Obligatory Cafeteria Scene

Funny thing, uniforms.

Sarah scowled, meeting her reflection's eyes in the rearview mirror. Her skirt itched. This is your fault.

Oh, yeah, they took away your car too, didn't they.

At least she still had a chauffeur. But she missed her car. She'd only had it for three months. Maybe she could break into one of the faculty's vehicles and go for a joyride, like one of the seniors had done back in Norfolk. But no. Even the thought felt like too much effort. Pointless fantasizing. Really, though, it would probably be faster for her to walk instead. The traffic at this hour was crazy. It should've been a five-minute drive, but it had taken them half an hour to reach.

As they approached Higan Academy, Sarah clocked the unspoken question in her chauffeur's eyes and shook her head. "Go round the back," she instructed. "There's another entrance somewhere which leads to the carpark. Just need to find it." As they glided past, she heard the sound of sirens and twisted around in her seat. There was a police car coasting to a stop outside the school gates, having escaped the gridlock unscathed. A few of the students were gawking.

I've seen that guy. He gets around.
Who?
The guy getting out of the police car? He's on a first-name basis with most of the cops in the city.
Okay? I don't care?
That time of the month, huh?

She was getting better at not rising to the bait. And anyway he always knew when she was on her period.

They went in by the back. As her chauffeur took the car to a gentle stop, Sarah thanked him and headed inside. Clutched in her hand was a rough map of Higan. With providential ease she wound her way to the administrative office, ignoring the occasional whisper as she passed. She'd been expecting this, honestly, but the atmosphere was still leagues better than how it'd been back in Norfolk, after everything that had happened. Especially with him whispering in her ear. At least they were both new.

Who's that?
Haven't seen her before.
Her skirt's a little short.

Sarah tugged at the hem of her skirt. She passed a boy and caught a glimpse of the back of her head in his mind's eye, ponytail swinging. His gaze shifted downwards, taking in her rear. She turned and glared.

Yeah, watch it, buddy, I was here first.

Pause.

Holy shit, what a midget. At least I was never that short. Think he's our age?
Do you ever shut up?
For you? Never.

The rotund secretary at the front desk grunted as she reached the counter. There were still a few more documents to clear, and then she was done. Her parents had gotten most of it out of the way over the weekend. Sarah flipped through the papers, signing as she went. There was an ulcer on her lip; it stung as she poked it with her tongue. As the bell on the door dinged again, she felt eyes alight on the back of her neck. Her nose picked up the overpowering scent of Spice Girls Impulse.

"Rhee Yerin?" Trying a bit too hard to pronounce her surname, there. Sarah turned.

"Sarah's fine."

"Oh! You speak Japanese. Wonderful! I'm Madoka Onguuchi, Public Relations Officer. Welcome to Higan Academy!"

Those are some nice tits.
You're disgusting.
She's protected, though, is the problem.
Oh, please. Like you'd let a little thing like a restraining order stop you.
You can't see it? She glows. Shines, more like. Heh.

Madoka was nice. She was clearly curious why she'd transferred in the middle of the school year, but was polite enough not to press, so points for that. ("Oh, you know, the American school year is very different from Japan's...") She'd shown signs of wanting to bring her on a whirlwind tour of the school, but had eased off when Sarah indicated that she was kind of in a rush to find her classroom. Though she had strongly encouraged her to join a club. Fortunately, Sarah had checked the orientation papers and they clearly stated that joining a club was not compulsory.

She slipped in by the back and staked out her spot in the corner. A few people glanced at her as she lined up her pencils. Some came over to introduce themselves. Sarah said hi, memorized their names, winced inwardly at how some of the boys stared at her just that little bit too long. She was more sensitive about that sort of thing these days.

The teacher came in, eyes immediately gravitating to her. Sarah knew the drill. She went up to the front, recited her typical introduction ("Hi, I'm Yerin, but you can call me Sarah... I just transferred in from the United States... please take care of me... etc.") and returned to her seat. Spent the rest of class taking notes. She was actually slightly ahead of the curriculum, but they were all speaking in Japanese, which made it a bit (a lot) harder to follow. So that was what she was focusing on instead of the content itself. She had the grammar and orthography down, more or less, it was just the vocabulary that was still tripping her up.

Madoka had invited her to lunch, which was nice of her. And she had her cell. According to her, the student council made it a habit to lunch with new transfers. Sarah was torn. On the one hand, she wasn't a great fan of cafeterias. On the other hand, Madoka was nice.

You really should join them for lunch, you know. There's something going on there.
If you're so curious you can go and snoop around yourself.
Nah. I need a distraction.

Sarah stared into space for a few moments.

They can see you?

His silence spoke a thousand words.

