Bubble Gum Kisses
CHAPTER 34

**Kapittel 34**

***Vanessa***

**"What?"** I raised my brow at him. What was with the whistle?

"Nothing," he shook his head and stepped forward. The lunch lady took her cue and gave him a copious amount of food as well, though she didn't offer him extra fillings for the tacos like how she did to me and instead, offered to give him more fruits to which he agreed.

"Let's go?" I asked him when he went off the queue, and we went to walk toward Georgia, who was waiting for us the whole time.

"What's taking you guys so long? Let's eat already," she grumbled, obviously hungry before adding: "I've been eyeing a free table, let's go there before someone else gets to it." She pointed at a vacant table not too far away from us. "You could've just sat on the vacant table instead of eyeing it, you know," I chided as we walked side-by-side.

"I know," she retorted with a haughty expression on her face, her lips curving into a playful smile. "But I don't want to," she continued which made me look at her in disbelief. I appreciate that she waited for us though, but she wouldn't be grumbling at us if she didn't.

As soon as we got into place and made ourselves comfortable, Georgia looked over my tray and whistled. "Looks like the lunch lady likes you," she remarked. "How so?" I instantly asked.

She rolled her eyes at me playfully in reply. "Duh, she gave you a lot more than usual. Look at mine."

She handed over her tray in my direction, showing me what the contents of her lunch. She was right. Asher and mine's trays were so full of food that the contents were close to spilling off the edge while hers was just the right amount. Now I'm thinking of rescinding what I thought earlier about liking her.

"Looks like she likes Asher, too," she commented, looking over at Asher.

"No, I looked over at Vanessa's tray and whistled seeing her being given the VIP treatment. She must have sensed that I might call her out, so she gave me plenty too," he only shrugged nonchalantly, reaching for the taco, dipping it in the sauce, lifting it to his mouth, and taking one huge bite.

Unconsciously, I caught myself staring at him as he ate. I lowered my gaze down his pinkish, thin lips when a trail of cheese stretched from the taco and ended up sticking on his bottom lip. Slowly, I elevated my eyes and watched how his cheeks puffed and moved in an up-and-down motion as he chewed while his eyes rolled to the back of his head. It was pleasing to the ears to hear the crunch of the toasted tortilla as he took every single bite. Just looking at him was making now making me hungry. This guy could do good as a mukbang Youtuber.

Giving up on my primal impulse, I began digging in too. I don't know if this was because this taco was the best I've ever tasted in my entire life or because of how deliciously Asher ate his, but I was eating more aggressively than usual. I ate bite after bite, piece after piece, savoring each chunk that entered my mouth and gets ground in my teeth.

"They do have the best taco," I mumbled after swallowing, looking at the half-eaten food. My heart lurched seeing that only half of it was left and it would be no more.

"I told you," Georgia winked at me before standing up, fixing the wrinkles of her skirt.

"What's up?" I asked.

"Don't mind me. I just gotta do some lady business in the powder room. I'll be quick," she said, stepping off her chair.

"Okay. Take your time," Asher said, and she took off.

"So, how's the experience in Trinity Knight so far?" Asher asked when Georgia was out of sight. He just finished his taco and was now eating his fruits. "Damn, now I want to get some sloppy joes," he released a sigh and placed an elbow on the table, resting his cheek on his hand.

I took a bite of my lunch first, chewed, and swallowed it before answering his question: "It's okay. Lunch is better than my previous school, and the teachers are cool too." It was true. I have only been here for two days, and the education in this school is unimaginably different from my previous school. The tuition truly speaks for itself.

"I heard from Georgia that you're an international exchange student?" I took my turn to ask him.

He nodded. "Yeah. I got a period of 2 semesters then I'm going back to the Philippines after finals end to catch up to my graduation."

"So, how's the experience in the exchange student system?" I asked, copying his question from earlier.

"Copying me, eh?" he smirked when he realized that. "Well, it's a big culture shock..." he trailed off, "Like, everything here is huge." He started to list down all the things that amazed him the first time he came to the country. "And the chicken nuggets, how can you guys eat so many of them?"

