He led the way to the same place we'd sat that one time before. From the other end of the table, a group of seniors gazed at us in amazement as we sat across from each other. Fredward seemed oblivious.
"Take whatever you want," he said, pushing the tray toward me. "I don't... eat." He winked at me.
"I'm curious," I said as I picked up a Red Delicious apple, turning it around in my hands, "what would you do if someone dared you to eat food?"
"You're always curious." He grimaced, shaking his head violently and throwing his hands up in the air. All the seniors stared again, and I looked down. Fredward glared at me, holding my eyes in one hand as he lifted the slice of pizza off the tray with the other, and deliberately bit off a mouthful,227 chewed quickly, and then swallowed. I watched, eyes wide.
"If a curious little girl dared you to eat dirt, you could, couldn't you?" he asked condescendingly.
I wrinkled my nose. "I did once... on a dare." I admitted, reminiscing. "It wasn't so bad."
He laughed hysterically and so loudly that almost everyone in the cafeteria, including the lunch ladies, looked over and stared. "I suppose I'm not surprised." Something over my shoulder seemed to catch his attention.
"Jessica's analyzing everything I do—she'll break it down for you later." He pushed the rest of the pizza toward me in disgust. The mention of Jessica brought a hint of his former irritation back to his flawless face features.
I put down the Red Delicious and took a bite of the pizza, looking away, knowing he was about to start.
"So the waitress was pretty, was she?" he asked casually, as though he didn't know I thought this because he had been reading the minds of people I was talking to.
"You didn't really notice?" I asked innocently, as though I wasn't really mad that he had been reading the minds of people I was talking to.
"No. I wasn't paying attention. I had a lot on my mind."
"Poor girl." I could afford to be generous now.228
227. He intended to do it.
228. (Matthew 13:6) "One can only be generous when one has exactly what one needs, and then some."