To Eat or Not to Eat? [Dylan]

[Kirsten Luna]

Classes for the morning were over. Thank god for that little happy thought. It was one less thing for Kirsten to have to deal with. Her black and lime green tennis shoes echoed on the floor as she walked down the halls heading for the cafeteria. She wasn’t the only one heading for the mess hall, just the person in the very back of the crowd trying not to get bumped in the wrong personal area. It seemed some of the guys there didn’t have a problem with a little hand grabbing, but she sure had a problem with it. Anyways, there was no point in rushing for the lines. With classes for her over for the day there was nothing left to do but go see her horse afterwards. Thinking of Goldie brought back the numbness from remembering her first horse. Shaking her head, she pulled her grey backpack strap up higher on her shoulder while pushing the door open to the mess hall.

Inside everyone was packed on to tables, chatting and grumbling about this and that. Kirsten’s eyes roamed around looking for a table with less people on it to be forced to talk to. It wasn’t that she disliked talking but being forced to have an awkward conversation with a group of people about the weather didn’t appeal to her right then. It looked like she wasn’t going to have to either since spotting one and close to a window, too. Her legs carried her body that way before her hands dropped the backpack on the tabletop with a sigh escaping her lips. Eyeing the lines for food, she didn’t feel like getting in one so she just sat down, making sure to check that the seat had nothing on it to stain her black skinny jeans or her electric orange shirt. There was no hiding the fact she was going to have to change before seeing Goldie, but she didn’t want to have to worry about stains on her clothes.

As Kirsten got situated at the bench, she reached into her bag and pulled out a Granny Smith green apple. Her lips parted as she took a large bite out it and munched away while staring out the windows. Outside the clouds were starting to roll in and cover up the sunlight causing her to pout. She was not a rain person; she didn’t hate it but didn’t love it either.

[dylancooper]

Dylan tended to be the last one out of the classroom (the last one in the classroom too) and the last one to get his food. He did not like lines at all, and the pushing and shoving that went on was something he hated. He hated being pushed around in crowds, it would either freak him out or more likely cause the anger to start. He really was trying, he wanted to stop getting angry the way he did. Once he was set off, it was like he lost complete control. He couldn’t control the rage of the anger. So he waited until there was no line to get his food to avoid a situation that might set him off.

He tended to get his seat before lining up, watching the line until it was nonexistent. This time though all the seats had been taken. Scanning the room he saw an empty table by the window and headed towards before he reached it though a girl sat down and that was just not fair. Rolling his eyes slightly he fought the urge to snap at the blond girl. He scanned the area again, it was still the best table. Only one person so he did not have to listen to mind numbing conversations.

”Nowhere else to sit, doesn’t mean you have to talk to me” He said simply as he sat down, it wasn’t asking permission it was just explain that he wasn’t sitting with her for any other reason besides need.

[Kirsten Luna]

Chewing on the piece of fruit in her hand, Kirsten seemed to zone out and block the cafeteria’s noise from her mind. It was best just to ignore everything when she wasn’t with someone she could trust or talk to. Her temper wasn’t the best, she knew how to hold her tongue but some people just needed to be snapped at and put in their place. Rolling the food around her mouth, she savored the sweet and sour juice before swallowing the bit and taking another bite. The apple was delicious. It was that simple.

Hearing a voice caused Kirsten to turn her head away from the window and stare at the guy who’d dropped down and sat at the table. Why was every guy she’d seen at Willow Brooke so damn hot? If she could have found a single guy that good looking back in Florida she might not have bought some drugs. Hell, she would have sucked everything up for just a little time with this new guy if he’d gone to her old school. But his words clearly made the guy lose any charm he held in Kirsten’s eyes. “Well, aren’t you a sweetie.” Sticking her tongue out like a five year old, she turned her head back to the window and stared outside.

Her stomach growled just as Kirsten bit into the apple once more. The apple wasn’t going to fill her up completely, maybe the other goodies in her bag would. The apple was likely the only healthy thing she carried. Everything else was chips and candy. Not good for her body, but she wasn’t there to impress anyone and needed something to grind her teeth against besides her own teeth.

