Angry Chipmunk

“Excuse me? You are in our seats.” I stared back in bemusement at the two girls blocking my view of the board with their bodies.




After the debacle with Celyn, jerkface had wolfed down the rest of his lunch -I had no part in it- and then threw the peace sign at the guys before ducking out. He hadn’t even waited for Celyn and Sarah to come back from the restroom so he could apologise to her. Not that Celyn had acted like she was offended by what he said to her.




Deciding I’d pushed my luck far enough, I grabbed my backpack, waved goodbye to mystery girl and left. It was obvious that Celyn didn’t hold jerkface responsible for the soda incident but she certainly held me responsible and I refused to bear the brunt of her anger, definitely not on my first day.

“Hey! Aren’t you listening? You are in my seat.” The obnoxious yelling brought my attention back to the angry chipmunk. 




I blew a raspberry and debated what to do. After I had left the lounge, I found a few girls and they had pointed me in the direction of the Hall. Apparently, literature was being held in a building separate from where I’ve been taking classes all day. This building was as old as the main one but it was a bit smaller and right next to the cafeteria. Several classrooms were here too -most of the freshmen have their classes here- but literature for the seniors was being held in their hall. They call it a hall but it looks exactly like an auditorium to me. The seats are arranged in the same tiered setting too, but it's only meant to accommodate about forty or so students.

Which was why I was confused. How can anyone have their own permanent seat in this place?

I turned around in my seat, checked its body, the table, anywhere there might be a nametag or something.




“Are you looking for something?” The second of the two girls -not the angry chipmunk- asked.




“Yeah. I’m looking for your name on the seat or anything that proves this seat belongs to you.”

Chipmunk girl flushed hotly and her friend glanced away. I raised a brow and waited patiently for her reply.




“No…”

“We always sit here, next to each other.” They replied simultaneously.

There were three rows of five long seats and each seat sat three people. Myself and another girl were already seated. Inevitably, they were asking me to get up and find somewhere else to sit! And the auditorium wasn’t even full!




“Why don’t you get another seat side by side? Class isn't even half full yet.”




“Why should we move? We have always sat here before.” Chin raised defiantly, the angry chipmunk folded her arms and dug in her heels. 




“C’mon Elen, let’s just find somewhere else to sit.” Angry chipmunk rebuffed her friend’s attempts to drag her away.

The difference between the two girls was more than just their height, it was obvious in their personality too. The shorter one -I’ve dubbed her angry chipmunk because she had the size of one and probably meaner than one- was robust and she was of a hispanic descent. Her wide brown eyes were scrunched down in anger, making her olive skin kind of ruddy. Her friend, the tall and quiet one was pale, paler than me if such a thing was possible. Her brown here was plaited and parted to the side with a silver and green pin. I envied her ability to pull off the look. My hair was long and dry but the wild nest refused to stay packed or be curled, no matter what I tried.

 

“You should listen to your friend. Where I come from, seats in an auditorium are a first come first serve.”




“Oh really? And where do you come from?”




“Los Angeles.”




“It’s you!” 

“Locker thief!” Theyboth screeched simultaneously. Obviously, locker thief was yelled out by the angry chipmunk.




Her friend slanted her look before gracing me with a polite smile. “What she means is that we heard that you tried to break into King’s locker.”




“It was an honest mistake.”

“How do you make such a mistake?”



“By getting the wrong locker number from the front office.” That shut them up.




“Is it true you went up to the lounge and ate lunch with the Kings?” Wait, Kings? There’s more than one of that obnoxious jerk?

I shrank back from the curiosity and envy shining in their eyes.




“Um yeah? I don’t know who the Kings are. Today’s my first day in school. I only went because my friend Sarah asked me to come.”




“Oh, what luck! And on your first day too?” She gushed enviously. It was littlerock and the popular kid wannabes again.




“Class is about to start…” 

Just then, the speakers balred out an announcement, “Have your seats boys and girls,we will begin in a few minutes. Once the door closes, no will be admitted in or allowed to leave until class is over.”

“So you should go find your seats.”




“These are our seats. We have always sat down here since we were freshmen, you don’t get to steal it from us now.” Gone was the curiosity and envy. Her mulish anger was back and evident in the way her jaw clenched.




I really didn’t want to be involved in a fight on my first day but I didn’t want to give the impression that I was a pushover. As it is, we were garnering attention from the other students, especially the other girl with the framed glasses on the seat with me. She hadn't spoken a word since the angry chipmunk and her friend showed up but she hadn’t looked anywhere else either.

“Is there a problem ladies?” His voice was smooth and suave, it was enough to turn angry chipmunk into a blushing kitten, but I certainly didn’t understand why her friend almost swooned.