Ashley sat in the middle of the cafeteria, staring moodily at her phone. Her tray of food was pushed to one side, and Ashley’s head was propped up on her hands.

“If you’re trying to make your phone do nothing, it’s really working, Ash,” Sara said, sitting down beside Ashley. “Ooh, fries!”

“I’m trying to make it ring,” Ashley mumbled.

“Uh yeah, honey, that only happens when someone actually calls you,” Sara said.

“Has anyone ever told you to drop out of school and be a stand-up comedian?” Ashley said drily, quirking her eyebrow at Sara.

“Oh yeah, all the time,” Sara said, only half-jokingly. “So, um, on the serious side… Why are you making faces at your phone?”

“I’m not making faces at my phone,” Ashley said, pulling a face. “I’m trying to send a psychic message to Lyle. She had her first ever movie premiere last night and she was supposed to tell me about it.”

“I thought she was a model.”

“Model, actress… They’re all doing everything now, aren’t they?” Ashley said grumpily.

“You need a bottle of sunshine,” Sara said seriously, as if deciding the fate of the world. “Orrrr the next best thing!”

Silence. Sara frowned. “I said, the next best thing!”

More silence. “Come on, Ash, don’t you want to know what the next best thing is?”

Ashley sighed and rolled her eyes. “What is the next best thing, Sara?” she said dully, humoring the overly hyper Sara.

Sara tilted her head subtly. Ashley followed Sara’s direction and her gaze landed on Spencer, who was furiously arguing with the heavy-set lunch lady over something. “She doesn’t look much like a bottle of sunshine right now, Sara,” Ashley said, but a smile was hovering at the edges of her lips.

“What’s going on between the both of you anyway?” Sara asked, changing the subject abruptly. She watched Ashley carefully for her reaction.

Ashley paused. “I don’t know,” she said quietly. “It’s a little complicated.”

“Because of Delilah?”

“Yeah. But I do like her, you know,” Ashley admitted. “Spencer.”

“Are you guys talking about me? ‘Cause I just heard my name,” Spencer said, appearing out of thin air. She slammed her tray onto the table, and without waiting for an answer, launched into a rant. “I swear, Lunch Lady Lucy has something against me! I politely asked her for more gravy on my mash because hey, what’s mash if it’s not gravy-licious? And she absolutely refused to give me even just the tiny little bit extra because they need to save some for the rest of the students. What other students?? We’re the last lunch for today!”