The line seemed to stretch on forever as a rumble growled within his stomach. He glanced down at it and rolled his eyes, wishing that they would hurry up. He would be able to hold out for much longer. The stomach let out another growl, growing louder. He received a few stares from ones that surrounded and him and just shrugged with an apologetic smile. He couldn’t turn the growling; only food could that.

Galeno sighed and was happy that lunch had finally arrived. He had not eaten since yesterday and that was stupid on his part; but he was not going to force himself to eat. He just happened not to be hungry. But as a third growl went off, attracting more onlookers, he was beginning to regret starving himself, even for the short amount of time that it was.

The line moved an itch and he looked over the person in front of him and sighed. The line had moved an inch, literally. He was nearly in the exact same position as he had been. He held his stomach tightly, attempting to stop the growls, but he knew that it was all in vain.

Hailey wasn't really hungry at all. But it was lunch time and she knew she needed to eat, like it or not. The school's cafetaria usually filled with the gross foods. She didn't really know why, but every school had very gross food, most of them. She just hoped that her stomach was strong enough to receive these junks attack. Hopefully. And now there she was, standing in a long line of Cafetaria. She let out a long and heavy sigh, gosh. Remind her to bring her own food next time.

Picking up the tray, she heard a noise. A noise that sounded like a... stomach growling. An eyebrow raised, it couldn't be her stomach. I mean, her stomach never wanted the school's food that much. Then she recognized the guy who was standing behind her, the growling noises was coming from him. She just took a quick glance at him, not wanting to stare, well it'd rude. Especially the guy was right behind her.

Finally the line started moving, Hailey let out a sigh of relief but groaned under her breath when she noticed it moved only few inchies. Then she heard the growls again, she looked over her shoulder at the guy and tilted her head to the side. "Dude, you okay?" she asked, the line stopped moving again and she was stuck. damn.

The first time that the girl in front of him turned around to look at him, Galeno did not notice, but knew that his stomach was beginning to disturb others. He continued to apologize through his smiling and clinched his stomach with much strength.

Looking over the girl in front of him, he checked to see if the line was starting to move again. He watched and searched for any sort of moving feet. Yet, he could see none and knew that the line was not moving anywhere any time soon. He wondered why it was taking so long; was there actually something good on the menu, causing extra people to get in line? He sighed, rolled his eyes again, and tightly held his stomach as another growl echoed.

Then the girl turned around to look at him a second time and Galeno noticed, for she had actually asked if he was fine. He just smiled and waved his hand, signaling that it was not a big deal. A slight hint of red covered his brown face; blushing was rare for a person of dark color, so seeing the blush on him meant that he was extremely embarrassed.

“It’s nothing, I just haven’t eaten, so it starts to misbehave,” he said and shrugged. He bit his lower lip as yet another growl escaped.

“I am sorry if it is bothering you; I truly wish I could control the accused thing.”

Hailey studied the guy for a moment. She never actually seen him around the school before, but then again she was new here and only few weeks ago she moved here. It sucks being new, yes but she was glad that there were some of her friends who attended here as well. Even some of her childhoolds friends.

Hailey looked at him when he explained. She gave him a quick smile before nodding her head. "It's okay, don't worry." she said with a kind smile. She glanced at the line again and merely sighed. What took them so long? Not like the foods were delicious. It was like, ugh. "I wonder what's so special about the foods?" she mumbled, mainly to herself but loud enough for people around to hear that mumbles.

The line then started moving again, this time a little longer. She could see the foods from there, it looked like some kind of deep greenish vegetables. Some salads, and fries. Whee. Hailey rolled her eyes a little and sighed.

The girl was kind; others may have grown hostile towards the annoying sound that he could do nothing about. He looked over her head again, seeing the slowly was moving forward. He turned his attention to the girl again as she complained about the line’s speed as well as the food’s quality. He smirked and nodded to himself.

“I would have to agree; I usually don’t eat here, but running low on food and money, I had to come here. I just remembered one of the reasons why I avoid this place…” Galeno said, only loud enough for the girl to hear. He wondered if she was new to the school. It seemed like this place out more new people each day. Since his arrival to the place, he had seen more new faces than familiar ones, even if he did not know the person, only their face. He shook his head and sighed as he matched the line move.

