Lennon, Natia, and Kelsey were already sitting at the lunch table when Margaret arrived. Kelsey and Lennon had brought their own lunches. Lennon had studied and planned what she should be eating and everything was just so. Kelsey had two sisters so she had what she managed to grab on her way out of the door. Natia was eating her fries from the cafeteria lunch line much like a great white or maybe a piranha. That is if piranhas could brood. Margaret walked up carrying a tray of cafeteria food. She looked a bit out of place with her clothes just so but the girls waved her over.
“Hey new kid!” Natia yelled out, loud enough that even Lennon gave her a look. “You might have made a mistake.”
“What?” Margaret asked. The usually poised young girl suddenly looked worried and an even paler shade of white. People never talked to her at her old school and now she was blowing it with the few people she knew at her new school. “What do you mean?”
“She means we usually avoid the cafeteria food if we can help it,” Kelsey said helpfully.
“Except the french fries,” Natia said, her mouth half full. The other girls rolled their eyes which made Margaret smile and calm down a bit.
“Sit down, Margaret,” Kelsey said. “I’m sure you’ll be fine.”
“At the very least, you won’t die,” Lennon said with a smile. “Most of us pack our lunches to guarantee edibility and nutrition.”
“And because it’s cheaper,” Kelsey said.
Margaret smiled and sat down. “Thank you, ladies. I’ll take that under advisement.”
“How are things going on your first day?” Kelsey asked.
“Things here are less complicated than the academy,” Margaret said. She smiled. “and more welcoming. The academics are comparable. I’ll do fine here as soon as people stop staring.”
“We’re happy to have you, Mar,” Natia said.
“So how was your talk with the Principal?” Margaret asked. “They whisked you away from us for quite some time.”
“What’s the damage, Natia?” Kelsey asked. By now, they all knew how often Natia had been skipping school and they knew the school would be displeased at the very least.
“I somehow got away without detention but I have a ton of work I have to catch up on. I have to get a tutor,” Natia said. She punctuated that last bit by grumpily dipping two fries into the ketchup before shoving them in her mouth.
“You’re lucky that you got off with just a tutor,” Lennon said. “Principal Evers can be strict. By the way -“
“I need a tutor too,” Maya said, interrupting. Nobody had noticed her walking up to the table. She sat down carefully, purposefully ignoring all of the stares she was getting. Margaret was briefly thankful not to be the center of attention before her empathy kicked in and she felt bad for Maya. She wondered how much worse the attention might be if Maya had not bespelled her tattoos away. Maya was thinking about that as well.
“Where did you come from?!” Natia cried out before Kelsey put a hand over her mouth.
“I came from the castle,” Maya said with a shrug. She had a brass plate in front of her that she was eating salad from.
“And grabbed a salad from the castle’s fridge?” Lennon asked.
“From the garden,” Maya said.
“Wow,” Kelsey said. “Good for you for eating healthy.”
Maya smiled. “Thank you. It’s the only way I survived so long on the run. At some point, I just became a vegetarian which was cheaper but hard on the run. Anyway, I don’t think I should invite a tutor over to the castle. Can I borrow space from one of you?”
“You can invite the tutor there if I’m the tutor,” Lennon said. “I can tutor both you both.”
“Don’t you already have special projects for independent study?” Kelsey asked.
“How did you know about that?” Lennon asked. She did not think taht a popular girl like Kelsey would know about that.
“I’m nosy,” Kelsey said. “I know things about people.” She shrugged with a smile.
“Well, I can still tutor them,” Lennon said with a smile. “You guys can be my new special project.”
“I’m not sure I enjoy being referred to as a special project,” Maya said.
“Yeah, watch your phrasing, Red,” Natia said.
Once again, Kelsey covered Natia’s mouth with her hand.
“Please don’t use codenames when we are in civilian gear,” Margaret said.
“I was just kidding,” Natia said. “Are those really our codenames? They’re only kind of cool.”
“We’ll have to discuss it at some point,” Maya said
“We have a lot of things to discuss,” Kelsey said. The girls all nodded in agreement. “Speaking of tutoring, we also need magic tutoring.”
“And superhero tutoring,” Natia said.
“We can do all the tutoring at the castle,” Lennon said. “It’s safer there and we won’t get interrupted.”
“Making a castle our hangout? Yes please!” Natia said with a smile.
“Just as long as you all stay out of my room,” Maya said. Natia stuck her tongue out at her which made Maya smile and almost laugh.
“We also have to keep all of this a secret,” Margaret said.
“Exactly,” Kelsey said.
“Duh,” Natia said. “Of course, that’ll be hard.”
“I have to agree,” Lennon said. “My parents seeing me walk again would make their year.”
“We’ll have to make sacrifices for this,” Kelsey said. “We’re trying to save the world.”
“You’re right,” Lennon said. “It’s definitely worth it. If we lose, extradimensional aliens take over the world. We can’t let our parents or the government interfere with that.”
“Wow,” Maya said. “I never thought that would be my life and I ran from the things for years.”
“Well you have real friends now, Maya,” Kelsey said. She looked out at the table full of former loners. “You all do.”
“I never thought that would be my life either,” Maya said.
“Me either,” Lennon said. “I was always too shy.”
“I’m too loud!” Natia said with a big grin.
“Too rich,” Margaret said.
“Well, none of you are too much for me,” Kelsey said. “We’re a team.”
“Aw, that’s so sweet blue!” Natia said and they all laughed.
Tags: Anime, Cafeteria, Fiction, High School, Kelsey, Lennon, Magical Earth Defenders, Magical Girl, Margaret, Maya, Natia
Wolf of Words 
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