"C'mon it's not that many," I replied, laughing. "They're so good, too."

"It is that many," he chuckled. "But yeah, they are good. Also, not gonna lie, I replace it amusing seeing how rowdy you guys go in waffle houses."

I gasped audibly, my lips wide agape that my choco milk's straw fell off my mouth. "How long do you stay up and stroll around that you get to witness that? I haven't seen a fight in waffle houses yet, only McDonalds." "I wake up early," he shrugged at me.

"Early like 5 AM?" I raised a brow at him.

"Earlier than that," he retorted with a smug grin.

"And here I am, can't even manage to wake up past 5 unless I'm depressed."

"There you are," a voice said that sent shivers down my spine.

Dreading for my undetermined yet seemingly obscure fate, I turned my head and craned my neck upwards at a turtle's pace. Alas, I have come face-to-face with the incarnation of the devil himself.

"Sup, Van?" Friso asked cooly, a sardonic smirk plastered on his annoyingly arrogant facade. I swear God made a huge mistake making this guy's face with fear and wonder since his personality didn't align with it. He was holding his immensely full lunch tray, his bag hanging loosely on his left shoulder. Behind him were his peers. Looking at their jerseys, I could surmise that they were from the soccer team. I could recognize a few, especially Lazarus, but I couldn't recognize most of them.

"Better," I hastily retorted, my lips twitching for a fake smile. "If you weren't around," I added, and I saw his eyes waver.

"Well, I guess that's bad for you," he told me, suddenly settling his bag down beside me, making me slide away on the rectangular seat. I didn't want to be near this guy less than a meter. "Since I'll be around," he continued, putting his tray beside mine.

"You, go away," he looked at Asher and motioned his hand away like he was shooing the latter.

"What did you say?" Asher was about to speak and defend himself but I beat him to it. "No one speaks to my friend that way, Friso de Vries," I seethed through gritted teeth. No one does, even if it was.

"I just kept my eyes off you for a second, and now you're with another guy? That hurts me, baby," he said mockingly, clutching his chest dramatically like he was pretending to be hurt by my words.

My brows furrowed, and I glared at him while he looked at me with mocking eyes. He was probably thinking about how to humiliate me in the back of his head.

"Friend of yours?" Asher asked that severing my heated eye contact against Friso.

"No." I found myself replying faster than the speed of light.

"It seems that he doesn't like us to be here though," he said, the tone of voice sounding like he was provoking Friso.

"No, just you. Now move," the guy in question responded.

"No, we're staying." I turned to glare at him again.

Meanwhile, his peers behind him began to talk amongst one another. Realizing that the noisy cafeteria had gone quiet, I looked around and realized that everyone was now watching our table. I immediately looked away, embarrassed that I was in this situation.

"Who is she?"

"It looks like Friso has taken an interest in her."

"Looks like another flavor of the week."

"Right."

"I've never seen her around before. Is she a transferee?"

"I think she is."

"She's with the exchange student, do you think they're dating?"

"Maybe? Even if they are, that wouldn't stop Friso."

"Uh... how?"

"Bitch, you know Friso, he gets whoever girl he wants. Whether she's dating someone or not."

One guy stepped forward and placed a hand on Friso's shoulder. "C'mon, bro. She doesn't wanna sit with us." He looked at me briefly and saw something glimmering in his eyes. Was it amusement? Entertainment? Delight? Nonetheless, I could feel that he was empathizing with our discomfort with their presence.

"No, we will sit with her." Friso was being the persistent prick he was, he looked at me with a credulously innocent gaze, looking like a puppy pleading to his fur parent. "For old time's sake, baby?" he asked, pulling my last straw. "Yeah," I nodded. "For old time's sake," I said, folding my hand into a fist.

**

Thank you for reading Bubble Gum Kisses! To keep up with my works, future works, and endless frustrations on Twitter: https://twitter.org/RiosMorpheus**