Familiar faces filled the seats of our favorite lunch table. America sat on one side of me, Finch on the other, and the rest of the spaces were picked off by Shepley and his Sigma Tau brothers. It was hard to hear with the low roar inside the cafeteria, and the air conditioner seemed to be on the fritz again. The air was thick with the smells of fried foods and sweaty skin, but somehow everyone seemed to be more energetic than usual.
“Hey Brazil,” Shepley said, greeting the man sitting in front of me. His olive skin and chocolate eyes offset the white Eastern Football hat pulled low on his forehead.
“Missed you after the game Saturday, Shep. I drank a beer or six for ya,” he said with a broad, white grin.
“I appreciate it. I took Mare out to dinner,” he said, leaning over to kiss the top of America’s long, blonde hair.
“You’re sittin’ in my chair, Brazil.”
Brazil turned to see Travis standing behind him, and then looked to me, surprised. “Oh, is she one of your girls, Trav?”
“Absolutely not,” I said, shaking my head.
Brazil looked to Travis, who stared at him expectantly. Brazil shrugged and then took his tray to the end of the table.
Travis smiled at me as he settled into the seat. “What’s up, Pidge?”
“What is that?” I asked, unable to look away from his tray. The mystery food on his plate looked like a wax display.
Travis laughed and took a drink from his water glass. “The cafeteria ladies scare me. I’m not about to critique their cooking skills.”
I didn’t miss the appraising eyes of those sitting at the table. Travis’ behavior piqued their curiosity, and I subdued a smile at being the only girl they had seen him insist on sitting by.
“Ugh…that Bio test is after lunch,” America groaned.
“Did you study?” I asked.
“God, no. I spent the night reassuring my boyfriend that you weren’t going to sleep with Travis.”
The football players seated at the end of our table stopped their obnoxious laughter to listen more closely, making the other students take notice. I glared at America, but she was unconcerned with any blame, nudging Shepley with her shoulder.
“Jesus, Shep. You’ve got it that bad, huh?” Travis asked, throwing a packet of ketchup at his cousin. Shepley didn’t answer, but I smiled appreciatively at Travis for the diversion.
America rubbed his back. “He’s going to be okay. It’s just going to take him awhile to believe Abby is resistant to your charms.”
“I haven’t tried to charm her,” Travis sniffed, seeming offended. “She’s my friend.”
I looked to Shepley. “I told you. You have nothing to worry about.”
Shepley finally met my eyes, and upon seeing my sincere expression, his eyes brightened a bit.
“Did you study?” Travis asked me.
I frowned. “No amount of studying is going to help me with Biology. It’s just not something I can wrap my head around.”
Travis stood up. “C’mon.”
“What?”
“Let’s go get your notes. I’m going to help you study.”
“Travis….”
“Get your ass up, Pidge. You’re gonna to ace that test.”
I tugged on one of America’s long, yellow braids as I passed. “See you in class, Mare.”
She smiled. “I’ll save you a seat. I’ll need all the help I can get.”
Travis followed me to my room, and I pulled out my study guide while he popped open my book. He quizzed me relentlessly, and then clarified a few things I didn’t understand. In the way that he explained it, the concepts went from being confusing to obvious.
“…and somatic cells use mitosis to reproduce. That’s when you have the phases. They sound sort of like a woman’s name: Prometa Anatela.”
I laughed. “Prometa Anatela?”
“Prophase, Metaphase, Anaphase and Telophase.”
“Prometa Anatela,” I repeated, nodding.
He smacked the top of my head with the papers. “You got this. You know this study guide backwards and forwards.”