Page 18 of The Sandbar saga
Chapter 7
Kendrid sat down atthe round table in the cafeteria. "Why don't you like to talk?"
Katie shrugged. "Just don't."
"My cousin is shy. She's younger than me. I think she's nine years old." Kendrid opened her milk carton. "She's going to come to St. Mary's when she's old enough."
Everyone at the school was in seventh grade or higher. It was like a college for kids because they could only go home on the weekends. Though she stayed at the school. Most of the time, it was just her and a girl named Deanna who stayed behind. Deanna couldn't go home often because her parents lived in New Hampshire.
"Where did you get that?" Kendrid pointed to Katie's wrist.
She turned the black rubber bracelet. "A friend."
"From your old school?"
She nodded, not wanting to tell. Dr. Conner had given her the bracelet stamped 'Be Brave' on it. He'd told her he got it at a conference and thought she'd like wearing it.
"I'll trade my chips for your chocolate chip cookie." Kendrid held her bag of plain potato chips toward her.
She made the exchange. It was easier to do what Kendrid wanted than argue about it.
"Kendrid, sit by us," said Tru, motioning her to come over to the next table.
"I'm eating with Katie today." Kendrid took a bite of her sandwich. "I'll sit with you tomorrow at lunch."
"You can go." Katie finished her Jello cup.
No one usually sat at her table. Once in a while, one of the girls in the cafeteria would argue or be too loud, and the Cafeteria Aid would move them to Katie's table for the rest of the lunch period, but those kids never talked much once they sat down by her.
"Did you finish your science homework?" whispered Kendrid.
She nodded, putting her empty containers on the tray. "I like science."
They were studying the moon's effect on weather changes. It was interesting. She hadn't known the moon was a magnet to the cycles of the ocean tide.
"I had to finish the last three questions during English this morning. I fell asleep after dinner last night." Kendrid laughed and put her hand up to her mouth and whispered, "I totally forgot to do it while we had breakfast this morning and had to sneak my book into class."
"You didn't get caught?"
Kendrid grinned. "It was easy. I sit in the back of the room. Mrs. Lowe never walks back there."
With nothing to do but wait until Lunch was over and she could get up from the table, she looked around the room. The other girls were talking and had barely touched their food. The only way she could tell who was popular or not was by how many people crowded around specific tables.
She glanced over at Kendrid. The other girls liked her, and she was nice to everyone. Even the teachers called on her to answer questions.
At first, she'd thought Kendrid was shy, but she wasn't.
"Where do you live? You know, when you're not here?" asked Katie, her heart pounding.
She'd never tried to get to know any of the other girls. What if Kendrid stopped talking to her?
"Seattle. My dad's an architect, and my mom has a gallery. She sells furniture from Europe. I have a sister in college, too. She's in Paris right now, though. I want to go to Paris so bad when I graduate." Kendrid wiped her mouth off on a napkin. "Where's your home?"
"Astoria."
"Where's that?"
"On the coast in Oregon." Remembering her landmarks, she added, "By Washington, too."