I couldn’t believe I did it today too. Once again, I forgot to bring my lunch from home. On a side note, I also couldn’t believe how Ethan managed to stomach cafeteria food every day. He even seemed to enjoy it. As if to prove my point, he twirled the spaghetti around his fork and ate it, a dopey smile on his face. 

"How can you eat that?" I asked. "The noodles are so overcooked they're mush, and I'm pretty sure the tomato sauce is just ketchup." 

He shrugged his shoulders, bringing another forkful to his mouth. "Hey, you know me. I'm not one to turn down a meal. Do you want—" 

I slid my tray over to him before he could even ask the question. He grinned in response, and shoveled in his food faster, smearing sauce, or whatever it was, all across his face. The single bite of lunch I had eaten churned in my stomach, and if I watched this glutton for a second longer I would end up intimately acquainted with the inside of a trash can. 

To distract myself, I glanced around the cafeteria. The long tables and benches were pretty typical of a school cafeteria, but I always wondered about the paint job. The interior designer must have only had two colors on his palette: off-white and eggshell. Then, they went about slapping them haphazardly on the walls and ceiling. 

Nora flicked my chest, distracting me from my pointless thoughts. "You want a sandwich?" 

I stared at the bag she was holding out to me. "You don't want it?" 

She pushed it in front of me. "Wouldn't be asking you otherwise. Eat it or throw it out. I don't care either way." 

I opened the paper bag to find a regular, old peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I took a bite, and it proved edible. My appetite came roaring back, and I devoured it to soothe my grumbling stomach. "Thanks." 

Nora huffed in reply as Amelia considered me for a moment, then brought her lunch box back to the table. "If you're still hungry you can have some of my lunch too. It isn't much, but I have grilled steak sandwiches with chimichurri and bell peppers if you'd like.” 

That isn't much? Then again, this was the same girl who brought a bunch of virtual reality visors to school like it was no big deal. 

I reached across the table and took the lunch box from her with a quick thanks. "You guys always pack lunches from home?" 

"Of course." She checked to see if Ethan was listening. When it was clear his attention was entirely on the tray in front of him, the blonde continued in a low voice. "Despite how much Ethan praises the food here, it’s... how do I put it..." 

"It's shit," the blonde on the other side of Ethan finished for her. 

Amelia nodded in agreement, refraining from commenting further. 

I bit into another sandwich, all the while feeling guilty. Not because of how expensive it was but because of how badly I had misjudged the two girls. Ethan had been right. I didn't know them, and yet I avoided them and thought bad about them. And I shouldn't have. 

I'd admit it. They were nice girls. 

"Oh, that reminds me." He gulped down the last bit of spaghetti on his plate, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand. "You want to go to the fair with us, Rika, and Chloe this Saturday?" 

I furrowed my brow. The fair? Why was I just hearing about this now? Oh, right. Because if he told me before yesterday that all of them were going, I would’ve instantly turned him down. 

"Sure, sounds fun," I replied. "You're not driving, are you?" 

He smirked and pointed at himself with his thumb. "Sure am!" 

I slowly shook my head and turned to the other two. "This might sound crazy but trust me. Make sure you bring a vomit bag." 

Despite giving them very solid advice, they did indeed look at me like I was crazy. That was fine, though. They'd find out come Saturday. 

____________ 

I headed over to the stairwell to fulfill Rika's request from yesterday after she reminded me about it this morning. This place certainly hadn't been cleaned. In fact, those spiders must have put in overtime spinning silk. There was a long, misshapen web trailing from the base of the railing and a new one festering in the corner of the fifth stair. While they were unsuccessful in catching bugs, they proved capable of catching an unbelievable amount of dust and grime. 

None of this fazed Rika, who was perched on that same fifth step, clutching a sandwich and a tin foil wrapping. I then had the distinct pleasure of watching her devour almost half a sandwich in a single bite. 

"S'wup." She waved to me, tin foil curled in her hand and crumbs shooting out her mouth. 

Without hesitation, I put more distance between us. "You're disgusting." 

