"Nadia! Na—hey, excuse me, coming though, Nadia!"
Marilyn elbowed her way through the hungry crowd of students let out for lunch and made her way to Nadia. She grabbed Nadia's shoulder before she could lose her again. The girl turned, wide-eyed at the vision of a panting Marilyn standing in front.
"Marilyn, are you okay? What happened?" Nadia asked as she grabbed Marilyn's slender wrist, of the hand on her shoulder, and pulled her to the side of the corridor.
"Yes! Yes, yes, I am all good!" Marilyn exclaimed in response, flustered by the sudden concern being showered on her. "I just, uh, I just wanted to ask you, I mean, would you like to have lunch with me? Or me with you, whatever works," she grinned awkwardly, the smile not reaching her eyes.
"Oh—!" Nadia uttered, surprised. Her gaze travelled from the sage green lunch box in Marilyn's hand to the joined eyebrows on her face. "Of course, sure, um, would you mind if I send this to Ryker first? He's on the field and I bet he forgot his lunch purposefully. Tsk," Nadia said and patted the stack of lunchboxes hugging her chest.
"No, no, I don't mind at all!" Marilyn smiled, "Should I help you carry them?" She asked, eyeing the three lunchboxes in Nadia's arms.
"It's all good, don't worry," Nadia brushed it off and started walking beside Marilyn. "We'll meet Bernie along the way, he's prolly in the teacher's office," she informed. "How are you finding are school, up till now, that is? How was your old school?" Nadia asked, attempting at small talk.
"Ohhh, my old school was a private academy. It was very strict. This one seems fun in comparison. They teach a lot on first days, huh? I did not expect days. First days at my old school were usually passed in settling into new dormitories and such," Marilyn answered.
"Sounds cool! Living at school, that is. I've always wanted to come at school at night but I never could —"
"—oh, do you want to? I can help you with that! Like, I mean, I can come along, if you want to, that is, I do not break rules and it will be sort of scary but as long as you enjoy it," Marilyn cut in and rapped in one breath, dissassipating near the end.
Nadia snorted at Marilyn's sudden vigour, "I was just saying, I didn't mean it literally," they rounded the corridor, "You know, like how I wish I was a wizard at Hogwarts. Can't help with that now, can you?" She said, cheekily.
"I could take you to the Universal Studios?" Marilyn proposed, her solution sounding more of a question as she nodded to herself.
"What! No! Why would you?" Nadia laughed at the sudden proposition. They stopped outside of the teacher's lounge and waited for Bernie to come out.
"I—uh, dunno, 'cause it would make you happy?" Marilyn said awkwardly, teeth clenched.
"What are you, my boyfriend? Do you have money to burn?" Nadia snorted and wrapped a free hand around Marilyn's shoulders, "Let me tell you a secret. If you want to befriend me for getting along with Ryker or Berine, it would be more useful if you would join the Sports Club or be a Class Representative. It would give you more alone time with them, pro tip," she winked at the end.
Baffled, Marilyn shook her head aggressively, "What?! No! No, please do not misunderstand me!! I just want to be friends with you!!"
"Are you bullying the new kid?" Bernie snapped as he opened the door and witnessed Marilyn's exasperation. He eyed Nadia with partial amusement and partial surprise.
Nadia snorted in reply and shoved a lunchbox in his chest, "You wish," she snapped at Bernie and turned to Marilyn, "She's gonna have lunch with us from now on. She's our friend," Nadia declared with a smile on her face.
"Oh?" Bernie and Marilyn uttered at the same time.
"Yes! I want to know everything about you Marie! Can I call you Marie?? Did I tell you how pretty your name is??" Nadia gushed as she walked forward with arm still locked around Marilyn's shoulders, making her unintentionally walk in an awkward tilt.
"Yes, yes, yes, what do I call you? Nadie? Dia? Naddie?" Marilyn asked, excitedly, not minding the awkward posture a bit.
Bernie followed the gushing girls to the sports field. It had been a while since he had seen Nadia's back, having used to be by her side — it reminded him of the days they would walk to their ranger shelter, him always falling behind Ryker and her. Throughout middle school, Ryker had stuck to Nadia's side like an old piece of gum under a desk — the presence of which negated new company.
Bernie never thought that Ryker's new-found obsession with racing would result in him losing his friend to another one. Was he never enough?
Bernie shook his head before he could spiral any further. He slotted the lunchbox under his arm and slapped his face, "She's a girl, she needs girl friends, of course, it makes sense, I was just caught off guard. I can befriend her, yes," he whispered to himself and sped to catch-up.
