Food Fights - Short Story

          Ring! Ring!

          It was lunchtime. My stomach was rumbling, and I was starving. Finally, I can eat!

          I’m a big fan of food. I binge-watch every single episode of Cooking House, and I cook whenever I can. My cooking is so good. Thinking about it makes me hungry. 

          Students flocked to the cafeteria, taking every seat I could find. Ugh, why am I so slow at running! Last time, I finished last place in the class race. Being slow at running can be problematic, especially when you have to race with everyone to get the best food and seats in the cafeteria. Luckily, I bring my own lunch, which is better than school food. The table part is still a bit of a problem though.

          “Hey, Emma! I saved a seat for you!”

          It was Alexa, my best friend. We are technically opposites. She is slim, and I am chubby. She is attractive, and I’m average-looking. She gets straight A’s while I’m barely scraping by. I like dancing and musicals, and she prefers basketball. I could name all our differences. 

          One thing we share is our love for food. We love cooking and eating. On weekends, we would visit each other’s homes and cook together. Sometimes, we would bake. We would make every dish we could find, and even invent our own. It’s so fun.

          “Hey,” I said as I went to her table and sat on the seat facing her. She opened her lunchbox and showed me her food.

          “Look what I’ve got!” She exclaimed. 

          “Fruit pizza?”

          “Yeah,” she said as she took a bite of her food. “It tastes really good, and it’s great for the season because it’s gonna be summer next week!”

          “Yeah, of course.”

          “Anyways, have you been keeping up with your homework?”

          “Yeah, yeah,” I said, shrugging. She stared at me. “I mean… yeah, you know what I’m talking about.”

          She rolled her eyes.

          “Anyways, what should we make for this weekend?” 

          “Fruit pizza?” She said. “I mean, these tastes really good.”

          I stared at her food. It was colorful, but the ingredients were terrible. She was the one who came up with pizza-flavored cupcakes and popcorn pretzels, so why should this be a surprise?

          “Uh… maybe something else. Something more… normal.”

          She sadly stared at her food. I rolled my eyes. 

          “Normal?” 

          “Yeah,” I said casually. “That’s disgusting.” She sighed and walked away. 

          “Hey!” I yelled, following her. 

          “Leave me alone!”

          We had history class after lunch. The teacher told us to pair up for a mini-project, a report about the Egyptians due on Friday, the exact day school is ending. 

          “Hey,” I said to Alexa. “Wanna pair up?” 

         “No thanks,” she said. “I’m gonna request to go solo.”

         “Oh, alright.”

         After school, I immediately did the project in my room. My project materials were on one side of the desk, while my phone on the other side. Alexa was ignoring me. She didn’t mind me for the rest of the day. Did I do anything wrong? 

         I sent her a text message.

         Emma: heyo

         Hours later, she didn’t reply. I wonder what had happened to her. So, I sent her another message.

         Emma: heyo

         And another.

         Emma: heyo

         Soon, I was spamming messages. It wasn’t the right thing to do, but she wasn’t minding me. I took until nine in the evening messaging her. Usually, she would reply right away, but she didn’t. 

         The next day, I said hi to Alexa in the courtyard. She rolled her eyes and ignored me in response, which was very rude. She technically ignored me during English, even though I sent secret notes on her desk. She paired up someone else for the painting project in arts, and she didn’t play with me during recess, even though we both love hopscotch. She wouldn’t mind me during lunchtime either. What was with her? 

         Wednesday and Thursday were just the same. She ignored all my text messages, rolled her eyes when I greeted her and sat with Savannah during lunch. She only sits with Savannah when she’s mad, so something must be wrong. 

         It was Friday. At this point, I’ve given up on Alexa. I sighed and got out of bed sadly. I’ve officially lost my best friend, and I have to see her in all my classes. I went to the bathroom and changed, ready for school. I didn’t feel like eating breakfast. 

         I was miserable in all my classes. Alexa kept hanging out with Savannah, talking and whispering to each other. I was sinking in jealousy. 

         It was lunchtime. I sadly ate my lasagna as I watched Savannah and Alexa hanging out with each other. They had lots of fun, while I didn’t.

        “Why did you stop hanging out with Emma, by the way?” Savannah asked Alexa.

        “I don’t know. She’s just… mean.”

        Mean? How am I mean? My palms were sweating, my face was red, and I was boiling. Then, I exploded.

        “MEAN?! HOW AM I MEAN?!” 

        “Oh,” Alexa said, turning red. “Um…”

        “Oh no…” 

        I couldn’t take it anymore. If anyone was being mean, it was her. She kept ignoring me, and I’m her best friend! 

        I threw my food at her face. Everyone stared at us for a while. Then, Alexa threw her food at my clothes. So I took someone else’s food and threw it at Savannah. Then Savannah threw her sandwich at me, so I retaliated by spilling water at both of them. We were mad at each other. They threw food at me, while I threw food at them. Soon, other people followed us and threw food at each other. Not only food but also drinks. Fruits, sandwiches, and juices were thrown all over the cafeteria. Spaghetti strings were on the walls, sticky juices were stuck on hair, and faces were smothered with food. The lunch lady kept yelling to calm everyone down, but nothing would work. It was chaos. 

        “You have to talk to each other,” the principal told us. We were both sitting on chairs facing the principal in the principal’s office. I sighed. We stared at each other. Both of our faces were covered in food and spilled drinks. Not a single word was said for a minute.

        “Or I’ll call your parents,” the principal threatened. My hands were shaking. That couldn’t happen. I definitely don’t want to be grounded over the summer. I really have to talk to her.

        “You wanna meet at my house tomorrow?” I shyly asked. She just stared at me. “No cooking, just… hang out. I guess. Besides, it’s the first day of summer.”

        She stared at me. I was so nervous. What’s she gonna say? 

       “Sure,” she said. My eyes widened. 

       It was Saturday, the first day of summer. I tidied the balcony and living room and made tie-dye cupcakes with rainbow icing for Alexa and me. I was so nervous. What if we fight again?

       Ding dong!

       It was Alexa.

       “Hey,” she said shyly.

       “Hey,” I said. She closed the door and put her coat on the coat hanger beside the door.

       “You… wanna hang out at the roof?” I asked. When we aren’t cooking or baking, we would sit at the roof of the building, staring at the city skyline while talking. 

       Alexa was silent. I sighed.

       “Sure,” she said, glancing at me. We walked to the balcony and climbed on the pipe, leading to the roof. She sat at the edge of the building, and I sat beside her. We were silent for so long, just staring at the blue afternoon sky. Occasionally, I would stare at the road beneath us, with cars and buses passing by. It was late afternoon, prime time for hanging out with friends at the roof. The thing is, Alexa wasn’t a friend anymore. 

       “Uh… hey,” I said, wanting to start a conversation.

       “What do you want?” She asked me.

       “I- I’m… sorry…”

       “Yeah,” she said. “I’m sorry for calling you mean, even if you actually are.”

       “How am I mean?”

       “You called my food disgusting.”

       Oh. 

       “Did I hurt your feelings?” 

       “Kinda,” she answered. “I’m sorry for overreacting.” 

       “It’s fine,” I said. “I was also overreacting.”

       “So… are we…?”

       “Friends now?” 

       We stared at each other, smiling. Best friends indeed know each other. 

       “Of course!” We said at the same time. “Jinx! Jinx again! Jinx forever!”

        We laughed so hard. We were definitely friends again.

       “Hey,” I said as I handed her a tie-dye cupcake. “Wanna eat?”

       “Cheers,” she said as she raised her cupcake happily.