Crestmere High

[RunnerCharm]

Coming into the lunchroom, was a female fox..Nicole. She was a little short, and had beautiful brown fur. She was wearing a casual ruffle skirt with tropical colors. Following her was a yellowed fur cat Sadie. Sadie was wearing Jeans, and a little bit taller.

"So this is the cafeteria," Sadie said as she walked in with Nicole. Nicole looked around. All she saw were unfamiliar faces she wanted to make friends with.

"Well what are we waiting for," Nicole giggled giving Sadie a silly punch on the shoulder. "I am starving," Sadie guided Nicole to get their lunch. Afterwards carrying trays to the booth. Waiting there was the yellow felines best friends. Steph, a tall green vixen, who was a junior guard for the girls basketball team. Sitting next to Steph was a beautiful Tiger Megan. The starting Varsity Freshman for the girls soccer team. The circle made sense as Sadie was a volleyball player, and Nicole would soon run Cross Country for her new school.

[Kurt]

"Ah sorry!" Sven finally caught up with the fact his food had been falling on her shoe. Using a little water and a paper towel he cleaned it off before sitting himself seeing how the situation had calmed down. 

"Is what he did normal for Corneria?" He asked, still being rather unfamiliar with the new culture 

[Arminius H O Fiddywinks]

A lion by the name of Selassie with his mane shaved down walked off the cafeteria line with his tray full of food. He had been wearing the same graphic tee over a long-sleeve shirt for the past month because he thought it looked nice. Granted, it was a tee of Daft Punk. One of his classmates mistook him for a girl on the lunch line, and hit on him. The classmate quickly disengaged with the conversation when Selassie reminded him of the error of his ways. On Selassie's tray lay cuts of turkey with gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and stuffing: it was Thanksgiving lunch all month. As he walked to his table, where his cousins Yohannes and Naomi sat, he decided to honor his bet to Yohannes that he would do something spectacularly hilarious in the cafeteria before the year's end. So, he faked tripping, yelling incoherently as he threw his tray up in the air and fell back, his arms flailing. The tray comically landed on his chest, and he writhed on the floor.

"Oh my goodness!" he yelled over and over in Cornerian. Yohannes and Naomi ran to Selassie, laughing. Other students laughed as well.

"Selassie, are you alright?" asked Yohannes in Abyssinian. Selassie replied in nonsensical blabbering. Suddenly he stood up.

"You owe me 20 credits," replied Selassie in Abyssinian.

"You know what?" said Yohannes, smiling. "I'll pay you more, just because that was so amazing." The trio then cleaned up the mess Selassie made.

[RunnerCharm]

"Are you guys going to my soccer game tonight?" Megan asked the girls, as they ate their lunch. The four made an agreement to be at as many of their games, matches, or races as much as possible.

"I think so," Steph replied. She chuckled as she looked at Sadie and Nicole. "Are you two coming?"

"I think I can make it after practice," Sadie said as she looked at Megan. "Are you going to come Nicole?"

Nicole looked around the lunchroom. Seeing at all the people around here, as her new classmates. "I think so, but how many other students come to these games?" Nicole asked.

"Quite a few," Megan told Nicole. "We are hoping to win the District title, and try our best to win the state title."

"That's something else," Sadie said as she looked at Nicole. "Are you setting any goals?"

"Well I Want to try my best to win the Cross Country district title," Nicole said. They all continued to share their goals as they ate. Afterwards they discussed the plans for tonight, and hopefully getting a good crowd out for the girls soccer game tonight.

"By the way," Steph asked. "You better come to Football games on Friday nights."

Sadie nodded in agreement, "Yes! We have an amazing student section on Friday nights!"

Nicole was really excited to be at this school now.

[Snys93]

Kaiba felt useless in the lunchroom, since he didn't need food like everyone else did. So he decided to ask around if anyone needed anything. He approached table of girls conversing over athletic sports.

