "

Alec could barely finish his sentence before we were interrupted by another arrival of one of the guys of our group. Thankfully it was Justin this time. He could be counted on to actually shut up if need be. 

 "We're just missing Jack," Nick noted as Justin took a seat across the table from the two of us. "Too bad the group's not all here."

 "And Avery," I blurted without thinking.

Nick cut me a look, his lips pursed and his eyebrows raised. "Oh, of course. Musn't forget Avery."

 I glared in response and threw the rest of my cheeseburger at him on an impulse. 

I don't know what I was expecting, but I was definitely not expecting Justin to whip out an arm and catch the offending piece of food before it could smack Nick in the face.

 "It's the first day of school, dobe," Justin said disapprovingly, thrusting the cheeseburger back at me. "Try to stay out of trouble, okay?"

  "He started it."

 "Big baby."

 "Okay, that was so - "

"Shut up, the pair of you."

  Avery slunk into a seat beside Justin, dropping her things onto the ground beside her. I was relieved to see that she didn't look nearly as terrifying as she did this morning, but there was still a somewhat steely look in her eyes.

  "It's only lunch and you two are already getting into a fight?" she asked, a disapproving scowl on her pretty face as she examined Nick and me. 

  I gave a noncomittal grunt and quickly dropped my gaze from hers to the table. It'd be pretty awesome if I didn't turn red in the face, thanks very much. 

  I did my best to distract myself while the guys and Avery chattered about how their first day of school was going so far. But there were only so many shapes you could find in some tabletop. 

  What I really wanted to do was escape back to the art studio and draw the first thing that came to mind. It couldn't be helped. Drawing was my thing. Well, I was pretty good at playing bass, and I enjoyed music, don't get me wrong, but drawing was the one thing that actually gave me peace of mind. It was like the second I picked up a pencil and put it to paper, all of my worries and struggles flew out the window and I could actually think for once. 

  Needless to say, I didn't exactly divulge that information to anyone else. I knew I could trust the guys (at least some of them) but my art was my secret. I'd share it if and when I'm ready. God only knew when that would be. 

 Probably about the same time I'd get up the courage to tell Avery how I felt about her. 

"Oh, oh, oh, Marshall, what's this?"

 I jerked my head up in surprise, my jaw dropping in horror as I saw Nick flipping through the one thing that he had no business looking at. 

  My sketchbook.

I leapt up out of my seat faster than I thought possible and lunged across the table at Nick, trying and failing to yank my sketchbook out of his grasp. 

  "Give that back!" I growled, my eyes narrowing. 

"What's the big idea, Marshall?" Nick asked innocently, going all wide eyed. "It's just a sketchbook, right?" 

  "Yeah, and it's mine."

At this point I was surprised Nick hadn't fallen off the tabletop from how far I was leaning across the table to grab at the sketchbook. And damn it, it still wasn't working. 

 "Honestly."

I wasn't sure whether I was supposed to be relieved or horrified when Avery reached over and plucked my sketchbook out of Nick's hand, sending a few loose pieces of paper fluttering to the ground. 

 Too late now, I thought dismally. The damage's already done.

Avery flipped through my sketchbook with a somewhat shocked look on her face, her dark eyes skimming over the drawings on each page before flipping to the next one. 

  I swallowed hard, my fists clenched at my sides, waiting for the moment when Avery was going to tell me my art work sucked beyond all belief. 

  "These are amazing," she finally said quietly after a moment, handing me back my sketchbook.

I took the sketchbook with fumbling hands, quickly tucking it away with my other school things.

  "Thanks," I mumbled, my throat feeling cracked and dry. 

"Say, these are pretty good," Nick joined in cheerily as he glanced over the loose drawings Justin had just finished picking up. 

  "Why didn't you tell us you draw?" Avery asked me, frowning slightly. 

I shrugged a shoulder. "No reason. Just a passtime." 

  "I think this one is meant for you, Avery," Alec interjected in an undertone, handing a sketch to Avery across the table. 

 I almost fainted.

 The drawing was of Avery. 

  I'd gotten the inspiration for the drawing from the 4th of July party Justin had at his place over this past summer. Yet another spectacular bout of fireworks had been going off overhead while our group was stretched out across blankets on the back lawn, and when I'd looked over at Avery on a whim, the expression on her face had said it all. 

  So as soon as I could, I grabbed my sketchbook and started to draw.

Avery was now holding the outcome of that endeavor. 

  She glanced back up at me, color dotting her cheeks, looking embarrassed and flattered at the same time. "You drew this?" 

  "Over the summer. 4th of July," I answered quickly, trying not to stumble over my words. "I was bored, what can I say?" 

  Justin rammed an elbow into Nick's side before he could comment in on that statement. 

Thankfully the bell rang then, signaling the end of lunch. I stayed frozen in my spot while all of the other kids around us started getting to their feet, leaving the cafeteria. 

  "C'mon, Marshall," Alec said, giving me a nudge when I still didn't move. "We've got Music this hour."

  Music. Oh, joy. Music was with the guys. 

I stood quickly, gathering my things together, and was surprised to see Avery reaching out to hand me back the picture I'd drawn of her.

  "No, keep it."

She looked just as surprised as I felt.

  "Really?" she asked, sort of breathlessly.

I attempted a half smile. "Sure." 

  "Thanks, Marshall." 

She carefully tucked the drawing in her bag, like she didn't want to break it or something, before she turned back to me and smiled, flashing her straight white teeth. 

 "See you around."

And then she disappeared from sight, blending in to the clump of students crowding around the cafeteria doors to get to class. 

"You're welcome, Marshall."

I glared over at Nick, gritting my teeth. "And what are you taking credit for, Petrolas?"

 Nick shrugged nonchalantly, straightening out his black shirt after hopping down from the lunch table. "Getting you and Avery together, of course." 

  I rolled my eyes, snorting. "Yeah, like that's ever gonna happen."

"You're too negative, man," Alec said, shrugging a shoulder. "Maybe if you actually talked to her, you know. You might be surprised at what she says."

 Glancing over at Alec, I realized that he was avoiding looking me in the eye while he gathered his things together. This could only mean one thing, because Alec never avoided facing something head on. 

 "Alec, what aren't you telling me?" I asked him, trying to sound perfectly at ease.

 I failed, of course, but that wasn't the point right then. 

  "Nothing," Alec responded immediately.

His voice was a little off, but he managed to avoid suspicion from the other guys. Not from me, however. 

 I was going to have to let it go for right now, because we all had to get to Music or we were going to be late. 

  We chattered aimlessly while he followed the clumps of people flooding the hallways towards their respective classes. 

 Well, that had certainly been an interesting lunch. I could only wonder with dread about what the rest of this day was going to bring. 

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Oh my Gosh!!! D: I am so sorry that it took me so long to update! I've been really busy lately with school and life and I'm really sorry I wasn't able to update sooner! D: 

  So I know this chapter wasn't too long, but hopefully I can make it up to you guys with the next few chapters! (: 

 As always, any reads, votes, and comments are always greatly appreciated! (: