“No biggie.” I said with a half smile, helping to pick up the bigger pieces and she looked up at me, then right back down at the shrapnel strewn carpet.

“…thanks.” She muttered, still focused on the floor.

“What’s your name?” I asked as I transferred the remains of the plate into a little beige trashcan next to me. She deposited her own collection into the trash and stood up quickly.

“It doesn’t matter.” She replied before stalking off and I stared after her. What the?

“The freshman are gonna take our table come on Shane.” Tina declared and I came to, grabbing my tray and following them out to a huge dining room silently.

I had to squint as I walked in, the walls of the room being nothing but huge windows, each one separated by only a few inches of brick. The tables were all a nearly black mahogany, the chairs being a much lighter almost gold colored wood, with deeply padded green cushions. I looked down and followed Tina’s loafer-clad feet, keeping my gaze on the dark gray carpet until we arrived at our table. It was tucked into the far right corner of the room and I could see why they chose it instantly, the architect hadn’t managed to get any windows into the close space. My vision came back as we took our seats and dug in. I thought about her as I tried a little bit of everything on my plate, finding everything so good that I was soon wolfing it down. Why would she run away from me like that? The hell did I ever do to her? I was just trying to help.

“Hey Al, what’d you do to Tasha?” Tina asked curiously from around a yogurt cup, bringing me out of my reverie. Alice made a face in reply and rolled her eyes.

“Nothing, absofriggenlutely nothing, she just hates me I swear.”

“Didn’t she save you from the Leche’s earlier?” Bette picked up where Tina left off, nursing an iced tea and observing Alice from over her glasses.

“Yes! Those bitches kidnapped me when I brought down their newbie. I feel bad for her; they’ll probably have her drinking virgin blood and eating babies in no time.”