The  Cafeteria

The morning period finished in a breeze, just as the rush for lunch time wound up for the students in Evanderhill Academy.

Raphael was now caught in between the arms of this man, Antonio Caballero. His cheeks swelled up in a wide grin as he dragged him into the so-called cafeteria. Although he felt overwhelmed by the sight of the area packed with students, what scared him most was what lay behind the counter.

Alexis followed right behind him, pushing him lightly as a sign of support, while Feyline just scooted herself beside Raphael with a grin on her face.

"So, Raphael... this is the moment you've been waiting for." Antonio began as the line moved them an inch closer to the counter lined with steel trays and huge metal pots.

"Umm...can I pass?" Raphael hesitated.

"Nah, no backing out now. You gotta experience this."

"Yeah. It's not as bad as it seems." Feyline nudged him softly.

As the line grew closer, Raphael could now see the displayed foods in the containers: tomato basil penne pasta, sloppy joes, green leafy salad, and some meat stew.

Raphael thought the selection didn't seem too bad after observing, but once they reached the counters, immediately a whiff of awful stench, like a disgusting mixture of cooked meat, burnt ashes, and slight rotten sourness.

Without a second thought, Raphael's face changed from mildly impressed to disgusted.

"Look, at least the penne pasta looked fresh." Alexis positively pointed out, but a trace of sweat ran down his forehead as he made an awkward chuckle.

"Yeah, the rest seemed like a bunch of leftovers from the days before." Feylined huffed as she crossed her arms with discontent across her face.

"Are you ready to order up?" Antonio leaned in to Raphael while he grabbed a food tray.

A gulp swallowed down Raphael's throat as soon as he reached the serving area. This is probably the day that he would regret trying out cafeteria food for the first time, and probably the last.

"You better not send me to the clinic right after this," Raphael replied.

"Hundred times I have been eating cafeteria food, yet here I am still alive." Antonio boasted like a war veteran surviving from the scene.

As he continued to chatter, a dollop of meat stew flopped onto his tray with a squelching noise. The sight of the stew made Raphael's stomach churn, not from hunger but repulsion.

"Yeah... I don't think I would live the next day."

"Don't be silly. We had something else worse." Alexis reassured, but his forced smile made Raphael think twice.

"We eat together, we survive together." Feyline clenched her fist in the air as she stated in confidence.

Now, all their trays are full of food. They began marching towards an empty table to dine in. As they sat all together, each of them awkwardly looked at each other, wondering whoever dares to take the first bite.

"Antonio?" Alexis tilted his head.

"Feyline, you gotta do the honors," he replied as he flicked his eyes to the girl beside him.

"No way. You always take one for the team." Feyline punched his arm in a protest but a friendly manner.

Raphael just chuckled under his breath in amusement, but then, their eyes turned in unison towards his direction.

"Hey, Raphael. Why won't you taste it first? It's your chance." Antonio grinned.

"Yes, if you take at least one bite and swallow it. Antonio will give you free drinks for the rest of the school year." Feyline added.

"I don't approve of it, but no pressure." Alexis just waved his hand.

"Great." Raphael scoffed. "You owe me more than free drinks if I didn't last."

"Yeah, man. Anything for you." Antonio agreed confidently. " If you don't swallow, then you owe me drinks instead," he winked afterwards like a playful dare.

"Try this." Feyline pointed out the mystery meat stew, the one that emitted the most vile combination of smells.

"At least get me to choose."

"Nah, that would be too easy." Antonio insisted as he pushed the tray of stew closer to Raphael.

Immediately, the rancid smell clung close to his nostrils, and, followed by an involuntary reaction, a gagging sound escaped Raphael's lips.

It smelled so horrible. How could someone cook something like this and even stomach this culinary disaster?

The group began chanting simultaneously to encourage him to take the first bite.

"Eat it! Eat it!"

The noise in the background just clouded the loud cheers like it was just some natural occurrence. Raphael looked around, hoping not to be embarrassed in the crowd around him, just before he would take a spoonful of what's bound to happen.

As he grabbed a spoonful of the meat stew, he moved it closer enough to be in his olfactory senses. The sourness was imminent like a warning sign, but he had no choice.

Without further ado, his mouth agape slowly took a mouthful of it, not in a sensual way but rather in reluctance.

"Yow, he done it!" Antonio cheered loudly as he had just won the bet.

Feyline's eyes gleamed in excitement while Alexis just clapped in support.

His teeth ground the stringy, chewy texture as the awful concoction of sourness, seasoning, and rotten coated his tongue, clinging all over it and prolonging his agony. His face was a mixture of disgust, sadness, and regret.