The sports field was a two-minute walk away from the academic building, laying elongated and freshly mowed for those who dared to step out under the sun's tryant reign. The soccer team used the far right of the field and the track team used the left side of the race track encompassing the field.
Ryker stood amidst a group of other atheletes, nodding more and contributing less to whatever hushed discussion was in session. Bernie unintentionally smiled at Ryker's deatched expression, internally happy knowing that he still held Nadia and him in higher regard than his track mates.
"Ryker!" Bernie called out.
The man turned and smiled, then frowned and let the smile drop off his face. His wide eyes caught Bernie's and burned him with an inquisitive gaze, as if to ask, 'What the heck am I looking at?'
Bernie merely shrugged his shoulders and shook his head, as if to convey, 'Your guess is as good as mine.'
Nadia flipped back to narrow her eyes at Bernie then turned to do the same with Ryker.
Baffled, the boy jogged up to Nadia but before he could utter out any words, a lunchbox was shoved in his chest.
"I know you forgot it on purpose. This is the last time I am acting as your lunch service lady," Nadia tsked and shook her head, "Oh!" She exclaimed as she framed Marilyn's head with her hands, "Look! She's my new friend!"
"Hello," Ryker nodded his head in acknowledgement, "Why did you choose to be friends with her? She's got nothing likeable. She never showers on holidays and even goes like three days without shower in winters. She's mould incarnate," Ryker stated.
Which was enough for Nadia to pounce on him, lunchbox falling off her hands, (thank Bernie for catching it) as she clutched her feet around his waist and used her hands to pull at his hair. "How dare you! You little shit! You're mouldy and crusty! That was one time, I swear, I didn't shower because I was sick!! I always shower before going out, you little shit! Just because you've grown big doesn't mean I cannot snap your neck you little sh—"
Nadia yelped as Ryker pinched her sides, knowing her ticklish spots. Instantly, she unlatched herself from him and fell backwards, bless Bernie for catching her, while Ryker bellowed into a laugh.
"Berns, let's just break his feet, I think he's had enough happiness to last a lifetime," Nadia seethed as she grabbed Bernie's hand and charged at Ryker.
Instinct kicked in and Ryker's feet snapped into a run. Bernie laughed as he ran by Nadia's side, trying to cover the gap between them and the upcoming track champion.
"You cannot catch me!! Woohoo!" Ryker yelled as he ran backwards, wind caressing his hair and the look of pure joy nourishing his face.
"You know what? GOOD, STAY AWAY!" Nadia shouted and stopped chasing, "Take his lunchbox and let's go to the cafeteria," she whispered her plan to Bernie, "BYE-BYE," she shouted back.
Bernie laughed and turned back to collect Ryker's lunchbox from the ground only to spot Marilyn staring at them with an odd look in her eye. He couldn't pin-point it but there was something within the way she stood straight with her shoulders squared and head held high, blonde hair swaying with the wind, the neatly creased uniform and the fine polished shoes — she stood out like a sore thumb.
"Don't mind them," Bernie said as he picked up Ryker's lunchbox. He looked back and saw Ryker grabbing Nadia by the waist and spinning her around, "They're always like this," he said and looked ahead.
"Oh, no no," Marilyn shook her head and blinked her eyes, "Why would I mind them? I'm just grateful to be here," she simply smiled.
Bernie pressed his lips in a line. "You're so suspicious but I trust Nadia's decision. Ryker will probably never have a proper conversation with you and if you never mess with Nadia, know that he's a Cordelio," Bernie whispered the latter half of the sentence as Marilyn sucked a breath, "I hope we can be good friends."
Marilyn nodded, "The best you can give me is time," she stated, eyeing Nadia and Ryker walking towards them.
"Yes, I heard you always make it worth it," Bernie laughed, remembering Marilyn's robotic introduction.
Flustered, Marilyn coughed and looked away.
"Are you bullying my friend?!" Nadia bellowed as as ran up to Marilyn's side and wrapped her arms around Marilyn's hand.
"You wish," Bernie snorted.
"We've already wasted so much time, let's just eat here," Ryker proposed and gestured his chin towards the stadium.
"Let's get to it," Nadia dragged, "I am so hungry and exhausted," she whined.
"Yay, my first lunch with you! I am so excited!" Marilyn sniffled as she jogged with Nadia to take a seat on the stadium steps.
Ryker and Bernie shared a look and shrugged their shoulders.
