groovygamers.com

OOC:  cross posted from lunch thread

Donnie kind of jumps, having been engrossed in his computerwork. The screen is quickly minimized.

"Hiya Sammy. What's this about? I hoped to avoid causing a scene if Sylvia showed up."

"She's not there either.  I'm not sure where she's hiding.  Nah, it was just Megan going after Colin, pick-pick-pick, and it was driving me nuts.  I decided the best thing to do was walk away and not get too involved.  Its not worth the headache."

She reaches into her bag and pulls out a much abused paperback, which is placed on the table in front of her.  She lifts the flap of the backpack to reveal the bag's contents.  "Brownies," she says of the metal can.  "If you want any, just reach in and take some.  I brought them to share at lunch but when I got mad, I grabbed all my marbles and left."   The rest of the main section has a small stack of printer paper, a plastic bag that has plastic strips in it, what looks like some pink makeup, and her books for the afternoon.

Donnie looks over his shoulder then reaches out to snag two brownies, dropping one in his backpack (which looks more full than usual) and taking a bite out of the second. A hiss of pleasure escapes from the backpack, as if air were bineg let slowly out of a balloon.

"I have tried to not be a jerk to Megan, but sometimes she can be a real bitch. Why the hell is she picking on Colin?" Donnie's brows beetle together, and he looks as if he were going to get up and go defend Colin.

Sammy starts talking, and the words rush out like a torrent of water from a high pressure pipe. 

"I don't know.  She was asking if he'd written those I Know What You Did letters to the guys who attacked that girl, Darla, and Dave said that he'd heard one of them was presumed dead.  Colin asked how Dave knew that the boy might be dead, then said he was pretty sure the guy was dead.  Then Megan wanted to know how.  Colin said his powers let him talk to dead people.  He also said that sometimes he knows things that he's not allowed to discuss, but that wasn't good enough for her and she kept pushing and pushing..." 

Sammy takes a breath. 

"John told her to leave it be, and I think others were saying that too, but I left anyhow.  I swear, I need to sit with other people at lunch.  This is giving me stomach aches and I don't need that again."

Donnie's eyes grow wide, then he looks to the left, as if he may know something about it and trying not to say anything. Whether Sammy notices it or not as she rants he's not sure.

"Has the band table fallen on hard times?"  he says, trying to divert the conversation.

Sammy looks a little sad.  "Upperclassmen moved in and took over the table when the weather started getting really chilly.  Our group split up and went in different directions.  I'd invite them to eat at the table with me but there'd be too much explaining to do.  Its probably better this way.  They don't need to be dragged into the Life."  She looks even sadder by the time she's done talking.

Donnie gives a quiet laugh. "Dragged into the life? You make it sound like we are hardened criminals or drug addicts. Though looking at me you might question it." Donnie turns to face Sammy more fully, and reveals a number of splotchy bruises on his face.

"Ok, maybe I'm just a little extreme."  Then Sammy sees Donnie's face.  "What the hell?  How did this happen?"

Donnie smiles, obviously a bit painfully. "It's all good. Looked for some extra 'practice' outside of Jack's teaching and it helped me blow off some steam. I was actually the winner of both fights. My mom wasn't even up yet when I left this morning and I hope I can avoid her until this mostly disappears. Now you know my little secret: I had several reasons for avoiding the Usual Suspects today."

"Wow." 

Sammy is silent for a moment as she looks at the bruises. 

"It's all good, huh? I guess you found a personal trainer then?"  She doesn't say it, but the additional thought 'or are you going out hunting alone?' is implied.  She sighs and lets it go.  He has the dragons.

"Want some makeup?  We could probably cover up those bruises if you don't want people asking nosy questions."

Donnie says "Nah. Badge of honor in my book. If people stare, at least it's because they are wondering who beat me up, not 'how the hell did he get that girl?' "
He sighs. "I have lots to digest. Stuff I found out last night about this Dylan guy, and myself. I'm still trying to process it all. Forgive me if I can't elaborate on it all now."

"Yeah, cool, I totally understand."  She doesn't, but that isn't going to stop her from saying she does.  "I'm not here to make you talk.  Sometimes not talking is a whole lot better thing to do."

She picks up the battered copy of To Kill A Mockingbird that is laying on the table in front of her and mumbles "I'm about 3 chapters behind anyhow.  I didn't get much homework done over the past few days, only the stuff that absolutely had to be turned in."

She opens the book at the pages being guarded by a glittery pink unicorn bookmark.  She starts to read, then looks up and quietly adds  "And we both need to quit believing that nobody worth liking would ever like us back, ok?  'Cause hard as it is to believe sometimes, its not true no matter what we tell ourselves, and believe me, I can tell myself some good ones.  So quit it.  Instead of wondering 'how the hell did he get that girl' people are probably thinking 'he must have something good because obviously someone found it and wanted him.'  Don't be surprised if other girls come sniffing around, trying to figure out what the cheerleader saw."

Donnie looks like he is going to say one of his usual flippant remarks, but pauses, seeming to take to heart what she says. "Huh."  He opens back up the screen and continues typing, a contemplative look on his face.

Sammy sits there and quietly reads her book unless something more is said to her.  She could, if she wanted, tell him that she's supposed to see Sylvia later that day, even offer to carry a message, but she doesn't say a word about it.

They sit in companionable silence until the bell rings. Donnie rests his hand on her forearm for a minute, his now deflated backback thrown over one shoulder. "Thanks." He heads of to class.