"Hello, is there something that I may acquire for you all? A beverage perhaps?" he asked in his usual perfect and synthetic accent.

[RunnerCharm]

Megan was the first to notice Kaiba. "No thank you," She replied sipping some water. Steph looked at him for a second, and she exchanged a look with Sadie. They both giggled.

"No thank you, but you can sit down with us," Steph told him.

[Snys93]

"Thank you, I accept." He said while taking a seat. "Am I right in assuming you are all new arrivals? If your answers are negative in that fashion, it must be that I myself am also new. I arrived today."

His decorum was precise and correct but lacking individuality and charm. Programing in Kaiba’s case proved to be anything short of a two edged sword.

[RunnerCharm]

Sadie giggled at him. "You should have joined me and Nicole today," Sadie replied.

"I'm Nicole, and I am the only new one here with you. Also I am a Sophomore," Nicole explained chuckling.

"I am Megan, and I am a Freshman, but I never moved before," Megan added.

"I am Steph, and that's Sadie," Steph replied. "We are Juniors, and we have gone here our whole lives."

"What's your name?" Sadie asked him.

[Snys93]

"I am Kaiba. It is nice to meet you all." He tried smiling, but however he again came off as awkward. "I believe it is fair for me to warn all that I am an Android. So certain words and phrases will 'go over my head'."

[Tiger Carson]

"It's alright." Zera said with a smile to Sven as he was being a gentleman and cleaning her boot.  She then shook her head at his question. "I don't think that's normal for anyone.  Chalk it up to him being new here, and an Android." It was at this moment that Casher showed up, along with Justine, and the two smiled at the pair.

"Hey there." Casher said, "Looks like you found a new cutie."

"Oiy, hello Casher..." Zera said with an eye roll, she definitely did not want for Casher to wind up chasing Sven off.  Or taking him for herself, she she moved a bit defensively to try and give her friend a hint to leave the guy be. "You missed some exciting stuff earlier." This last part was said with some sarcasm.

"Oh, like what?" Casher asked with a playful smirk, and Justine then looked at the three, smiling, and waving, with Zera giving her a wave in return.  Justine couldn't help but think Sven was cute, though her two girl friends were nice lookers as well.

"Got sat on by a new guy who's an android." Zera said, "Almost caused a huge stirr, but Commander Owl helped calm things down.  I'll tell you all about it later."

Tiger meanwhile had taken his seat again, and was then joined by Armand and Matt. "Hey guys." Tiger said, "What's up, you two have any luck with girls today?" They both shook their heads.

"Nah, Matt's simply too awkward to find a girl." Armand said, "And he's making excuses like a pansey."

"Armand..." Tiger said with a warning tone, not appreciating how his friend was talking to his other friend.

"I'm just ribbing him, but he's seriously lacking confidence." Armand said kind of nonchalantly.

"W-w-w-w-well, he's r-r-r-right..." Matt said, "I'm s-s-s-s-s-scared, actually." Tiger gave Matt a sympathetic look, knowing some of the Snow Leopard's pain.

"I'll help you out." Tiger said, "Come on, sit with me guys.  Let's catch up on today's events, and what happened in other classes." The Snow Leopard and Ocelot both nodded, and joined Tiger, beginning to converse with each other.

[Naza Sutera]

"So," Amber continued as she poured the vinaigrette dressing over her chicken salad, "the word "atom" comes from the ancian Ellenikan adjective atomos, which means "invisible". Nineteenth century chemists started using the term in connection with the growing number of irreducible chemical elements. It seemed apropos at the time, but at the start of the twentieth century, there were experiments with electromagnetism and radioactivity, and physicists came across a so-called "uncuttable atom", which was a conglomeration of various subatomic particles..."

"...Electrons, protons, and neutrons," Derek finished for her, "which can exist independently from one another."

