Zenon's Game Chapter 52

At lunch time, I stood in line for food like most of the student body. Julia was next to me, chatting about my birthday. She had made reservations at a French restaurant in town and was asking if I knew what kind of food Zenon eats.

"I'll pre-order his favorite apps," she said, holding her pink planner in her right hand, "Wait, look! The boys are coming."

We turned around to see Zenon, Axel and Bryce walk past. They skipped the line, confidently walking to the front. Axel's loud voice was making a joke that the guys laughed at. No one stopped them. If anything, people parted for them.

Julia and I waited our turn. By the time we reached the food, there was very little choice left. I got a chicken sandwich and chips.

"Candace! Jools! Over here!" Unity called out to us, waving from her table.

I froze, "Did they say my name?"

This was the first time anyone had asked me to sit at a table during lunch. I felt excited and... suspicious.

Julia nodded, ripping the plastic wrapping around her Mrs fields' cookie open. She liked to eat dessert first.

I followed her to the LUCKY table. Yoona made room for me. She was showing Khloe a new K-Pop band and they were skimming through every song in the album. I sat between her and Cynthia, who immediately shared what she was reading.

"I'm telling you, grandma chic is in." She showed me the oversized cardigans and ruffled tops that models wore in the center page of her glossy magazine.

Lexi asked to see it. Cynthia ripped the page out and handed it to her.

"So Candace," she addressed me, "Welcome to our table. We figured we'd get to know you before your birthday."

All the girls stopped doing what they were doing and looked up.

"So tell us, how do you know Zenon?" Lexi asked.

Whispers of his name suddenly traveled through the room. I looked around and saw him enter the cafeteria. He ignored the stares, probably immune to them by now. Zenon walked by himself to the drinks section and bought three bottles of water.

"He's alone," Unity whispered, nudging Lexi, "You should ask him when he passes this way."

Zenon didn't eat lunch with the rest of the student body. I remembered that from my first day, when I accidentally bumped into his crew having a day party in one of the classrooms.

He started to walk past us.

"Zenon!" Lexi jumped up and intercepted his path, "Hi, my name's Lexi. We met at a party last year-"

"What's up?"

Zenon's voice was s*e*xy and chill. He glanced at our table and his eyes landed on me. He raised his eyebrows, "Is this your crew?"

I didn't know what to say. I was still annoyed with him. He ignored Lexi in front of him and all the eyes that went from him to me.

"About that," Lexi darted round into his line of vision and obstructed me in the process, "Did you get our invitations for Candace's birthday?"

"Yeah," he said half-sure, "They were pink."

He looked at me again, still unconvinced that these were my friends or that I'd be sending out pink invites to my birthday dinner.

"Are you able to make it? We reserved a-"

"Sorry," he side-stepped her, "I have another thing that night."

I could feel the mood at the table shift. Did Julia oversell how close Zenon and I were? Wasn't it a good thing that he couldn't come? Why was I feeling a bit upset?

"And Candace," he said my name and I felt myself jolt. "I got your envelope."

He pulled it out of his pocket. "And I don't want it."

He chucked it on the table.

I had been trying to pay him back for his laptop in cash.

What came first, birth or parental disappointment?

My birthday snuck up on me this year. Mum made herself a birthday omelet – which was a regular omelet – and my sister took my car to school, again. I got one text from Julia. It was the balloon emoji.

And that's it.

Happy Birthday, me.

I didn't expect anyone to remember and they didn't, so classes went by uneventfully. At lunch I texted Julia and she didn't reply. Afternoon went the same as the morning.

At home, I sort of lost myself online. I watched funny videos and episodes, which took me out of my reality. At 7PM, I got on the little bike and pedaled to the French restaurant.

I was excited. Thanks to Julia, I would be celebrating my birthday this year with a cake and friends. I put on my nicest shirt, a blue button down, and brushed my hair into a fish tail. I couldn't contain my excitement when the restaurant came into view.

It was fancy... and French.

"Party of seven, reserved under Mademoiselle Julia's name?" the maître d' said in his three-piece suit, "You are the first to arrive, Madame."

"OK, I'll wait."

A waiter led me to four tables that had been pushed together. White tablecloths and candles covered each one. I slid into a chair and stared at the empty table. Me and all my friends.

The restaurant was mostly empty. An elderly couple was sharing a lamb roast nearby and they stared at me, more sympathetically as time rolled on. I looked at them, thinking how lucky they were for what they had.

The waiter came by to refill my water. He'd stopped asking me if my guests were coming. I checked my phone for the tenth time. No one had messaged me, and it was almost 8pm. I'd been here an hour, and no one was showing up.

I started to realize what this was. No one was going to come. I had been stood up by the closest thing to friends that I have...

Tears stung my eyes. This was so humiliating. I was stupid to ever think people wanted to celebrate my birthday with me. I was alone. I've always been alone. Why would I expect today to be different? It's my fault.

I received a text. I looked down, ignoring the teardrop that rolled down my cheek and slowly dropped onto my finger. I brushed it away.

Sorry I can't make it tonight. I'm sick. Forgive me? -Julia.