Speaking to the girl again, he asked, “Not to intrude in your personal life, but if the food is so disgusting, may I ask why you have in line to get some of the sickening food?”

Why she ended up at this place, even the foods were extremelly gross? The reasons were almost same like this guy. Low money and food. Okay, maybe low money was the main reason. She sighed a little as she thought of that. Hailey wasn't the richest girl on earth, if she was, she wouldn't going to eat at the Cafetaria with such sickening foods and would be staying in the huge, huge mansion not a dorm. Okay, maybe that's a bit too much but oh well....

Hailey smiled kindly at him when he asked the question. "Oh, actually we're having the same trouble... Low money and food." Hailey said with a cheerful grin appeared on her face. She just saw the line moving again, but only a few steps. So yeah, she followed.

Turning her attention back to the guy, she introduced herself. "Well... I'm Hailey." she said, followed by a nod and another kind smile which showed a little of her white teeth. The guy was kinda cute, but then again she called most of the guys cute, even some of the girls.

He smiled, copying hers by showing his white teeth. They were already broke and weren’t even in college yet. He began to think about college, wondering if he would ever get there, because by the time, he graduates from high school, he will be twenty-one and most likely tried of school. At the rate that he was going now, he figured that he would not attend college, for the math and science classes would kill him more than better him. He sighed quietly to himself, deciding to put that depressing thought aside.

When the girl introduced herself, he was halfway paying attention. Hailey…he had never really heard of that name before. He didn’t know if he liked it or not but, he was happy that he could pronounce it correctly. He had known a Puerto Rican girl and he could not pronounce her name to save his life. Soon, he just made up a nickname and called her that; she didn’t mind the nickname, since she hated him destroying her original name.

“I’m Galeno, it is a pleasure to meet you, Hailey,” he said with a wide grin, not fully aware of his large smile.

The guy broke into a large smile. Hailey herself, tugged her lips more into more wider smile as well. How she loved meeting new people. They were always interesting, some of them were unique as well. Hailey also loved meeting foreign people as well. Back in Boston, she met this interesting guy name Lee from Hong Kong. They were a good friends, eventually Hailey must leave Boston and moved to Oakland with her mom. It was pretty sad, leaving her old friend. She'd always missed them.

"Pleasure to meet you too, Galeno." Somehow, Hailey already had a nickname for this guy. Hailey never actually know why her mother named her Hailey. She never got a chance to ask that, her mother always coming home late and her father... well he's in Boston.

And finally, the line moved again. This time, it Hailey's turn. She didn't have a chance to pick the foods when the big woman scooped her a large scoop of amazingly disgusting food, some fries and whatever the name vegetables. She made a disgusted look only replied by a glare from the woman. She shivered a bit, moving to find a table, taking a quick glance at Galeno.

She replied back that it was a pleasure to meet him, something that he didn’t heard too often with his peers. He noticed that many of them didn’t have manners. He didn’t mind, but being his observant self, he just noticed things and his peers having little to no manners was one of the things that he noticed. This Hailey girl, however, was different compared with the other teens. He liked it and he believed that he would eventually like her, at the very least as a friend. She was nice and friendly and didn’t seem to get hot-tempered quickly, for some people would blow their top standing in a line such as this.

Finally, the line moved and it was Hailey’s turn to grab some of the disgusting food. He laughed a little when she grimaced at the food and the serving lady returned it with a glare of her own. Galeno got his tray and raised it up high, receiving the food with a small smile. The lady noticed and gave him a few extra fries, the good ones, somewhat crunchy, but not so crunchy that they hurt your teeth. He left the line and walked over to Hailey and grinned.

“That’s how you get more of what you want, pretending to care for the food,” he said, holding his tray up proudly, showing off his extra fries.

Hailey took another quick glance at the cafetaria lady. Again, she returned it with a death glare. Gosh, she hates me. She shook her head a little at the thoughts, she hated it when someone hated her. But that's life. She gripped the sides of the tray as she looked around, trying to find an empty seat. Everyone seems to have their own cliques, now that's something she really hated, cliques. She really hated it. It made some new people feel ignored, just like her right now.

