“Drawing fake tattoos on your arm, if I recall correctly.”
She laughed. “Oh yeah.”
I glanced down at the black swirls on her left arm. “That is not real?”
“That one is real, but this is not.” She held her right hand up to reveal an array of pinks and reds that looked like a crystal. “I was doodling.”
Gigi reached out and grabbed the silver handle on a door in front of us, then pulled it toward us. “She’s not a morning person.”
“A morning per—” I gasped and my legs locked in place.
Just through the door was a massive brightly lit room with what had to be hundreds of people inside. They sat at round tables by the dozens. My breath caught in my throat while my pulse thundered through my veins with heavy thuds. None of the students paid me any attention, not even so much as a glance in my direction. I was grateful for it, but I couldn’t get over the noise pounding against my ears.
We’re going in HERE?
I took a step backward but Savannah and Gigi pulled me forward. “I-I-I don’t know—”
“Don’t worry, girl. We got you,” Savannah said with a wink.
Gigi bumped my shoulder with hers. “We’re just gonna grab food and sit down. You don’t have to talk to anyone else if you don’t want to.”
I don’t want to.
I didn’t get another chance to speak or protest their plan before they were half dragging me inside. Just through the doors, we turned and walked to the left toward a wide opening that a bunch of other students were also heading toward. The girls hurried us along, pausing only to grab a couple red trays off a shelf. They moved swiftly, like whatever it is we were doing was something they did often. I blinked and then we were suddenly standing side-by-side at a metal counter with three of those red trays in front of us. Other students were lined up on either side of us, too.
Everyone was shouting.
Laughter filled the air.
And there was music coming from somewhere.
“Saffie?”
I jumped and looked up to meet Savannah’s sapphire eyes. She was watching me closely. My cheeks warmed. “Um…did you say something?”
She chuckled and pointed in front of us. “I said what do you want to eat? For lunch.”
“Oh…um…” I followed her point to the counter where platters of food were spread before us.
“We have a lot of options here, so what do you like to eat? Fav food?”
“I like…I like…”
A cold chill slid down my spine and dread filled my gut. This was an easy question. It was food. Even without my memory, I knew I’d eaten before. At the hospital they’d given me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then Landreia had made spaghetti for us last night... Yet I saw neither of those two things as options. My pulse quickened and sweat filled my palms. I looked for a single item that I recognized but there wasn’t one. I couldn’t even have said what I was looking at.
“Saffie?” Gigi leaned down and whispered in my ear.
“I don’t know,” I said in a rush, not taking my eyes off the food. “I can’t remember.”
Gigi grimaced, her face paling. “Oh, right, your amnesia. I’m sorry, that’s so insensitive of me.”
“Well, guess we better grab one of everything and feast like kings,” Savannah half shouted. Then she looked down at me and made a goofy face. “I am here for this.”
My lips curved at the ends. Something about her wildness made this whole situation seem insignificant. “I like that idea. I am…here for this as well?”
“That’s my girl.” Savannah reached forward and grabbed three triangular-shaped items. “First we have the top of the food chain. Pizza. The kind here at school is not the best, but it’s still pizza. We’ll give you a proper introduction off campus later.”
Gigi giggled as she grabbed a tray of little round objects, a bowl of long finger-shaped items, and a couple sandwiches that had grass sticking out of them. She pointed to each. “The next two food groups: chicken nuggets and burgers.”
Before I had time to inspect these foods, they moved us down the counter, sliding our trays along with us. To my surprise, my stomach growled with every few steps we took.
“Rice—”
“Soup—”
“French fries—”
“Pudding—”
“Jell-O—”
“There’s a soft-serve ice cream but it hasn’t worked all semester. If it’s not done after Christmas, there will be anarchy.” Savannah turned and shouted, “Anarchy, I tell you.”
“Savannah—”
“Baby back bullshit, I tell ya.”
I opened my mouth to ask what soft serve ice cream was when I spotted something I recognized. I gasped and dove for it with both hands. “It’s an APPLE!”
A boy standing beside Gigi looked at me like I was crazy, but then again, maybe I was. I didn’t care. Remembering things was so few and far between that I didn’t care to control my excitement. The apple was red and ice cold. It fit perfectly in one palm yet I held it in both hands like it was a prized possession. I grinned.
“I remember apples!” I looked up to my two new friends and found them smiling along with me and my heart warmed. They weren’t making fun of me.
“I wish I felt that way about fruit and veggies,” Gigi said with a dramatic sigh.
“I love fruits…with my fro-yo!” Savannah shouted to…I had no idea who.
Gigi rolled her eyes and nudged me with her elbow. “Come on, Saffie, it’s time to pay. Grab your tray, eh?”
I gripped both edges of my red tray and followed her to the end of the counter where a woman sat next to a machine of some kind. Gigi reached into her pocket and pulled out pieces of paper with green markings on them. OH! That’s money! I dove into the pocket of my own black jeans and pulled out the money Landreia had given me. I held it up but Savannah shook her head as she handed Gigi cash with an old man’s face on it.
“No, ma’am. Lunch is on us today.” She gently pushed my hand back down. “After all, I can’t suggest a feast such as this and then expect you to pay for it. That would be taking advantage of you, and we don’t play like that.”
“Oh…thank you.”
“You’re welcome. Now, let’s eat.”
“Savannah, scope us out a table on the edge so she doesn’t have to go in there.” Gigi nodded her head toward the room with all the tables of people.
“On it, Gandalf.” Savannah picked up her tray and skipped out into the big room…then disappeared.
I frowned and followed Gigi, carrying my own tray as we went after Savannah. We walked along the edge of the room, where there were no tables but lots of people moving around. When we got to the end of the walkway, Gigi turned to the right and led us to the other side of the room.
She nodded her head. “There’s Savannah. Perfect.”
I glanced over, but despite Savannah having ocean-colored hair, she was still lost in the sea of people. “Gigi…what is a Gandalf?”
Gigi chuckled and stepped around a couple of boys throwing a ball around. “He’s a famous character from a very famous book. Gandalf is a wizard who is very smart and very sassy.”