Max sat quietly, eating his cheeseburger as he read their lips, taking all of this information in. It was a little difficult to hear them since the batteries of his hearing aid died, but he was learning nonetheless. He was falling behind in chemistry, and Amber offered to tutor him, despite the 'sensory barrier'. But she tried her best to speak as crisply and clearly as possible to make sure Max could understand her.

"Are you taking all this in?" Amber asked Max.

He responded by shaking his head.

"Hey, man," Someone said. Derek turned to see who it was.

"Korr, mah man! What up?"

"Oh hey, hun!" Amber greeted Korr.

Max simply stared at this new and unfamiliar person.

"That is Korr," Amber explained, talking slowly enough for him to read her lips. "We met him in homeroom."

Max nodded and continued eating.

"So," she turned back to Korr, "you seen Amelia anywhere?"

[SF Redd]

"Hey, pal." Korr smiled to Max with a wave as he sat down. "Yeah, Amelia's over there in the lunch line, with Sholt." he replied and pointed over to the pair, who were just barely visible from the table.

----------

Sholt was a bit bewildered at his brother's hastiness, however he knew what Korr was doing. "Uh, yeah, Korr can be a bit... abrupt sometimes." he chuckled. "So what do you get up to at lunch time here on Corneria? Anything fun?"

[Naza Sutera]

"I usually don't do the free/reduced lunch deal," Amelia said. "If I have the money--which I usually do--I buy some of the higher quality stuff from the catering provided by the local restaurants. In which case..." She craned her head to the buffet to see if there were any Chick-fil-A salads left, which there were. Three to be exact. "Ah, yes." She just had to wait her turn. Then she turned to Sholt. "So what's your brother's deal just running off like that?"

 

Meanwhile at the lunch table...

 

Amber introduced Korr to Amelia's brother. "Korr, meet Max; Max, meet Korr."

Max waved sheepishly at the new person.

[SF Redd]

"Korr? Don't mind him, he's just a bit excitable." Sholt replied. "Anyway, we like to watch what we eat… and…" he started as he looked at the selection of foods, most of it looking particularly unhealthy. "I'm not sure any of this stuff really fits the bill."

--------

"Good to meet you, buddy." Korr smiled at Max.

He turned his attention to everyone at the table. "So," he began." "once we've finished eating, is there anything that you guys do for fun at lunchtime?" As he spoke, he rummaged in his backpack. He pulled out a Tupperware tub, full to the brim with a nutritious chicken and rice meal, and placed it on the table. He kept digging, and brought out a flask, full of a healthy soup. Next came a water bottle, followed by a container holding two sandwiches, then a fork. Once he got all his food, his bag was empty, as the only thing what was kept inside was his food. He gladly started eating it, hating the fact that he had to wait so long for lunchtime to arrive.

[Naza Sutera]

"See, now," Amelia began to explain, "the free and reduced lunch crap is the nasty stuff. If you have a few coins on you, you can get the good stuff." Once it was her turn, she said to the lunch lady, "Can I get a chicken Greco chicken salad?"
"Coming right up," the server said as she turned around and opened a large industrial fridge. She took out Amelia's salad, one of many in the cooler, and handed it to Amelia over the sneeze guard.

"Thank you!" Amelia said, taking the salad and placing it on her serving tray. Turning back to Sholt, she further explained: "Also, the school has contracts with a few chain restaurants in the area, so they send some of their workers here to sell their food. Some of its healthy, some of it isnt, but it's better than the slop they serve to the ones who aren't fortunate enough to afford it."
 

***

"I think you have to be a senior to leave the campus," Amber explained. "Student government is working on making it so anyone can leave during lunch time though. But, um, we usually just hang out until the lunch period is over."

"...No actually, Amber, Student Government already got that bill passed," Derek corrected her. "Anyone can leave during lunch now."

"Oh, well, I must have been living under a rock." She twisted the cap off her SmartWater and took a swig to wet her pallet. "So, yeah, apparently you can leave for lunch. But unless you have a car, there isn't much of anywhere to go."