Page 15 of The Scars Within
I looked up and made eye contact with Shayde, who was grinning ear to ear. His attention was split between me stuffing my face with cheese pie and Davis sitting next to him. Pehper, the girl sitting across from him, followed his gaze and scowled when she saw me. She snapped her fingers to get his attention, but Shayde picked up his tray and walked over to our table, plopping down next to Cleo. Davis followed suit.
“Hey, cadets,” Shayde greeted us.
Cleo froze, her cheeks flushing red.
“Hey, Shayde!” Delaney shrieked.
“I’m surprised you want to sit with the first-years, Cadet Wylder,” Tatum said.
“Well, I’m surprised that you’re surprised,” he replied. “I was a first-year too, you know.”
I kept eating, trying not to comment about Pehper, whose glare felt like it could burn a hole through me.
“Yeah, but you also have a girlfriend,” Delaney sang.
Davis started choking on his food.
“Had. Had a girlfriend,” Shayde corrected.
Delaney’s head snapped towards Shayde, flinging lettuce and dressing across the table and onto my face.
“Oops, sorry darling!” Delaney exclaimed, grabbing a napkin to wipe my cheek.
The table fell silent until I opened my eyes and looked at Delaney. Then, in unison, we burst into laughter.
“You’re lucky I don’t want to get in trouble for a food fight on the first day, Laney,” I giggled.
Delaney stopped wiping the dressing off my face and grinned.
“What?” I asked.
“You called me Laney.”
“Oh, sorry, it just slipped out.”
“No,” she said. “The only people who call me that are my family.” Laney hugged me, smearing more dressing on both of us.
Suddenly, something cold and gooey smashed onto my head.
“Oops. I missed my mouth,” Shayde said, holding an empty pudding bowl.
“Oh, it’s on!” Tatum declared, dumping her salad into Shayde’s lap.
Chaos erupted. Food flew in all directions as cadets seized the opportunity to join in. Plates of pasta, bowls of soup, and chunks of meat became makeshift missiles. I let go of my self-control and threw a chocolate cake across the table, aiming for Tatum, but it hit Pehper instead. Enraged, Pehper jumped from her seat, slipped on salad dressing, and landed with a thud. Her friends rushed to help her as more food flew.
“Can’t say she didn’t deserve that!” Davis laughed as Tatum snuck around him and dumped a bowl of noodles over his head.
Cadets were laughing, shouting, and diving for cover. I ducked under a table with a bowl of ammo. When I thought the coast was clear, I emerged, ready to throw.
But Shayde shoved an entire chocolate and whipped cream pie in my face. The pie tin slid off and clattered on the floor. Barely able to see through the cream, I was stunned. Shayde raised his finger, gently wiped a glob of whipped cream from my nose, and licked it clean without breaking eye contact.
“Enough!”
The cafeteria fell silent. Rhodes stood in the doorway, his voice thunderous. “Clean this up immediately!” His eyes blazed with fury, his clenched fists trembling. His expression left no doubt that he was beyond pissed.
Nobody moved a muscle.
Until Davis slipped and fell on his ass.
