6 // Dishonour on Your Cow Dishonour on Your Noodle

I never thought I'd ever find myself willingly standing near Reese's locker, but with chow mein noodles on the line, well, anything was possible. Thursday was noodle day in the cafeteria and that meant there was a bucket of sweet and sour sauce waiting with my name on it, and Reese's wallet was going to make that happen.

The things I did for Chinese food.

And so I leaned against the burgundy locker I had the unfortunate knowledge was Reese's, impatiently fidgeting and craning my neck to peer down the hallway. I wanted to make this transaction as quick and painless as possible, like a drug deal but fifty times more nefarious.

"What're you doing?"

I blinked out of my reverie to realize that the voice was talking to me, and belonged to a red-headed girl I'd never talked to before. I recognized her faintly but no name came to mind. The only thing I knew about her was that in the moment she looked very unimpressed with my entire existence for reasons that were completely beyond me.

"Um, nothing?" I frowned in confusion.

She narrowed her stormy grey eyes at me, leaving more questions than answers. A very discontented hand was poised on her hip. "What, are you another pathetic girl waiting on Reese?"

My brows furrowed as I shot her a look. "Wait- what? No! I mean, well, technically yes, but also no in the way that you're implying. I'm not pathetic. This is strictly business."

The girl's face did not seem convinced. "Have some respect for yourself," she spat, and turned on her heel.

I stood there, stunned, questioning how my existence seemed to attract all the wierdest kind of people. This was clearly the result of Reese being within a fifty foot radius- the entire universe was thrown off balance and now we've entered a new dimension where random girls hate me and also Ryan Gosling was desperately in love and waiting to sweep me off my feet.

I stilled and waited. Well, it was worth a try.

Just as the girl was stalking away, Reese and his blond friend I recognized as Wyatt appeared. Wyatt's light eyes immediately snapped to the redhead, falling just under her collarbones.

He grinned, light eyes sparkling. "Hey wanna go on a date?"

She brushed past him, barely acknowledging his entire existence. From the view of her back and her swishing long ginger hair, she called, "Go to hell."

Inexplicably, his grin widened. "Cool, I'll make reservations for seven! Wear something short, I hear its warm there this type of year!"

But she was already gone, and I was markedly impressed with Wyatt's bravery. I was half-expecting her to bare fangs and shoot venom by the way her sharp eyes cut into everyone.

"Glad to know that it wasn't just a Stella thing on her hatred for the world," I grumbled, dripping with sarcasm. Reese was now close enough to hear me and grinned.

When I slid over to the next locker, Reese began tinkering with his lock. "Don't worry about it," he assured me, "She's sort of like that with everyone."

Wyatt materialized next to me, saturated in that aura of nonchalance, and gave me a once over. "Stella Sandavol? Glad to see that you're not trying to murder my buddy here anymore. This is new."

I swallowed, uncomfortable with the suggestion I knew was hiding behind his words. I reminded myself of the delicious miracle of Chinese food and tightened my grip on my backpack strap.

"She's helping me with Physics," Reese lied, not a hint of hesitation in his voice.

I was admittedly impressed with how easily he delivered it, although realistically I shouldn't have been helping a baby with physics, let alone someone who was actually going to be tested on it, as my marks would show.

Wyatt nodded, swallowing this easily enough, and I instantly liked him for his lack of suspicion. It was a quality I could appreciate in people I was trying to lie to.

"I think I also might need some tutoring in chemistry," Wyatt mused, a pointed wink in my direction earning a chuckle.

"My time doesn't come cheap," I warned.

Wyatt's smirk never faltered. "Good, 'cause I'll be buying lots of it."

Reese cut through our conversation with a slam of his locker, and I jumped back, startled at the sudden noise. "Let's go, cafeteria's waiting," he said, already shooting off down the hall.

I shrugged and followed in step with Reese, finding no reason why noodles would have to wait any longer than necessary.

When we stepped into the familiar cafeteria doors, we lost Wyatt amongst the crowd of students but I barely took notice as my mind focused on the delicious aroma wafting around me. I loved Savannah, but Chinese made me weak in the knees in a way that made me feel a little less guilty for basically selling her over to Satan.

Just a little.

As Reese and I both sidled up into the long line, I kept my gaze rolling everwhere but in Reese's direction. A part of me was thankful, the less Reese conversation the better, but it was battling with a part of me that couldn't stand to be in close, conversational distance with someone and not talk to them. It was an irritating itch for small talk that made me fidget and I hated it.

I swallowed. "So..."

"So step one with Operation: Love Master went pretty okay by my standards," Reese mused, grinning down at me.

I shot him a look. "That's what you're calling it now?"

He shrugged. "I thought it was pretty clever."

"Don't quit your day job."

"Anyway," he ignored me. "Now we've got to start planning phase two. I'm thinking, did you want to maybe go blonde?"

"Did you want to maybe go drink bleach?"

He sighed, fixing me with a dry look. "I'm just saying, his last girlfriend was a blonde."

I returned the look, drowning in contempt. "His last girlfriend was also a 5'10 track star with legs for days so let's not go there."

Reese took a tentative step back. "Sorry, forgot about how you were a stalker."

"At least I don't blackmail his friends into getting me to date him," I chimed.

A grin broke across Reese's face and he looked cheeky in a way that unnerved me. "Well aren't we just two peas in a pod," he hummed.

"Don't associate me with trash."

