Chương 13: Cafeteria Fight!

Overcooked pizza and some undefinable sweet smell assaulted me the moment we entered the cafeteria. Intense fluorescents overhead cast everyone in aggressively harsh light that made even the prettiest kids look slightly jaundiced. Tre and I grabbed trays and joined the lunch line. The food options were exactly what you'd expect from a school operating on a budget that probably hadn't increased since the Clinton administration.

"Pizza's usually safe," a girl with braces and an anime button on her backpack said from behind us.

"The burgers bounce if you drop them. Learned that the hard way."

"Thanks for the warning," I said, grabbing two slices of rectangular pizza. Tre pointed at chocolate milk, and I added two to my tray. The cafeteria was packed, every table claimed by its particular social ecosystem. Jocks dominated the center, theater kids colonized the far corner, and various other clusters filled the spaces between. It looked exactly like every high school movie from the '80s through the 2000s, complete with these rigidly defined social hierarchies that had clear territorial boundaries.

Except real Gen Z kids didn't organize themselves like this anymore. They formed friend groups based on Discord servers and niche interests. The quarterback would be playing D&D with the theater kids. The goth girl would be on varsity volleyball. Not that any of it mattered because in the real world, everyone would be on their phones all the time. Look at these cliques, Tre projected. I keep expecting Freddie Prinze Jr. or Rachael Leigh Cook to appear.

"Then the demons are working from outdated reference material," I whispered to Tre. Scanning for Isabel and Sameer, I spotted that kid Austin from second-period art class sitting alone at a corner table, portfolio propped beside him, sketching in a worn notebook.

"There." Tre pointed to another table near the art kid. I followed his gesture and spotted Sameer hunched over his notebook, sitting beside Isabel. Isabel had earbuds in, lost in whatever she was listening to. Sameer glanced up as we sat down.

"So, you survived the morning grind."

"Barely." I took a bite of the pizza and immediately regretted it. Cheap dough, too much orange grease, and sauce that tasted like ketchup, not real tomatoes. It was identical to cafeteria pizza from my high school. Maltheris was mining me, siphoning textures, tastes, and smells straight from my memories. That's why it all felt so convincing and familiar.

"You ever have Mr. Thornton?" Tre asked Sameer.

"Super intense guy. Needs a massage or a joint or something." That got the faintest smirk out of Sameer. I nodded toward Isabel.

"What's up with her?"

"Isabel likes to catch up on audiobooks during lunch." Sameer shrugged. I waved a hand in Isabel's face. She startled, then smiled, removing the earbuds.

"Hey, guys." Tre was struggling to open his tiny mouth wide enough for a bite of pizza. He finally tore off a small piece, chewed, made a face, then spat it back onto the tray. I don't think I'm supposed to eat in this body, Tre's voice reverberated in my head. Everything tastes like ass.

"Gross," I said, shooting him a look. Isabel watched the whole exchange.

"Can't blame him. The food's basically punishment."

"We're still the new kids," I said, sipping chocolate milk.

"Can't look like total freaks on day one." Sameer exhaled sharply through his nose. Isabel smirked. Sameer leaned back in his seat.

"If you're worried about fitting in, there's a party tonight at the summer camp up the road." Tre perked up.

"I love a party! What kind of party is it?" Sameer leaned forward.

"Annual start-of-school ritual. Big bonfire, couple kegs of shitty beer. Everyone goes."

"It's as close to fun as you'll find in this shithole," Isabel added glumly. The cafeteria door slammed open, startling half the kids in the room mid-sentence. All eyes were on Evan's group as they strutted in, the remaining conversations dimming to whispers. Evan moved with classic varsity-jacket swagger, chin up, ignoring everyone as he crossed the room. Summer clung to his arm. Liam trailed behind, laughing too loudly at something on his phone.

They headed toward the center tables, but Evan's trajectory bent when his eyes found us. More specifically, Sameer.

"Babe, over here," Summer tugged at Evan's arm, trying to redirect him toward an empty table. Her bottle-blonde hair caught the fluorescent light, dark eyebrows more pronounced by the dye job. She looked nervous, eyes scanning the cafeteria. Evan shook her off, still moving toward our table with an intense, purposeful stride that never ends well in high school cafeterias.

"This is about to go sideways," I whispered. Should we intervene? Tre asked in my head.

"Can I help you?" Sameer's voice was steady, but I caught the way he was holding the pen in a death grip.

"Just wondering how you sleep at night," Evan said, doing his best antagonistic douche impression.

"Knowing what your sister did." The cafeteria noise dimmed, as kids stopped talking and eating, sensing drama. Sameer set down his pen very carefully.

