Pitch Episode 23: The Table
#27 of Pitch
The best part about life was no one had the answers. Some people claimed they knew it all only because they hadn't been knocked down yet. Some people claimed they knew it all because they were never able to stand. The truth is, no one knew much of anything. I always wished for answers I thought other people were born with. Who was I? What did I want to do with my life? Who did I want to be? I never knew for sure, but I had friends and family who seemed to. I knew I couldn't cling to their lives forever.
It was my last year of high school.
I had to figure out what I wanted for myself. I lacked even the slightest clue as to what I had interest or skill. Magic might have been my golden goose, but I gave it up. What else was there for me. Was there anything?
Senior year should have been my year to relax. I was an upperclassman, after all. Over the summer, I landed a job as a magician's assistant, and I started dating my long time best friend. Everything was looking up until life reminded me I was still "Danger Rabbit." I was the same unlucky kid as always. That's why I gave up my job. That's why I embarrassed myself in front of Wesson's family the night before school started. That's why, despite being an upperclassman, I was still treated as a neighborhood hazard.
I suppose it wasn't all bad. I wasn't the only outcast. Wes was an icon at school, but when it got out that he was dating me, people alienated him just the same. People steered clear of my friend Velmer because he happened to be a goblin. Even the kids I spent time with at the internship were having a rough first day of school. By lunch, it was painstakingly clear the kind of year we were facing. Still, it would have been cheesy to say "if nothing else we all had each other," but it would have been inaccurate as well.
"I quit magic, doesn't that count for anything," I said.
"You didn't quit for me," BJ argued from the other side of the round table.
On her side sat Vista and Harmon the elf. It annoyed me how quickly BJ replaced me as a friend. Still, I was willing to deal with her sidekicks had she been willing to let go of hating me. Vista wasn't hard on the eyes, and Harmon was tolerable enough. I'm sure the only reason they disliked me at all was because of BJ turning them against me.
It was three against one until Velmer and Wes finally joined me on the opposing side of the table.
"No, but I still quit," I added.
"It's the principal of the matter," BJ said.
"If you don't forgive me, then why are you and your lackeys sitting at my table?" I asked rhetorically.
"Your table? This is our table," Vista scoffed.
"Pitch was sitting here first," Wes chimed in.
"Do you guys always fight like this?" Velmer asked, but we were too caught up in arguing to address him.
"You should sit somewhere else danger rabbit," Vista requested.
"You're gonna let her talk to me like that," I said to BJ rather than addressing Vista's tone directly.
"She's right, we don't need you summoning a meteor to destroy the cafeteria," Harmon added.
"That happened one time! One time! And it was two years ago," I argued.
"You can't make us leave," Wes said in my defense.
"I think we can," Harmon threatened.
"Stay out of this elf," I snapped.
"I didn't realize public school was this intense," Velmer joked, but it didn't change the air in the room.
Thanks to my abnormal sense of hearing, I was aware of the rest of the cafeteria. They were paying attention to our erupting conversation. People in lunch lines and other tables were watching us and snickering behind our backs. There were never clicks at our school. We didn't have "cool kids," but at that moment, we were the losers. We were the oddballs, and everyone loved watching us fight amongst ourselves. It was embarrassing. Suddenly I couldn't be mad. I just wanted the attention off of us.
"We don't have to fight over a table," I said hesitantly.
I didn't like giving up, but I didn't like causing a scene more.
"I know we don't, because you can just leave," BJ said.
"And sit where?" Wes said, ready to jump up from his seat.
I caught his shoulder before he did anything too brash.
"It's whatever. We can eat outside," I said.
Wes gave me a stare in response to being held back. He was up in the heat of the moment, but as I kept an expression of exhaustion on my face, he came down from the wire.
We got up and left the table.
"It was your table," Wes argued as we left the cafeteria to head outside.
"I don't care," I said.
It wasn't until we walked through the double doors out to the field that I noticed Velmer hadn't left with us.
Later that day, after classes were done, I left school by myself to walk home. Walking down the street, Wes eventually caught up with me. I didn't mean to leave him behind. My first day back left me more drained than expected. He didn't say anything when he caught up to me. We looked at one another, and I acknowledged that he was with me, but he didn't say anything. Wes was good about reading me.
"My dad is already mad about last night, he would have been pissed if we started something on the first day of school," I said, breaking the silence.
"It was your table," he said.
"It's just a table," I debated.
We went silent for a long while, but it wasn't awkward or tense. He put an arm around my shoulder.
"How are your parents doing?" I asked.
He waited a moment to answer. The sound of cars driving by and the wind rustling through tree branches filled the silence until he spoke.
"They aren't happy about last night, but I don't think they're mad," Wes said.
"How are you doing?" I asked with my eyes turned away.
"I'm good," he said.
"So, you don't care about what I did?"
"You know I don't like magic, but you already gave it up, so there's nothing to be upset about."
"But you are, aren't you?" I pressed.
"I don't know. If only half of you was with me when we went away, then how do I know for sure anything was real?"
"Because I'm a 100 percent me right now," I joked.
He made us stop.
"That helps," he said.
Under the shade of a tree, I could feel he was about to kiss me. The air was softer, and I couldn't hear anything while I waited for him to lean in. Before either of us could so much as shut our eyes, someone broke us up.
"We need to lock down the table, " Velmer said as he stepped between us.
Its almost like he appeared from thin air. Wes laughed, but I rolled my eyes at it. The goblin stayed between us as we started back on the trail.
"We shouldn't have to fight over a table," I said.
"You're right. If I bring a few of my drones tomorrow, I'm sure I can secure it with impenetrable defenses," Velmer said.
I knew he was smart, and I'd already seen one or two of his drones before, but I couldn't tell if he was joking.
"We are not fighting over a lunch table," I said.
Wes didn't say anything. He probably wanted to keep the fight going like Velmer but didn't want to side against me at the moment.
"We wouldn't all be sitting at that table if we had somewhere else to sit, so fighting over it is stupid," I added as we made it to our neighborhood.
"So, no robots?" Velmer asked.
"No, we won't need robots," I reinforced.