Lunch

Originally written on Aril 29, 2022

The auditorium was empty. Liz had hoped it would be when she stuck her head in through the double doors. A sigh of relief. She closed the door and made her way to the back row. She loved bing alone in there. A space that was usually so loud and full of life all to herself. Only half the lights were on. She unpacked her lunch and put in her headphones. one of her friends wasn’t in school today and the other had a doctors appointment over lunch. 2. She had 2 friends and neither of them were there today. Of course she knew other people but she wouldn’t dare ask any of them to sit with her. So here she was in the auditorium.

It wasn’t that she didn’t like those other people. They made her laugh and were nice for the most part. She just felt so awkward around them. Was she saying the right thing? What should she do if they talked about something she didn’t know about? What if she asked to sit with them and they said no? It was so much easier for her to do her own thing. Say she needed time to herself. Another good trick Liz would use when she didn’t know what to do or how to interact was to pretend to be napping. Or that she was really tired. Her drama teacher had asked many times if she was okay and she would always reply “yes, just tired.” She didn’t know how to say “I don’t know how to socialized with other people and being here makes me feel really out of place.” without sounding crazy. The truth was she didn’t know how to interact sometimes. Didn’t know how to make small talk or seamlessly join a conversation. She always felt on the outside.

As she was taking her sandwich out of the container the auditorium door opened a crack. Please don’t come in here. Please don’t come in here! She repeated in her head like a mantra. The door went from a gap to fully open. Not entirely sure why Liz dropped down to hide behind the seats. With the lights partially out no one would see her here. A small group of students came in chattering on top of each other about the day so far. Liz instantly regretting hiding because how was she supposed to get out of this without looking like a complete and total weirdo? Think. Think! She looked at her phone and realized that it was almost time for 3rd period. They must have drama. The once welcoming quiet theatre was now a trap!