"I sleep fine. How about you? Still having nightmares about your drunk daddy?" Liam let out an awkward laugh.

"Evan, come on. Not here."

"No, let him talk," Evan's voice had gone dangerously quiet.

"Let him lie to my face."

"Lie?" Sameer stood slowly.

"Your dad was wasted, and everyone knows it."

"Bullshit. He wasn't drunk. Your sister was the one who ran the red light!"

"That's a lie, and you know it." Sameer stepped closer to Evan. The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement. They were nose to nose now. The entire cafeteria was on pins and needles. Summer gripped Evan's arm, trying to pull him away, pink backpack sliding off her shoulder as she struggled to hold him back.

"Evan, please—""Stay out of it, Summer," Evan snapped, not breaking eye contact with Sameer. Then Austin stood from his seat.

"My brother bartends at Murphy's. He said Mr. Ortiz was there doing shots until last call that night." Evan wheeled on him.

"Fuck off, Austin!" Isabel moved quickly from her corner table. She grabbed Sameer's shoulder, trying to turn him away.

"This isn't worth it, dude. Come on." But Sameer jerked free.

"No, I'm done pretending it didn't happen. Done with him acting like his dad was some saint when—"" FUCK OFF!" Evan yelled, his fist slamming down on the table with explosive force. The impact sent Sameer's tray flying, chocolate milk exploding everywhere, splattering across Isabel's black hoodie and into her hair. She stumbled backward, dripping and furious.

"Your sister killed my dad!" Evan shouted, his whole body vibrating with barely contained rage, hands clenched into fists at his sides.

"LIAR! Your dad killed my sister!" Sameer shot back, shoving Evan hard enough to make the bigger teen wobble.

"And the only reason she didn't go to jail is cause your mom's fucking the Sheriff!" Evan screamed it, spittle flying from his lips." I'll fuckin kill you!" Sameer bellowed and charged. Evan sidestepped, of course. The guy moved like someone spoiled enough to have plenty of experience dodging consequences. Sameer's own momentum sent him crashing hard to the marbled linoleum. Whispers around the cafeteria erupted into a tsunami of overlapping voices. Then the phones came out.

Everyone was recording, gossiping, and picking sides in real-time. Teachers rushed in from all sides. Liam grabbed Evan from behind.

"Dude, chill! You're gonna get suspended!" Sameer was back on his feet, ready to swing at Evan, when Mr. Thornton pushed between the boys.

"Both of you, principal's office. Now."

"This is so stupid, Evan!" Summer was crying, mascara running in black streams down her face as her plump lips trembled.

"It was just a car accident! Nobody meant for anyone to die!" But neither boy was listening. Isabel stood there, dripping with chocolate milk, fury, and exhaustion, fighting for control of her face. She'd clearly watched this scene play out too many times.

"I'm gonna clean up," she announced, then stormed toward the bathroom.

"Go." Tre pointed his thumb at Sameer.

"I'll stick with him." I nodded, then followed Isabel. The girls' bathroom was that particular shade of institutional pink someone in the 1970s probably thought was soothing. Isabel was already at the sink, tearing paper towels out of the dispenser by the handful, when I entered. There were also two freshmen, whispering with the same scripted delivery I'd heard all day.

"But no one knows what really happened," the first girl said. Isabel beelined to the sink, forcefully tearing off paper towels.

"I heard Sameer's sister was leaving a house party totally wasted," the second girl stated.

"With all the fucking dick you suck behind Andre's back, it's amazing you can hear anything at all, Skylar," Isabel seethed, her voice a blade through their gossip. Skylar looked more embarrassed than angry. She turned to her friend.

"Come on, let's go before goth girl's loser energy rubs off on us." They spun and left in a huff.

"Damn, Isabel," I said with new respect.

"Remind me never to piss you off." She smiled grimly.

"Sorry. I'm just sick of people. The gossip is what started all this bullshit with Evan and Sameer. Now they're basically ready to fight each other."

"Yeah. That was..." I started, then realized I had no idea how to finish.

"A normal Monday," Isabel said, already over it.

"Or Tuesday. Or any day ending in Y when those two are in the same room."

"So… I gotta ask—" I started before she cut me off.

"You want to know what really happened?" She turned to face me, chocolate milk still dripping from her hair.

"Me fucking too. Problem is nobody really knows. What we do know is that two families are broken, the whole town's picking sides, and one of the people who might actually know the truth was brutally murdered."

"Wait, the doctor's connected to Sameer and Evan?" Isabel squeezed water from her hair.