"D'no wim na." 

"I can't understand you. Now chew before you choke." 

She followed my advice and finished chewing the sandwich, downing it with the last of her water. Then, she stuffed the tin foil wrapping and her empty water bottle into her lunchbox. She left the lunchbox on the stairs as she hopped down to stand near me. "I said, I'm not." 

That was a lie if I'd ever heard one, but I didn't call her out on it. It seemed like this issue could devolve into pointless banter. Best to not engage in that case. 

"Whatever. What'd you want to talk about?" 

"First, let me ask you something. Do you know how to make chocolate?" 

I adjusted the hood of my sweatshirt. "Not at all. My mom’s into that kind of stuff. It doesn’t really interest me, though." 

Her face drooped, but she rapidly recovered. "Ok, we can still make this work. Are you taking a cooking class this semester?" 

“Nope.” 

“You’re really not giving me much to work with here.” She pressed a hand to her forehead, squinting her eyes. “I got it! You can be our taste tester.” 

Our? I had no clue who else she convinced to go along with this endeavor. Hope they knew what they were getting themselves into. Nonetheless, I shifted my weight to my back leg and considered my options. I had no reason to deny her request, yet I also didn't have any reason to accept it either. I thought back to what happened the last time I went out of my way to help her. She messed with me a whole lot, bought my sister a gift, we played some board games, and she sent me that picture. Afterwards, I wrote the best-reviewed chapter of my entire web novel. 

And I just convinced myself.  

Being told I wrote compelling characters, got the storyline back on track, and managed to excite my readers for the next chapter was a rush I was beyond addicted to. Did that mean Rika was my muse? I wasn’t sure, but such a scary thought sent tingles up from the soles of my feet to the back of my neck. 

"I'll help you, but you need to promise you’ll directly give them to him.” I assumed the chocolates were being made for Ethan, and she didn’t deny it. “No more, let's go buy a present, and then give it to him by shoving it in a mailbox." 

She held out her hand. "Deal." 

We shook on it. Her grip was a lot daintier than I anticipated. I expected her to try some crazy technique to crack my knuckles or something. Honestly, I wouldn't have even put it past her to have concealed a joy buzzer on her palm. 

She released my hand and grinned at me. "You got a pretty strong grip. At least there's something manly about you." 

Damn this girl. I should’ve made her agree to stop teasing me if she wanted my help. What was done was done, though. 

The door opened ajar and a girl poked her head in. "...Rika?"  

My first thought about her was that her quiet voice fit her appearance perfectly. Her brunette hair was done up in braids, and large-framed glasses hung on the brim of her nose. The light filtering in from the open door highlighted her petite frame. "I-I can come back if you're busy." 

"No way. Get in here. I was waiting for you, Chloe." 

Her eyes flitted to me, and she made no move to come any closer. It seemed like my presence was making her uncomfortable. Rika must have noticed her nervousness too. "Don't worry, he's cool. He may look grumpy, but he's a nice guy." She sighed wistfully, resting her chin on her palm. “Although he has no culinary talent, so we’ll have to rely on each other when we’re making cookies for Ethan.” 

I scoffed. “Way to make me sound hopeless.”  

Whether it was Rika’s weak attempt at reassuring her or my weak attempt at a joke, something worked because she went over to Rika. Rika rubbed the top of her head and Chloe giggled at her touch. I remembered yesterday Ethan mentioned that the two of them always ate lunch together. That much was obvious after seeing how comfortable they were around one another.  

Still, that didn’t change the fact Chloe was yet another contender out for Ethan’s heart. That made four of them for certain then. It also made the two of them rivals in love. I wouldn’t be able to tell that from the scene unfolding in front of me. Chloe had cupped Rika's ear and whispered something into it. I couldn't make out what she was saying, so I stood there awkwardly, trying not to stare. Rika whispered something back to her. She hesitated, biting the inside of her cheek, but eventually she agreed. They both looked to me like I was a sheep to the slaughter. 

Why did I feel like I was somehow about to get dragged into something unnecessary again?