[dylancooper]

Dylan cringed slightly as the girl spoke, he had hoped she would not try to talk. Even if it was a slightly annoyed comment, mindless chatter he could ignore. Anything close to an argument however... well Dylan liked to have the last word. Dylan just smirked slightly at her comment, and the she stuck her tongue out really? Who on earth stuck their tongue out after the age of six. "Oh I'm a treat" He said in a sarcastic tone. "And hey I'm not the five year old stick her tongue out, I mean really thats classy" He said. Turning back to the line for a second, he could see it was still crowded. Yeah, lines sucked and he just wanted to eat without seeing red. He had been warned, this was his last chance. If he was kicked out of Willow Brooke he was straight to Juvie. He did not want that. His temper though...

The line was taking so long, and he just wanted to go ride Gazel. He had only recently built enough trust with the damaged horse to be able to ride her but it reminded him of how much he missed riding. Another reason he had to try and be good.

[Kirsten Luna]

“Oh I believe it.” Rolling her eyes, Kirsten glanced back over at the boy before biting into the apple again. He clearly had some snap to his personality, but good thing she was in an ok mood from eating the apple and having an easy day of classes. Her stomach wasn’t in as much pain as it had been that morning, she wasn’t a breakfast person and tended to skip it. It seemed Willow Brooke’s teachers weren’t trying to be too hard on the students just teach them what they needed so they could get through the class and of to the horses. The place was totally gaga over the horses. Not that it bugged her, she loved the animals. Shrugging, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a small bag of gushers, tearing it open she began to munch at the little gooey pieces to take another edge off her stomach’s demands for food.

Her eyes caught how closely the boy was watching the lines and only smirked. “You want some chips until the line goes down?” Tilting her head slightly, she waited for a reply from the guy. He hadn’t wanted to talk but if he was eating something she’d feel more inclined to ignore him and let him eat in peace. That was just something her mother had taught her, never interrupt a person when they were eating, you might see something you didn’t want to. She threw another gusher into her mouth and ate the bit while glancing over at the lines. If possible, they seemed to have doubled in size since she’d taken a seat at the table. That was a big disappointment while wanting something with protein to stick to her stomach while she was in the pastures and working.

[dylancooper]

Dylan’s eyes stayed on the line while the girl ate her apple, it seemed every time it began to go town another group of people got in line. It was really beginning to piss him off because he was hungry. He had to mentally convince himself not to get annoyed over something so stupid. It wasn’t like people were lining up just to mock or mess with, right? Of course not, he glanced at the blond for a moment as she pulled candy out of her bag. Apparently she had a lot of food in her bad.

He glanced back at the line before the blond spoke to him again, asking him if he wanted to chips. Too most people that would simply be a nice gesture but not to Dylan. Honestly it wasn’t as if he was paranoid or anything but he didn’t believe someone would offer him food without an ulterior motive. Ok, maybe he was a little paranoid but to be fair he had pretty good reasons to be.

”I’ll pass” He said trying to keep the tone of suspicion out of his voice. Though he had to wonder about that girl, she pulled out an apple, candy and now had chips? ’How much do you eat exactly?” He asked slightly amused by the girls bottomless bag of treats.

[Kirsten Luna]

Kirsten shrugged as her offer to give him chips was declined. If the guy didn’t want any since the line only seemed to be growing longer it was his loss. Parting her lips, she threw another gusher in her mouth and chewed on the candy. It might have amazed people how much she ate but between a fast metabolism and working outside in the sun either with horses or whatever her body always seemed to be craving more. “That’s not very polite to ask someone you’ve just meet.” Smiling slightly at him, she ate another gusher to finish off the tiny yellow bag of treats.