"He did the autopsies. Then he's found with papers shoved down his throat? His eyes bleached out? Sounds like someone wanted to make sure whatever he knew was buried with him." She inspected herself in the mirror.

"It feels like this whole town is stuck in that night. We're all just... reliving it over and over until someone tells us what really happened and we can all move on." Summer burst through the bathroom door, mascara still streaked down her cheeks. The temperature in the bathroom seemed to drop into the negatives. She paused, looked from me to Isabel. Then back to me.

"Sorry… I just," she started between sobs.

"I…" Summer trailed off, then pivoted to face the mirror. She stared at her reflection for a moment, then flipped some internal switch, and the sobs just stopped. Her face went still, then slowly rebuilt a softer, sadder expression. I realized I was staring and looked away. Isabel had turned her whole body away from Summer. After cleaning off her streaked mascara, Summer rotated to face us again.

"Isabel," she said, like she was approaching a wild animal.

"I'm sorry about the milk. Evan didn't mean—""Save it," Isabel cut her off.

"This isn't Evan. It's just when the crash gets brought up, he gets—""Violent?" Isabel suggested." Emotional," Summer corrected, but with an undercurrent of irritation.

"His dad was everything to him. So when Sameer's constantly saying these things—""It's a two-way street, Summer," Isabel said, cutting the cheerleader off.

"Evan's talked plenty of shit about Anika. One of them has to be telling the truth. How are you so sure it's Evan?"

"Because I love him," Summer said, rather dramatically. Isabel laughed. Not a small laugh either. She loudly laughed in Summer's face.

"You love anyone with a dick, Summer." The cheerleader's face darkened in a way I hadn't seen from her yet.

"You're a fucking bitch," she tossed out, turning on her heels and storming out. Had she come in to clean up her makeup? Or used it as an excuse to taunt Isabel? A moment after Summer had left, Isabel looked at me.

"I hope she steps on a rake." I laughed.

"You see it, though, right? The way everyone just believes their own version of the truth?" I nodded. This was exactly what I was supposed to be investigating. Isabel wrung out another paper towel.

"This whole town is built on competing memories of one night. And now someone's killing to keep their version as the only truth." A notification popped into view: CLUE ADDED: 1. Crash victims: Rafael Ortiz, Anika Patel 2. Doc Mosley knew something about the crash. I looked away to catch Isabel's reflection watching me. Now was my chance.

"Isabel," I said in a low voice.

"In science class earlier… that note you wrote…" She went completely still.

"What about it?"

"Are you asking me if I know this isn't real?" I kept my voice barely above a whisper.

"Because, yes. I do." Isabel's body relaxed, and for the first time since I met her, the practiced indifference cracked.

"Oh, thank fuck. I worried I was going insane." I shook my head.

"You're not."

"Your friend.... he's... a living doll, right? But everyone just… accepts it?"

"I mean, sort of—""Sameer smoked a joint with him this morning! How does a doll even smoke a joint? Or get high?! Like, what the fuck is happening, Nora?" I put my hand on her arm and gave her a small squeeze.

"Hey, try to breathe." Isabel stepped away from my touch.

"What's happening to me?"

"How long have you felt this way?" I asked.

"Since this morning, I guess. Time feels weird, everything feels…" She studied her boots.

"I have memories that also feel like dreams, and I can't tell one from the other." She was so close to figuring it out for herself. The question was whether confirming it would ease her anxiety or accelerate a meltdown. Maybe both, in that order. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"You're not crazy. I woke up feeling the same way."

"This morning? Specifically?" I flattened my mouth into a thin line and met her eyes. Isabel stepped closer, lowering her voice.

"I caught one of the Juniors staring off into space for a second too long after first period. They looked like they were feeling it too. But I was too nervous to say anything, and then they just shook it off and went about their day."

"Does Sameer know?" Her face fell.

"I don't think so. I tried to mention it this morning before all the shit with Evan."

"And?" Her mouth pulled to one side and stayed there.

"He thought I was joking." She looked somewhere past my shoulder.

"So I let it go." I knew she was waiting for me to say it. She'd done most of the work to get here, and what she needed now was for me to validate what she was seeing.

"You're right. None of this is real. We're trapped in something, and most of the people around us have no idea." Isabel's mouth worked, but no words formed. I watched her start piecing it together.

"Then what—" The fire alarm blared over the rest of her sentence. The overhead lighting went out. Red emergency lights kicked in. The timing wasn't lost on me. NEW OBJECTIVE ESCAPE THE HIGH SCHOOL"Every teen's dream."

"What's happening?!" Isabel shouted over the shrill WAAA-WAAA of the alarm.

"School's out."