But at least there was Galeno. He looked like a nice guy. And didn't seem to be one of those 'cliques type'. It was hard to find a nice person these days and you guessed right, it was easier to find some mean person. The one who glared at whenever you passed him/her or them because you're new. That sucks. Hailey just sighed a little at the bad thoughts that flooded her mind, trying to keep them away.

She looked over her shoulder once more at Galeno, she watched him and a smirk came across her face. "Ah I see. Thanks for the tips." She grinned a little, looking at the extra fries when showed them off. She looked at him, and smiled. "Unless you were waiting for someone, we could sit together if you want." She offered, looking around the cafetaria once again.

As the two stood eying the cafeteria, Galeno took in the view. A room filled with loud noise, disgusting food, and bodies full of hormones, teenagers eating lunch. He noticed the cliques and how the “nerds” were separated from the “popular kids” who were separated from the “goths” and “emo kids”. The “jocks” were at one table while the seemingly hard “gangsters” were at another. Yes, he did declare himself a gangster; however, the difference between him and those sitting at that table was that he was actually part of a true gang and ruled the streets. He sighed as he just shook his head.

Next thing he knew, Hailey spoke to him, saying that she wouldn’t mind sitting with him, unless he was waiting for somebody. He smiled and said, “Nope, not waiting for anybody, well, except for you to choose a table.” His voice was soft, but still audible against the loud ruckus of the lunchroom. He grinned at Hailey and then motioned towards a table that was practically empty and the ones that had been occupying it were leaving. He pointed at the table with his elbow, “Let’s try that one.”

He started heading towards the table, figuring that the girl would follow, especially since she most likely knew no one at the school. And if she did, she knew very few. He walked around and saw a few give him a look up and down, wondering who he was or what he was doing with a white girl. For some strange reason, people thought that he didn’t like white people. He liked them just as much as he liked every other type of race; he just didn’t see them as much when he spent his time.

Hailey just grinned at his comment. It was so loud in cafetaria, but that didn't surprise her. All of the cafetarias in the school were same. Just like her old school nor this Oakland High School. She took a glance at the nerds, they were reading the book then talked to each other before laughing for god knows what reason. It was kinda funny watching them, though. Hailey just bit her bottom lips slightly.

And the emo kids, they were glancing at each other. The death glares on their face, which barely visible due to their emo hairs. Hailey just shook her head a little at this. No, she didn't actually hate them, hell some of her friends were emo. They just... could be a little too much sometimes. You know, the drama. Looking around she spotted another cliques; the jocks, the popular, goths etc... No comment.

She turned her attention back to Galeno who pointed at the table. She nodded her head slightly. "Sure." She nodded a small smile formed. She walked towards the table, following right behind him. She noticed some of the kids were staring at them, she rose an eyebrow slightly but just shrugged it off. She followed Galeno, matching with his steps and arrived at the table. A smile grew on her face.

Arriving at the table, Galeno sat down his tray and wished that the stares would stop; they were beginning to irritate him. He glared at a couple of kids and they quickly went back to their own conversation. He rolled his eyes and then started to dig into the blob of food that appeared to be some sort of casserole. He poked it lightly and watched it jiggle. He laughed a little and poked it again. He grinned like a little kid getting a brand new toy. He couldn’t help that he still had some of his childish ways.

“Hailey, it jiggles,” he smirked and laughed again. He finally refrained from poking the casserole-type creation…creature, depending one’s take on it and began to it eat the creature—creation, whatever. He moved it around in his mouth and made a disgusted face and then shrugged, sticking out his tongue once all the food was swallowed. He sighed and then said, “Well, that’s a bust. Let’s see how the fries fair.”

He picked up a couple of fries and tossed them inside his mouth. He chewed them and then swallowed with a more relieved expression on his face. He smiled and then looked at Hailey again. He nodded with his approval and continued munching on the fries.

They arrived at the table and Hailey sat down on the seat opposite from him. She put the tray down on the table, before looking at the people who were staring at them. She frowned a little childishly, she wondered why they were staring at her and Galeno? Then she glanced at Galeno who was glaring at them, making them to look away and continued their activity. Now that's better.

