“I mean, don’t you feel a little weird sometimes? Or do you like the attention that you get?” Carmen joked.

“I am not an attention-hog, mind you. Yeah, it’s kind of weird sometimes, but I just shut them out whenever I can. It’s not my fault anyway; it’s not like I try everything to make them do that.” Shane spoke in a soft tone.

“If you say so.” Carmen smiled.

“Would you, uh, like to go out with me? … … And the guys? With me and the guys? We have this thing tonight at the Planet.” Shane asked Carmen, out of the blue.

“You sure I’m welcome?”

“Alice invited you for lunch, didn’t she? So, that’s definitely a yes. You should go, you know. Hang out with us or get to know more people…”

Carmen had to admit – the invitation was tempting. She was barely into just one week of school; surely, her schedule couldn’t be any more hectic anyway. She only knew a handful of people and she could certainly use more friends. “Yes, I’d love to go.”

Shane smiled, and tilted her head to the right. “Good girl. We’ll be there before 8.”

Lunchbreak @ the Cafeteria

It was awfully silent within the group’s table. Every one of them had some business to attend to, and it seemed like they all ran out of something to talk or gossip about – Shane was sharing a magazine with Jenny and Carmen; Tina and Bette were quietly eating their food; Dana and Papi surprisingly weren’t squabbling with each other; and Alice was scribbling something in her notebook.

“Could you pass me some tissue, Paps.” Dana broke the silence. Everyone looked at her.

“Huh? You’re talking to me now…?” Papi’s face manifested a dazed look while handing her a tissue.

“So? Isn’t that a good thing? You don’t want me speaking to you?”

“Yeah, I do. It’s just weird.” Papi shrugged it off.

“Oo-kay… Carmen?” Alice called Carmen’s attention.

“Hmm?” Carmen looked up and smiled.

“You wanna come to our little get-together tonight? We’ll be chilling out at the Planet around 7:30.”