Before he could swallow it, his body revolted immediately as he suddenly puked up the mess out of his mouth with a nauseating retch.

"Ooo....ugh." Antonio's applause slowly turned to disappointment after seeing Raphael surrender and be defeated.

"Well... I guess the cafeteria food wins again." Feyline concluded.

Alexis just offered a paper bag for Raphael to vomit in while petting his back to comfort him. "It's okay. It's a first time for everything. We get that a lot in here."

"Yeah, right. Antonio had to vomit up his whole breakfast after eating something like this." Feyline teased.

"Hey! That wasn't me, I swear," he denied strongly. " Just some guy who happens to look like me."

"You literally covered the floor. It was like a headline in school." Feyline chuckled.

"Bro. That wasn't cool at all. I gotta be called The Vomit Machine for an entire week!"

"So you admitted it."

"W-wha- Hey nah! I was just talking about something-"

They continued to banter while Raphael just finished wiping the mess off his face. Alexis smiled, seeing him looking alright.

"Sorry about that," he apologized meekly. "Maybe this could help wash out the taste."

A can of soda was offered to him.

"I am fine... and thanks," Raphael replied with a small smile. Although he probably won't be able to stomach food for the rest of his lunch, at least he could get to see these friendly faces talking, smiling, and teasing.

I guess eating lunch in the cafeteria didn't seem too bad after all.

A few minutes after staying in the cafeteria, the group eventually stepped out of the mess and the crowd, walking down the hallway.

"So, how's your first experience?" Antonio began a conversation.

"The worst one I have ever had." Raphael sarcastically replied.

"Bet it is." Feyline chuckled.

"Seriously, why is it so bad?"

"Probably all the good stuff gets taken by the ones in Class A," Alexis commented.

"Huh? Really?" Raphael's brows raised in a slight surprise.

"Yeah, they get special privileges for a fresh meal. While us gets the leftovers." Feyline added as she rolled her eyes in disbelief.

"Yeah, good students get good food. It's been like that." Antonio inserted.

"You guys are good enough for me."

"Nah, not enough, man. See, even Feyline's got good academic records, but she's still stuck with us."

"Don't flatter me."

"It's facts, though. I think it has something to do with how you dress." Alexis rubbed his chin.

"Pfft. Uniforms are boring. No way I am changing for that."

"And that proves Alexis' point." Antonio winked at Raphael.

Raphael just slightly shook his head in disbelief.

How could the Academy be so biased? Is the gap between class A students and the rest of the system just unbelievably huge?

Raphael pondered on it for a while in his thoughts, while Antonio and Alexis began bantering once more about whose worse in academics.

Then, Feyline's hand tapped lightly on Raphael's back with a hint of concern on her face.

"Hey, nothing happened between you and Sylvia, right?"

Raphael just glanced back at her, tilting his head slightly. "Not really. She's just a new student, right?"

As soon as he said that, the group paused their steps in bafflement. But then, they realized, he knew nothing about her.

"Dude, she's like the biggest bully in class," Antonio exclaimed.

"Huh?"

"Yeah, being in a class with her is like living in a hellhole for the rest of the year."

"What does she even do?" Raphael retorted.

"She's been notoriously suspended for breaking some rules in the Academy," Feyline whispered as she leaned closer to his ear. "Heard it's about smoking drugs or what, also she's in cahoots with those girls who are known to physically and mentally torture chosen students."

"You could feel it in the room, right? When she came in." Alexis expressed.

"No. not really." Raphael just shook his head with confusion across his face.

Antonio just wrapped his arm around his shoulder in comfort. "Well, my friend. Just be careful. I thought you were so done for when she approached you first."

"Mhmm. Whatever she does is a major red flag." Feyline emphasized.

In Raphael's mind, she didn't hold any red flags in their recent interaction. What does that even mean? The more they talked about it, the more confused he was.

"I thought she seemed fine, but a little bit too giggly." Raphael noticed.

"Yeah, man. That means she found something amusing." Antonio concluded. " Probably your reaction."

"Yeah, you literally stared right into her," Feyline added.

"Sorry. I didn't know there was such a rule in class."

"It's okay. Just stick with us in case you're feeling threatened." Alexis reminded him.

"Alright. Thanks," he curved out a smile.

"Yeah. You got us, man." Antonio reassured him as he squeezed him a bit tightly in his arm.

As they began to walk down the hall, still chatting about the incident, a figure appeared from the dark corner, listening closely with interest to their recent conversation.