instinct, who knew she was a melancholy girl and that she had a great sadness inside her. As much as she said she didn't care about her father's departure, she knew that it contributed a lot to her insecurity. She was a beautiful, sweet and very intelligent girl. She was talented, her dedication and performance in ballet was admirable, but Mandy couldn't see herself that way. And that was why May did her best to get her up and worried when she looked like this: strange and more introspective than usual.
When Mandy disappeared from view, May turned and headed for the cafeteria. As she passed through the double doors, she saw a huge hall. She had not yet entered there. On the right side, the dishes were arranged in stacks, right next to the counter where a lady was replacing the food. Ahead, a large refrigerator with a glass door held soda, juice and water.
She went there and started to put food on her plate. When she reached the end of the counter, she grabbed a Coca-Cola, passed the cashier and paid for lunch. Then she turned and looked around. The room full of tables was packed. Deep in the back of the room, she saw Yoshi swing his arm to get her attention. She smiled to let him know she had seen him and started walking with the tray in her hands. She passed between the tables and noticed that, as in high school, the places were separated by groups. There was the table of the nerds, the rockers, the athletes and the table of the ordinary people - like her. Finally, she reached the table and smiled at her friends, who were in a lively conversation about cars. Sean reached out, took the tray from her hand and placed it on the table, while Yoshi pulled the chair beside her so that May could sit. She thought their care for her was cute.
The girl barely greeted them and thanked them for their kindness when Sean interrupted her.
"Where's Mandy? Didn't she come with you?"
"She went to the library," she replied. - "She has a headache."
He made an expression of displeasure, but she ignored it. She liked him, they had been part of the same group of friends since they were kids, but Sean had a fixation on Mandy that went over a little of what she considered reasonable. She knew that her friend had no romantic interest in him and that the two had already talked about it. But although he said that he understood and that he would like them to remain friends, May found the feeling of possession he displayed to be quite strange.
"So, May, how was the history class?" - Yoshi asked and the conversation about the terrible class distracted her.
A few moments later, a buzz began to form at the table to her left, where the basketball team and the cheerleaders stood, in their short white and blue uniforms. Although they were not part of that group, they were sitting very close to them.
"Ryyyyy-aaannnn!" - Ashley Walters's thin voice rang in her ears.
Ashley was the captain of the basketball team's cheerleaders. She was beautiful, had a perfect body, shiny blond hair and incredibly blue eyes. She was the perfect stereotype of the college cheerleader. But, as sick as her voice, Ashley was not what could be considered good company. May had had the displeasure of attending the first class of the day with her - which had been terrible - but largely because of the girl. Boring, rude and prejudiced, Ashley only treated well who was part of her group and the strangest thing is that most of the people she got along with, did not see it. She was very popular and admired by most of the students: the boys were crazy to go out with her and the girls wanted to be like her.
" Ryann-annn ," - she called again, as if she were singing his name. May didn't know how anyone there at that table could tolerate Ashley. May had only known her for five minutes and already hated her.
"What is it, Ash?" - Ryan asked, looking impatient.
"Are you doing charity now, giving attention to the needy?"
He raised his eyebrow, looking quite surprised by the question.
"What are you talking about?" - He asked, his blue eyes showing confusion.
Her face showed a smug expression. She raised an eyebrow and said:
"I saw you in the hall, making out with a little chick, earlier."
He frowned, while the other girls who were next to her smiled mischievously when they heard the mean nickname.
May looked at Sean and Yoshi, who looked as surprised as she did. The girl looked back at the table and her eyes strayed from Ryan to Ashley, as if she were watching an exciting tennis match. She looked back at Ryan, who looked a little uncomfortable. Who was he clinging to? He was always harassed at school, so May had no doubt that at university he should be much more.
"What is it, Ashley?" - The expression on Ryan's face was quite boring. - "I don't give you the freedom to talk to me like that!"
"I'm not saying anything too much, Ry. Everyone saw that you went after that skinny girl in literature class after the meeting in the hall." - Ash made an innocent expression and continued. - "You used to have a better taste for girls, dear."
She pouted and laughed, accompanied by friends who looked more like imitation monkeys.
"I don't understand your comment, Ashley. You have no right to talk to me like that,” - he replied. - "In addition, you need to learn to respect people in order to be respected. Mandy has a name, she's an amazing girl and doesn't deserve to be treated that way by anyone. And nothing much happened. I bumped into her in the hall and went to apologize in class. That’s it."
Mandy? Did he say Mandy? Was Ryan referring to my Mandy ?, May wondered and looked at Sean and Yoshi, who were staring at each other with their mouths open, just like her.
"May, is he talking about Mandy?" - Yoshi asked quietly.
"I think so," - she replied. Something happened and Mandy didn't tell me!, May thought to herself, but was awakened from her rambling by Ashley's irritating voice.
" I have every right to say what I want, Ryan! Besides, you know you should be with me, don't you? I am the cheerleader of the basketball team!" - She leaned against him, running a hand on his arm. Ryan took her hand and pushed it away. He laughed, but it didn't look like fun.
"Ash, don't make me laugh. I. Have. Already. Said. I. Don't. Want. Anything. With. You - he punctuated each word, pointing a finger at her. - "Don't be ridiculous. Your insistence on these ridiculous clichés is pathetic."
At this point, the entire cafeteria fell silent and everyone was looking at them. The silence was so deep that May could almost hear the sound of Ryan's breathing, which was accelerating. Ashley's mouth fell open at the boy's outburst, who stood up, almost knocking over the chair on the floor, and left the cafeteria, throwing the backpack on his back. Nobody dared to say a word during that moment.
May looked away at Ashley who looked angry. She hoped she wouldn't do anything stupid.
"Guys, I'm going after Mandy. I need to find out what's going on" - the girl spoke softly, when the cafeteria came to life. She stood up and Sean did the same.
"I'm going with you, May" - Sean offered, but the girl refused. If something had happened, Sean's presence would be more of a hindrance than a help.
"No, Sean. I'll go. We don't even know what's going on."
"But, May..." he tried again, but she didn't budge.
"She won't tell me anything if you're together, Sean. She's my best friend. Let me talk to her” - she said, needing to be tough on