Once more Kirsten’s hand reached into her backpack but only to pull out a water bottle. While twisting open the cap, her mind replayed the guy’s words from a moment before on her offer of food. There had been a hint of aggression behind it…suspicion? Mentally, she shook off that thought before looking at the boy again. He was still eying the lines and it only made her roll her eyes. Taking out the bag of plain chips, she pushed it across the table to him. “They’re nothing special but they won’t bite ya.” With that said she took another gulp from the water bottle and stared back outside the window. Again her mind wondered off to a different place…Florida. Which made her think of Chris. Where had that guy ran off to now?

[dylancooper]

Dylan turned back to her when she spoke again. "Yeah, I never claimed to be polite" He said with half amusement, cause honestly wasn't it a bit obvious he didn't really have any polite tendencies. "Though I guess you were just avoiding the question" He said more then asked with a shrug as she finished the weird little candies. He turned his eyes back to the lines and away from the girl once again. God, he was beginning to wonder if he should of just taken the damn chips. He was starving and the line was getting worse by the second.

He turned back when once again she spoke and pushed the chips across the table. He eyed her suspiciously for a moment, his hunger out weighing his reservations about why someone would offer him something. "Ok" He finally said as he took the bag of chips. "Thanks I guess" He said, cringing slightly. He hated thanking people but it seemed it needed to be said. He opened the bag of chips eating one. As he focused on eating his chips he turned his attention to the girl for a second, she seemed a bit... hyper, not that wasn't the right word. He noticed she then turned her attention outside the window, ok maybe a bit like she had no attention span? Yeah, he was probably just reading into things that weren't there.

[Kirsten Luna]

Kirsten didn’t bother to reply back to how polite the guy never said he was. There wasn’t much of a conversation to focus on with him being in a grumpy mood without food. Many people didn’t take too well to talking while their stomachs protested from lack of nutrition. She was one of them, but the gushers and apple helped eased the aching growls. “Of course I was avoiding the question. Clearly I eat so I’m not here for a lack of not eating.” Grinning back over at the guy, she continued to drink from the water bottle leaving it now more than less half empty. Her eyes glanced at the lines and nearly snorted out the water through her nose. The lines only seemed to continue to grow each time she looked away from it. “How many freaking kids do they have at this place?” In truth, she had only seen a small part of the whole facility, the places she needed to be such as the four class rooms, the cabins in the back of the camp, and the barns.

There had been no mistaking the look that came from the guy this time, but she didn’t let it get to her. Everyone had some problem at this place and maybe his went along with not trusting easily. At least he took the chips and didn’t push them back towards her. “No problem.” Turning away from the window, her eyes watched him eat the chips before she glanced over at the lines. They finally seemed to be getting smaller, not by much but there was definitely no one else jumping into them now. “I think there’s no one else coming now.” But Kirsten made no effort to jump off the bench and run to the lines, she’d give it another five minutes before the lines were to the size she liked. “I’m Kirsten by the way.” A small smile turned up on her lips while speaking to the guy once more. There was no telling if he’d give his own name since he had already mentioned he wasn’t a polite guy.

[dylancooper]

Dylan looked at her as she talked about her eating habits, she really liked to talk. It would probably help if she layed of the candy. When she mentioned she wasn’t there because of not eating he thought of asking why she was actually there, hoping it would make her stop talking. He hated talking to people, he honestly beleived if you left him alone in the middle of nowhere with no human contact he would probably be better off. Of course the last time he had asked the question the answer he got had him trying to fight off a flashback of one of his mothers depressive episodes. Not good, and he’d rather listen to the blond girl talk then have another freak out. She made a comment about the amount of kids at school, it was true they seemed to come from nowhere but he tended to ignore everyone.

Dylan did notice her eyes on him, being aware of what the people around him were doing had always kept him safe. At least in his own mind, his own always had moods and Dylan had learned to judge his mood to a point of avoiding him when he was in the worse moods. Of course as he got older, his fathers moods turned into more of a personality. Always angry, and then it got worse and... not important. He looked back up shaking away his thoughts. He noticed the line had died down just before she spoke. ”Yeah, guess so” He said, he was almost done with the chips but wasn’t going to rush straight to the line. ”Dylan” He said looking at her for a second before turning his attention back to the line.