"Open up! I wanna see what you got!" Nadia urged Marilyn and the quartret sat themselves, one in front of the other.
Marilyn opened the lid and unleashed the green heaven of lettuce, green beans, celery sticks and mashed potatoes on the side. Unintentionally, it earned an, "Ew," from Nadia.
"You don't like it?" Marilyn asked, eyes wide and round.
"No, no, I respect it. It is very healthy, I am sorry," Nadia grimaced and quickly unboxed her lunch of chicken fritters, potato fries and cucumber salad. "Here, have some, you'll like it wayyyyyy more, I promise," pushed her lunchbox towards Marilyn, earnest with her eyes.
Marilyn pursed her lips and looked away from three expectant faces. "Ah, I don't eat meat, or animal products, it's about lives that I don't deserve to take," she stated meekly.
Three stunned faces exchanged scandalised glances before pulling their lunchboxes into their laps.
"Ah-ha, ha, ha, yes, right, sorry, um, let's just eat," Nadia laughed awkwardly.
"Yes, we love plants," Bernie stated before putting a chicken fritter in his mouth. "Ugh, it's so good!" He exclaimed, genuinely mad at how crispy it was on the outside and juicy on the inside.
Ryker widened his eyes and stole a piece from Bernie's box, even though his own was open and waiting to de devoured. "Shit Nadia, this is good, you could sell this!" He exclaimed as he licked his fingers.
"Yay! Thank you! My test audience worked!!" Nadia grinned.
Marilyn awkwardly nibbled on her celery stick but her eyes did not stray from Nadia's lunchbox. Ocassional sighs escaped her lips while the other talked.
"There will be an annual sports meet, at the end of this year and it's important because it's like an inter-state thing. Coach wants me to participate in every event, apparently the credit is good," Ryker informed while devouring his food.
"Mhm, that's cool, you can do it. We should do something for extra credit as well," Nadia said, munching on crispy cucumbers which she made sure to share with Marilyn.
"Joining a club is most important, it helps with accumulating college credit and looks good on applications. You can join a club," Bernie said and he took a piece of lettuce from Marilyn and wrapped the chicken fritter in it before eating it.
Marilyn felt equally touched and disgusted by the action.
"What do you say, Marie? Is there a club you want to join?" Nadia asked.
"I dunno, I am new here. You tell me, what do you like?" Marilyn asked back.
Nadia pouted as she turned her gaze to Ryker, sitting in front of her.
"Join the Sports Club, I'm telling you it'll be fun," he insisted.
"I would rather bury myself alive," Nadia smiled and turned to Bernie, "You tell me."
"You know what is better than just joining a club?" Bernie asked. There was a moment of pause as everyone waited for Bernie's words of wisdom, "It's creating one, of course! Make a Club!"
"Oh that sounds fun!" Nadia jumped up, clapping, "I like that! Yes! But what?"
"Whatever you like doing," Marliyn smiled and squinted her eyes to look up at Nadia.
"But if I make a cooking club, I don't think people will join," Nadia said, deflating back to the ground.
"You don't worry about that. I can get you as many people as you want," Ryker mumbled.
"You stay away from my business," Nadia snapped, "There's more stuff I like, other than cooking. Yes. Surely."
Bernie and Ryker snorted at that.
"Think about it, I'll wait," Ryker mocked.
"Maybe a Arabella fanclub?" Bernie proposed, bursting into a laugh.
"I bet it would be aggravating enough to fly from London and meet her!!" Ryker joined in, hitting Bernie as violent laughter exhibited from his limbs.
"You're both such arseholes," Nadia grimaced, "I have no idea why I am friends with them," she turned to Marilyn and said.
"You know what? There are more people who have absolutely no idea about what they like than those who have dreams and or are fixated over something. I think you should tap into the indecisive majority," Marilyn said as her face lit up, "Make a club that let's students join and experience new activities every week! So that everyone can try everything!"
Nadia gasped and pulled Marilyn in a hug, "Oh my goodness, you are a genius Marie!! I love you so much!! This is brilliant!!" She all but shouted as she pulled back, "But you came up with the idea so you should be the one making it."
"What!? No! I was just thinking for you! It's all for you! I would just be happy to join as a member!" Marilyn insisted.
"Oh you're a darling!" Nadia cried and pulled Marilyn into a hug again.
The exchange left Bernie and Ryker feeling like foreigners in a familiar setting. Surely the model was similar but the settings seemed to be eerily off. They had never seen this side of Nadia and boy did they clutch eachother's arms and brace for impact.