She licked her teeth a little before looking back at Galeno. She watched him as he was poking his food, causing it to jiggle. Now she knew that everyone had their childish side, not only her. She arched an eyebrow slightly, before she giggled a little, watching him playing with the food. "Yeah, that's cool." She said with a slight giggle escaped from her lips.

Hailey looked down at the bowl of greenish vegetables. And now she called it as 'salad', or 'super dooper gross salad' but she preffered the first on, simplier to say. She took a small bite off it, chewing it slightly in her mouth. A look of disgust came to her face. Ewww. She shook her head a little and looked up at Galeno. "So..." she trailed off a bit, not knowing what to say next. "How old are you?" Very random question. Yes.

It seemed that the strange looking green mush that was suppose to resemble salad was also disgusting as Hailey made an ugly face upon tasting the mush. He chuckled lightly and then continued to enjoy the fries that were filling up the empty spot in his stomach. Yes, the fries were not the best in the entire world; heck, they probably were nowhere the best in the city, but at that point in time, anything would just about do, except for the green mush of Hailey and his creature called casserole.

He paid little other attention to Hailey as he quickly devoured the fries. When she began to speak again, he had only three fries left out of about twenty to twenty-five. He grinned at her as she trailed off into space, possibly thinking up a question to ask him. He really hadn’t thought up a question to ask her yet; he was just simply trying to satisfy his hunger. He knew that one would pop sooner or later, but he would just answer hers for now. And when she did ask him a question, it was a pretty strange one. Most would ask what grade are you in, but she asked for the age. He cracked another smile and ate the last fry on his tray.

“Seventeen, believe it or not, and so, you’re probably going to ask exactly how tall I am,” he said with a hint of a sarcastic tone. He hated when everyone assumed that he was fourteen or even twelve sometimes, for he did not have any facial hair and despite his face being pretty hard, people just seem to think that he had a hard life and it went to his face, which was the smallest bit true, but he believed himself to look older than others made him out to be.

The salad were extremelly gross. She felt like she was going to vomit but decided againts. There's no way she would vomit infront of her new friend, plus the entire cafetaria would laugh at her. Especially the cafetaria lady, she could imagine her face if Hailey embrass herself; the satisfied look. So yeah, she chewed it slowly in her mouth, before hardly swallowing it. She let out a sigh of relief as she managed to swallow it, before looking up at Galeno. Gosh, this is embrassing. "It's gross." she explained, pointing at the 'salad'.

Hailey quickly popped in the fries into her mouth as quickly as possible, in hope that the 'salad' taste would fade away. Fortunately, it worked. Hailey opened her soda and took a quick sip off it. Feeling the cold soda washed her throat was a rather relaxing. She cleaned her throat a bit before looking around the cafetaria; finding that the kids were no longer staring at them.

She looked at Galeno, and tugged a smile on her lips. "How tall are you?" she asked jokingly. She then shook her head and waved her hand a bit. "Just kidding." she said with a grin. "Well I just turned seventeen as well... And I'm still looked like I was thirteen." she said with a small shrug. Yeah, people thought that she was around thirteen, or fourteen, which in reality she was seventeen already.

He laughed when she said that the salad, or green mush to be more descriptive, was gross. He could have told her that but he figured that it would be more fun to watch her reaction than to spoil her surprise. He grinned and then grabbed his milk, taking a long sip of it after answering her question about his age. He still believed it to be strange to ask one’s age, but everyone had his/her certain strangeness. Galeno certainly did.

When she jokingly asked how tall he was, Galeno frowned slightly and blinked slowly at her, hoping that she was not serious. However, his frown quickly vanished when he got the “just kidding” from her. He would not know what to think if she had been truly asking about his height. Others in his past have always asked his age and then quickly asked his height next. He nodded thoughtfully as she commented about her youthful appearance and he smiled.

“Yes, yes, I can relate as you can see, having no facial hair really makes a male’s appearance childlike,” he said and grinned, "I have been said to look twelve, but lately, others have been saying that I am fourteen, which I greatly appreciate.”