Reese barked out a laugh, brushing off my words yet again. Then we were at the front of the line, and a very bored middle aged woman was slopping delicious noodles into a little cardboard box and handing it to me. Sometimes the ends really do justify the means.

As Reese paid, I was already shovelling noodle into my mouth because patience wasn't a virtue that I held too closely. The boy noticed and shook his head with a smile. I didn't care, because there were delicious noodles in my mouth and nothing else in the world mattered.

Stepping into the hall where all the tables sat, crowded with too many kids and heavy with the buzz of conversation, I noticed that Reese was still standing next to me. My eyes scanned each face, looking for a familiar two, and I assumed Reese was doing the same as we stood there. Just as I was about to break away, a voice rang through my ears and I paused.

"Reese!"

I turned from reflex, finding a brunette girl stalking towards us with noodles in hand and glaring at me with a homicidal spark in her eyes.

Being around Reese was clearly detrimental to my health as this was a ridiculous amount of hatred I was receiving for only being at a safe arms-length distance from the boy in question. These were middle-school dance levels of distance. Although clearly these rules don't apply to Satan.

Glancing at Reese, it appeared that he was just as uncomfortable as I was. I knew her face, but her name, again, was beyond me. I felt like it might have started with an S. Maybe Sarah?

Reese paused. "Melissa?"

Close enough.

At her voice, a couple of people turned, and I was mortified to find Tyler's beautiful face among them. Why couldn't he ever show up when there were strategically placed fans and a skylight pouring down onto me from above? Or any other situation where I didn't look like I was a distant relative of the tomato family?

Just as I made the move to step away unharmed, Melissa's glare shifted back towards me. "You're not moving, you're staying right where you are," she all but growled.

I froze, finding myself magically bound by her threatening words.

"Melissa, calm down," Reese attempted to pacify the girl, but his words flew right by her. "Ignore Stella and let's just talk about this."

Melissa shifted her weight, jutting out her hip and crossing her arms over her chest. She pursed her lips. Either my eyes were playing tricks on me, or her freckles may have spelled out murder. "What the fuck's going on here? You guys a thing now?"

I vaguely wondered how news could travel that fast. Then I remembered that the universe actually hated me.

"No!" I blurted out, immediate regret washing over me when she fixed me with a hard stare. Yelling, I reminded myself, was not the method to choose when trying to make the entire situation a huge nonevent. "I mean- uh, no," I repeated, softer. "We're not, we're like the opposite of a thing. An anti-thing."

"Stella isn't anything," Reese agreed. I never knew that something smart could come out of his mouth.

Melissa remained unconvinced. "I heard that you've got a new girl, is this it? Her?"

"No, that's a totally different girl," he feebly tried to reassure her. I nodded frantically. The last thing I needed were people thinking that there was something going on between Reese and I, because I was pretty sure that was a fate worse than death.

"I think he's the worst person ever!"

"See! She thinks I'm the worst person ever!"

I noticed that more than a couple of people were watching us now and I had to do everything in my power to not just run in the opposite direction.

She looked between us, a calculating gaze running over our faces, before she sniffed. "Fine," she relented, but her voice was too sweet. "If it's a different girl, why don't you just pass on this message for me, yeah?"

With a saccharine smile she dug her hand into the cardboard box, grabbing a handful of noodle and wasting no time in hurling it at a very dumbfounded Reese, a memory to last a lifetime. I barely had time to laugh as she dug in for more ammo, although finding a new target instead. When she powered up and shot straight for me, then all laughter was gone.

The adrenaline shot through me like a charge of electricity. I felt face to noodle contact in all it's sticky, saucy glory, and then I was lunging towards her. Reese's quick reflexes grabbed me, but my hands were still clawing the air in a desperate attempt to catch something, like Melissa's face, for instance. I thrashed against him, trying to escape his tight grip around my waist as Melissa took a few steps back, eyes wide.

"How dare you disrespect noodles like that!?" I shrieked. "Noodles are for eating! They are not for throwing! Have some fucking respect!"

Reese let out an aborted chuckle as he struggled to maintain a grip on me, which was a little difficult as we were both now covered in sweet and sour sauce. A stray noodle was dangling in my vision and I could feel it's noodle bretheren all over my head. I was actually pretty okay with how my hair had turned out that day, and now it was ruined.

This is why we couldn't have nice things.

"Stella, calm down," Reese attempted to soothe me, but all I saw was noodle and red.

One of the hall monitors was now stalking towards us, a short Spanish lady that looked like she was having none of our teenage shenanigans. Oh god, I winced, this was going to get me right back to Mr. Ruth, and so I stilled.

I would never use those stupid hand puppets ever again- so help me.

The older lady spat out some quick threats and the group dispersed, Melissa among them convieniently disappearing into the crowd. Reese finally let go, and I was glad to be away from his touch, as the hall moniter gave us a spiteful warning.

I tried to explain that I was a victim- a victim!- but she was having none of it. Although, she didn't threaten me with Mr. Ruth, so I clenched my jaw and gritted out an apology, because that was the kind of person I was now. Turning on my heel, I began to walk away. My chest still heaved but for some reason when I glanced to Reese he was wearing that shit-eating grin.

"What are you looking at?" I spat.

"Noodle isn't a bad look on you." He smirked.

"Oh, shut up, Powers."

***

Welll here's chapter six! This is very much making up as I go so I hope you like it! If you think there is any sort of method to this madness, let me tell you, there is definitely not, hahaha.