DISCLAIMER: Popular and its characters are the property of Ryan Murphy and Touchstone. No infringement intended.
ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.
Fish Taco Friday
By carpesomediem
Fish Taco Friday. Who could forget about it? Every Friday, without fail, the Kennedy High cafeteria served fish tacos fresh from Rubios. This was the highlight of the cafeteria week, more kids packed into that small room to eat fish tacos than they did at any time during the week.
Sam stared at Lily, who was on her third fish taco, and just stared at her in disbelief.
"I still can't believe you're eating that," she shook her head with a smile, "I mean, it's a fish. You're a vegetarian..."
"Not since I had Rubios fish tacos!" she spit out bits of taco as she said that, "I can't get enough of these." She took another bite and then a look of panic crossed her face.
"What is it, Lily?" Harrison asked, concerned.
"I... I don't feel so good," she jolted up and headed for the double doors towards the bathroom.
"Must've finally hit her that she was eating fish," Sam explained rationally.
"Nah," Harrison looked towards the doors and then back to the table, "She ate too much. She does this every Friday."
"And every Friday, without a doubt, you watch her eat as if in The Twilight Zone," Carmen added.
"I'm so predictable; what can I say?" Sam shrugged, looking across the cafeteria and searching for Brooke. She found her quite easily, predictably you might say, at the popular table with the popular kids. They sat in the same place everyday, and everyday at lunch, Sam searched for her as if she wouldn't be there. "I guess I better go tell Brooke I have detention today..."
"You... have detention?" Harrison looked clueless. Sam punched him on the shoulder, getting up and bringing her lunch tray with her.
"Unfortunately, you aren't allowed to skip a class for a breaking story... even if it is important," she winked. Earlier in the week, her expose on the women's water polo team lacking enough funds to buy uniforms kept her from attending her last period of the day. After all, a good journalist has to stay after the interviews to peruse the details of the story firsthand, nevermind it being drooling over naked women fighting for a ball in water...
Harrison and Carmen just chuckled as Sam lost her train of thought.
"Well, I guess I'll talk to you guys sometime over the weekend once I'm done with my indentured servitude at home as punishment for detention."
"See you Sam," Harrison waved as she walked towards the trash cans to dispose of her lunch tray. On the way through the treacherous cafeteria - where food flying was a common factor - she happened upon April Tuna who offered her a piece of gum.
"Are you going to eat that?" she pointed to the unopened Polly-O string cheese on her tray.
"Uh, no," she managed to get out, keenly aware of the invasion of her personal space as April Tuna was practically pressed up against her right side. She snatched it, chewing her gum loudly.
"Do you want my gum to replace this yummy goodness of a wrapped dairy product variety?" she breathed loudly. "I got it from under the lunch desk last period as I was sorely lacking something to chew on for Bio Glass' lecture on the male anatomy of the penis."
"No. Thanks." Sam managed to pull herself away from one-half of the Tuna enigma and hurried to put the tray in the trash and on the way back dreading ever second leading up to her encounter at the popular table.
"O' MA GAWD!" Mary Cherry began pulling at her hair seconds before Sam made it to the table. Nobody seemed to notice her standing there as the bubbly blonde continued, "I'MA BAWLD 'ND'R MA HAIR!"
"No, you're not," Sam butted in before even Nicole could get a word in edgewise, "You're just missing a brain." Mary Cherry looked very hurt and scoffed at Sam.
"Jus' becawse ya have to stay 'fter school becawse someone wuz caught peeking at the women's wader polo team doesn't mean ya can be mean to me!" she whined.
"Oooh, Sam McPherson has detention for checking out the nudity that is the water polo team," Nicole chuckled, "Now, there's a front page story if I ever heard of one."
"When I need a front page story, Satan, I'll write it," she replied caustically, already mentally strained from having to deal with the two annoying blondes, she turned her attention to the only one sitting at that table she wanted to talk to, "Brooke, I have detention, I'm going to walk home. I just wanted to let you know?"
"Ok..." she sort of looked confused and asked the inevitable, "Were you really... checking out... the water polo team?"
Sam sighed.
"Admission of guilt, right there, ladies and gentlemen," Nicole clapped.
"Shut up, Satan," Sam spewed before storming off in a fit of anger.
"Seriously, Nicole, can't you just leave her alone?" Brooke slammed her tray in her direction and without another word followed Sam. "Sam, wait up!" she called after to no avail, it wasn't until Sam made it half-way to her locker did she slow down to allowed the blonde to catch-up.
"So... did you?" she asked, out of breath.
"Did I what?" Sam barked.
"Did you really get detention..."
"Yes, I did," Sam cut her off.
"But how..." she was cut off by Sam beginning to walk again.
"It's not important okay," Sam began walking faster not to avoid the questioning.
"No, you're right it's not," Brooke laughed, "It's kinda funny. I mean, they only gave you detention for that..."
"I guess," Sam shrugged, opening her locker, her eyes pinned on the lock. "Mom and Mike are furious."
"I bet," she nodded. "So... when were you going to tell me?"
"What?" Sam lost all train of thought, "What do you mean?"
"You were going to tell me about your detention and what got it, weren't you?" she inquired, stepping a bit April Tuna-ish close for Sam's taste.
"It wasn't something I wanted to throw around, you know," Sam stumbled along, at a loss at words once Brooke put her hand on her shoulder, "I mean, you know, it's not something the whole school needs to know about..."
"I'm not the whole school," she reminded Sam.
"Yeah, I know," she sighed as Brooke walked away. "Why do I let her do that to me," she muttered under her breath as she grabbed a book and headed for her last class of the day.
The End