“Don’t run from me, Evan! Come on!”

Evan sighed as Jade, in an eye blindingly green sweater, dragged him to a table of friends. Apparently, he was ‘established’ –that is, he no longer had to subject himself to the freshman’s torture of sitting alone in the hallway at lunchtime. People knew him. And when people know you, you get access.

He didn’t know any of the four guys he sat with. One a redhead. Another with dark skin and freckles. Another blonde like Jade. A brunette. Somehow, they all knew his face.

At the start of lunch, the guys all traded food over the table, each one having a completely different lunch than the one they started with. Evan ended with a PB&J sandwich, cut perfectly into two squares. Satisfaction.

Over the blue wood table, they munched silently, with Jade rambling. First about his girlfriend, then about his classes, until he turned the attention on Evan.

“And Evan here is insane. He’s taking three AP classes with me, the crazy bastard should be taking six!”

Evan smiled. “If I took all six, you wouldn’t be in almost all my classes anymore.”

Jade laughed, ruffling Evan’s hair. “I’m telling you, this kid has things going for him. If he doesn’t make it, I’m pretty sure I’m toast!”

Evan had all the attention turned on him, now. He scrambled for topics. He poked fun at the heat of summer, or the trivial classes, or the continuous gossip mill that kept turning even when teachers tried to keep the kids quiet. A few laughs escaped the others.

Yet he never made a true connection these other kids. There was never a moment when he mentioned a show someone liked or a ‘relatable moment’ that made both parties click together in unison. They felt paper thin. A smile, a pat, a laugh, and the cycle repeats.

Nobody quite understood.

It was only Jade really that didn’t mind his mild shyness. And the only one who didn’t mind his confused expressions that crossed over his face occasionally.

Evan hadn’t seen the girl in blue from earlier, but now, he realized, he was seeing blue everywhere. Even the table they sat on was blue. It made him mildly uncomfortable. The guys didn’t seem to care, but deep inside, Evan felt his stomach drop as he felt more and more awkward.

To his luck, lunch only lasted half an hour, which was barely any time at all for a conversation that seemed to last three hours. The bell rang, and the group pulled apart at the seams one by one.

Eventually it was only Evan and Jade, walking down the same hallway to class. People pushed past impatiently, but they were never separated by the crowd.

“I never really sat with a huge group of people, Jade. Why…?” Evan motioned.

“You were going to sit in room 900, alone again, right?”

Evan nodded. “You didn’t have to, Jade, really.”

“I just wanted you to stick out a bit more this year, y’know? You always seemed lost in the crowd.”

Evan paused, searching for novel answer. “What if I liked being lost in the crowd?”

Jade gave him a sarcastic look. “Please, I can tell with those puppy eyes of yours that you like people.”

“Don’t call me a puppy.” Evan blushed.

Jade punched his shoulder playfully. “You are a puppy! I bet you all the junior girls are going to be all over you!”

Evan laughed, looking away, and seeing another wing of the school appearing before him. Jade’s class was down the other way, so they both stopped.

Jade threw him a concerned look. “But seriously man, I worry for you. I want you to have friends, and you will, I promise.”

Evan smiled shyly, responding with a “thank you.” Eventually, Jade turned away, walking down the other wing of the school.

“I’ll see you after school, man!” Jade waved over the crowd of students, until eventually the horde seemed to swallow him completely and he was gone.