Whisper in the Dead Man's ear

James didn't usually eat in the cafeteria. Usually, he'd grab something that came in a wrapper or a box and take it to the roof, or the courtyard, or someplace where there weren't any people around to watch him. But today? He couldn't. It was raining. Really pouring, the kind of weather he loved but couldn't go out in. He was stuck.

So he bought a cup of fruit salad, a carton of fries, and a bottle of soda, and tried to decide if he should stay in the cafeteria or not. He could go to the ballroom, or one of the empty classrooms on the third floor, but neither option was very appealing. If he had to choose between the musty old third floor and the cafeteria... Thirty minutes in the midst of his peers wouldn't hurt, he decided.

Spotting a tall, dark boy sitting by himself in the corner, he hesitantly made his way over and placed his food a few seats away. "I'm not... I don't want to talk to you or anything." He reassured the boy, sitting down and unwrapping his spork. "When people see me sitting places by myself, sometimes they try to be nice and sit with me. It's strange. But you look really antisocial, so I figured I could sit here and you wouldn't want to talk to me and no one else would try." He pushed copper hair back out of his eyes, oversized black sleeve falling up his arm. "Okay?"

James pulled a thin book from his backpack, turning his full attention to the pages and his fruit salad and politely ignoring the pale boy across from him as per their agreement. He hadn't looked directly at him since he was standing by the cash register with his food and trying to figure out where to sit, and the boy's curious teeth and pale red eyes escaped his notice. All he knew was that the boy was pale and black-haired and tall, and sat by himself at lunch looking sleepy. That was enough for him.

He glanced up in the boy's general direction, a little surprised to hear him actually speak. He'd expected a grunt of approval or dismissal at the very most - he looked too lazy or tired to raise an objection, part of the reason James had dared to sit near him. He shrugged, turning back to his book and spearing a piece of pineapple. "Nothing wrong with you that I can see," He mumbled, trying to be polite. He didn't mind himself, but some people objected to being called anti-social. He should have said sleepy or quiet instead. "And there's nothing unhealthy about being by yourself, either." He added, a little defensively, eyes still trained studiously on the book.

He looked up again, this time daring to study the person's face for a few moments. "Your eyes are red," He mumbled without thinking, the only thing he could see that might be considered wrong with the boy. He turned his attention to salting his fries, embarrassed with himself. He wasn't sure why he had said it. He tended to say stupid things in conversations with strangers - and why was he having a conversation with this guy, anyway? The whole point of sitting with him was to avoid talking. His brilliant plan of attaining solitude by sitting next to an antisocial shut-in wasn't working out as well as he'd hoped.

Lonely? There! So it wasn't his plan that was at fault - this guy just wasn't as unsociable as he'd thought. Next time he'd have to make sure the person in question was actually a misanthropic shut-in before walking over. "Oh. Sorry," He said awkwardly, uncertain of what to do. "If you're bored being by yourself, you should sit with someone else." He offered considerately, twisting open the cap of his soda and trying to avoid looking at the other boy.

James frowned, glancing up with the intention of studying him, trying to ascertain what it was that was so wrong. But the boy was looking directly at him, and Jamie quickly ducked his head and pretended to be interested his book, embarrassed at having been caught sneaking a glance at him. This was not going as he planned. He picked at a fry, finally offering "Not that I think there's anything wrong with them. Your eyes, I mean," awkwardly, trying to undo the presumed damage.

He pushed the hair out of his eyes, took a sip of soda, and tried to concentrate on his book. He'd just ignore the guy, and then he'd stop talking to him and making him nervous. He didn't like talking to strangers, trying to think of quick answers and retorts. But the boy's last comment sparked his interest, and he found himself replying against his better judgment. "It's noon. Why are you tired?" he asked quietly, dipping a fry in the puddle of ketchup in the corner of the carton.

Alice had forgotten to ask if it was alright to fly in the city, and ended up spending the morning on the ground, getting more of what she needed from stores that were open so early: boot polish, a sewing kit, a book-bag, little things. Then she had to get things on the list that the school provided. Some simply did not make sense: a ten-pound bag of obsidian rocks, vials of liquefied camphor in one-ounce perfume containers, other things... By the time she had everything, it was almost noon.

***

Alice rushed as fast as she could, trying to keep her skirt from snagging on the corners of open doors and stairs. She had not eaten at all during the morning, and by the time she put her purchases back in her room, lunch was halfway through. To make matters worse, the school was more like an expanse of wings rather than compacted and connected halls. She kept her attentions to herself as she rushed though, rejecting the idea of looking around. A promise was a promise.

When she finally found a room with long tables and dining students, she thought she had lucked out. She looked to her watch, which read that lunch ought to be over. Then she noticed...the hands weren't moving...

Her lunch was almost mythically proportioned by the time she left the line, loaded with a candy apple, a glass of orange juice, and a massive bowl of spiced penne rosa with four cheeses that took the rest of the wooden tray's space up. When she left, it occurred to her that rushing in like she did, and being new, probably had something to do with the occasional suspicious glance. She smiled sheepishly to them all, as if apologizing for being a sudden oddity.

Alex dreaded the cafeteria. Not only was it noisy and smelly but the large mass of people was always a source of a huge amount of thought noise. Even on good days when Alex could keep the hundreds of student’s thoughts to a manageable level she still experienced headaches and migraines that ranged from, painful to skull splittingly painful. So normally Alex would either go off campus to eat at lunch, grab a little extra for breakfast, or simply skip it all together. Unfortunately today after discovering Alice already gone Alex inadvertently sulked her way through breakfast and didn’t leave her room. Alex was concerned that she might have frightened Alice off, yes Alex read the note Alice left but still wondered if it was true. Alice was a nice person, Alex thought, and that couida just been the most polite way she could blow Alex off. Again Alex couldn’t help but be embarrassed about how Alice threw her off her game so much, it was downright embarrassing.

Alex stood at the threshold staring nervously at the door. She had the look of a person standing at the open hatch of an air plane waiting to jump, and in a way Alex was. With a deep sigh she stepped into the room and was immediately over whelmed by the thoughts of the people in there. She struggled to keep herself up and braced herself against the wall as she took several pained breaths. She wasn’t as prepared for this as she thought. Finally after a few minutes she regained her composer, and rubbed the side of her head. She thought her brain was about to burst out of her ears but she could at least manage that.

After a few tedious minutes in line looking at one unappealing moral of food after another Alex finally came to what looked like a ham and cheese sandwich, or at least she prayed that it was a ham and cheese sandwich and some lemonade. She was about to leave when out of the corner of her eye she noticed something that made her smile. It was Alice. She froze for a second, locked up by indecisiveness. She could leave and eat her miserably excuse of a meal in piece, for reasons that still frustrated her, Alex wanted to be around Alice. Take a few breathes to build up her courage and steeled herself to endure more of the nauseating pain she was experiencing and strolled up behind Alice.

“So early riser.” Alex said, hiding her pain behind a smile. “How was your morning?”