THE JOCK JUST WANTS THE NERD [2]

7

||JACKSON||

I was awoken by the sound of snoring. Begrudgingly lifting my eyelids, I groaned and sat up from bed. Rubbing my eyes, I turned to look at Damian who was sleeping in such a weird position. His mouth was ajar and had kicked off his blanket to the floor as well. Stretching myself, I stood up and popped my neck and back with some gentle twists. I bent down and picked up my phone I left charging overnight. Glancing over the loud sleeping beast, I slipped on a pair of slippers I brought in my backpack and quietly exited myself out of the room. Making my way into the other building where the cafeteria is, a line had already formed in the counter area where they served food. Sighing, I tried to fall in along with the rest of the people. I tapped my foot with my hands in pockets as I waited. I noticed that from a distance, students were inputting some kind of code into a pad which I didn't know why. Curious, I tapped the shoulder of a girl in front of me and grabbed her attention. Turning towards me with a questioning look, I asked, "hey uhh... I saw that people are typing in something in that number pad, why are they doing that?" I said.

"That's how you pay for your lunch. You have to add in your lunch ID and stuff," she shrugged.

Looking clueless and embarrassed, I didn't know my password, "erm... sorry I'm very new here, but where do I get or find my code?" I asked her with shame.

"If you're new, you should be able to find your numbers in your documents. If you for some reason decided to through away your important papers, which you should not do, by the way, you can ask the information center in the main faculty building," she explained. Nodding my head, I thanked her for her generosity and excused myself. Going back to my dorm room as silent as I could, I slowly creaked the door open. Surprisingly, Damian was still in deep slumber but in a different position. Rummaging through the contents of my bag, I found my folder and pulled out my forms. Skimming through each sheet, I found it in my details section. Seeing how it was an eight-digit figure, there was no way I could memorize it right away. I took a picture of it instead and passed by Damian who was murmuring something with his eyes closed, "stop... don't be angry..." he said in a soft voice. What the hell was that about? Shaking my head an ignoring his bizarre dream. I returned to the canteen. The line had surprisingly shortened but still had new kids in the queue. Returning to it, I finally got to the front in a few minutes and pulled out my phone to check on the code. Darting back and forth from my device and the pad, I put in my number and then proceeded to grab a try and met on a section that served burgers that was managed by two people. "What can I get for you?" The guy asked me. They've actually got quite a list of foods on their set menu.

"I'll just have a cheeseburger and a vanilla milkshake please," I said. The guy nods, reaching over from the backside of his station and picking out a wrapped sandwich under a heated compartment and gave it to me. Talking to his coworker, the other starts preparing my drink quickly with a machine. Pouring crushed ice into a metal cup and placing in vanilla ice cream with milk, they start mixing it together and served it to me. "Enjoy," the worker says.

"Thanks," I said, taking a plastic fork and knife from one of the utensil containers and started walking around to the tables. The place was packed, filled with students, young and old. Searching for a place to sit, a familiar-looking boy with fairly large round glasses sat in the corner with an apple and a book. A bit unclear from where I stood, I got closer to him and realized that he was the boy who worked in the same Cafe that Ethan's in. I slowly made my way to his table and caught his attention, his eyes looking at me with premonition. "Hi there, can I sit down with you?" I said kindly. He didn't speak or even make a gesture. Feeling a bit awkward, I decided to just take my spot in front of him, not wanting to go on an adventure in search of an open seat when I could just stay here. "You work in the same place as Ethan, right?" I said, trying to start a conversation. The boy rolled his eyes as they directed towards his book, ignoring me. I looked at him in slight sourness. My attention went to the apple, tilting my head, I attempted again to talk to him, "say... is that your only breakfast?" I said. I noticed that his eyes went to his fruit, then to me, then quickly back to his volume. He nods. "Would you like half my burger?" I tried to offer. His eyes squinted at me as he denied, swaying his head alternately from left to right. "Are you sure? I mean, fruits are fine, but I don't think a single apple would be enough for breakfast," I persuaded.

"Look, you pity me, sure, whatever. I don't need it. I don't have the money to pay you back," the boy muttered.

I waved my hands, "no, it's not like that. I'm sharing with you without expecting something in return, I just wanna help, really..." I defended, cutting my sandwich in half and sliding it towards him.

His mood slightly eases as his eyes slowly trail to my offering, "why are you people... being nice?" His voice sounded a tad bit shaky with uncertainty. I didn't know what he was talking about and kept silent. The boy sighs and momentarily holds half of my burger in hand, "thanks..." he says, taking one of the tiniest bites I've ever seen.

Smiling, I asked, "what's your name?"

"Kenny..."