Is someone at Higan doing this?
No. It's Kageoka. Well, some of the kids here are more special than others. Tits McGee's one of them. But she didn't spot me. Not very bright, that one.
Maybe I ought to meet the student council for lunch then. See if they can get rid of you for me.

More silence. This one was more ominous.

He was still silent when the bell rang. A bunch of girls came over to invite her to lunch; Sarah said she was lunching with the student council, but agreed that they really should eat together next time.

After she went to the bathroom, she started to hunt for the cafeteria. Turned left, right, left again. Passed by the same lecture theatre twice. Cursed when she realized that she'd left her map of Higan in the classroom. This place was a maze. How had she ended up in this corner of the school? It was so empty. Well, except for that boy over there. "Hi."

He ignored her.

"Hi, sorry. Where's the cafeteria?"

He responded only when she tapped his shoulder. There was a stack of posters in a cardboard box at his feet. One of them was on the wall. Sarah glanced at it, briefly unnerved by the sheer garish excess on display, and missed the way his eyes lit up as they tracked over her face.

"You're not wearing makeup."
"I'm sorry?"

"You want makeup?" The boy rummaged in his satchel and pulled out a scuffed kit., opening it with a flourish. "I can do your makeup. You need makeup. I need an actress. Acceptable exchange?"

"I don't need makeup." Anyway, why do you care if I'm wearing makeup or not? Weirdo. The air in Kageoka had done wonders for her acne. Small mercies. "I was asking where the cafeteria is." Maybe he was slow.

"Oh." The boy blinked, the light vanishing from his eyes. "It's... that way." He gestured vaguely at the corridor behind her and resumed ignoring her.

Oh, he's like you. Haunted.
What?
His camera. If you really try, you can see it too.

There was a camera sticking out of his satchel, actually. Sarah tilted her head and squinted, feeling like an idiot. She didn't see anything.

"Kurosawa-san," from behind them. Sarah turned and saw a tall boy approaching, a diminutive slip of a girl tagging along behind him, most of her face obscured by a curtain of hair. He met her eyes and smiled an easy smile, eyes crinkling. "Oh, hello. You must be the new transfer student. Sarah, was it?"

"Sarah, yes."

"Arakawa Itsurō." She'd seen smiles like that at a dozen gala dinners. She knew how fake they were. "And this is Rin. Satou-san. We were just catching up with Kurosawa-san - Kenji - on one of his films." The girl behind him straightened up briefly, avoided meeting her eyes, and managed a sickly wave.

The boy with the posters (Kenji?) flipped on a dime. Sarah glanced at him and saw that he was manic again. "Oh, yes! The third movie in the ZomBible trilogy! We're looking for a damsel in distress, and you'd be perfect for the role! Very classical, absolutely." His hand twitched for his camera.

("We?" Rin mumbled.)

"We were going for lunch together," Arakawa continued smoothly, forcing the shorter boy to fall into step behind him. Sarah found that she was following him as well. She hadn't noticed. "You must remember to eat, Kenji. How else will you find the energy to direct?" As an aside to her: "Kenji runs the Film Appreciation Club."

"You're saying it wrong! It's the FILM APPRECIATION CLUB!!!"

That's three exclamation marks. How is he doing that?

Sarah had no idea. She watched, mildly entertained, as the two boys went back and forth about random films, until they turned a corner and the entrance to the cafeteria loomed up before them. "I had no idea the cafeteria was so close," she said. "This place is a maze."

"It really is," Arakawa agreed. "You have a prior engagement?"

"Uh, Madoka Onguuchi?" Sarah squinted into the distance. She could just barely see Madoka in the center of the cafeteria, sandwiched between a huge brute of a boy and a dark-haired girl wearing a jumper over her uniform. There was a boy with chin-length hair with his back to her. "It's my first day. She invited me to lunch."

"Do you mind if I give you a piece of advice?"

Sarah looked at him.

"Try to broaden your horizons. The student council can be a bit... set in their ways." This was said casually, as if a simple joke, but Sarah had a hunch that it wasn't that simple. "It's always good to seek out alternative viewpoints."

Sarah inclined her head a smidge and headed off, slightly unnerved.

The cafeteria was more crowded than Norfolk's had ever been, probably because Higan was just bigger. Still there were some standouts. Sarah had noticed a table with at least two Europeans, one of them a natural blonde, and the rest Japanese. One of the girls from Madoka's table was on her way over to them, a wide smile on her face. There were a lot of midgets at this school.

As she sat, Sarah noticed that the smile on Madoka's face was a bit more fixed than before. "Sarah! You made it."

Introductions were made. They'd saved a bento for her. As she unpacked her utensils, Madoka leaned in. "You were talking to Arakawa-san just now."

"Oh, yeah. I got lost on the way to the cafeteria."

Madoka hummed and said nothing.

I thought she was just padding her bra, but those puppies are all natural.
Oh my god, can you shut up?