When Ben introduced me to Avery I instantly knew that I, he and Ben were going to become an infamous trio. “Hey, Avery I have someone I want you to meet, her name is Julie” Ben said. “Hey Julie” Avery said looking up at me and flashing me a smile. “Got a buck?” he asked. “Sure, why?” I answered. “I wanna buy a cupcake!” he said in a childlike voice. This was kind of hard for him because his voice was so deep. “Ooh!, Me to!” a small blonde girl said. “Back off Ash, Julies all mine” said Avery. He grabbed me by the arm and pulled me into the cafeteria. “I’m all your eh?” I said with a huge goofy grin on my face. “For the time being” he answered. The cafeteria in Gull Junction is very stereotypical. You walk down a mini runway between the tables to the food line at the back, the lunch ladies were crazy and you have the same table everyday. I’ve seen some people try to sit at a table that they didn’t sit at on the first day, all hell broke loose. I would sit in the tech hallway that had huge windows looking into the cafeteria. No one really sits in the tech hall except me. Ben, Avery and all of their friends sat in the arts hall. The arts hall like the tech hall had huge windows looking into the cafeteria. There were beautiful murals on every single cm of the walls. If you looked to the right you could see into the Atrium where all the preps and jocks hung out and if you looked to the left you could see out into the back where the smokers hung out and acted cool. If you really craned your neck you could also see into the front where all the sceney kids sat. I don’t know what stereotype Ben and Avery fit under but I liked their spot. “What are you gunna get?” Avery asked. “Well now that I’ve been forced into this line I think I’ll get a poutine” I said. “A poutine?” Avery said, “Ew!” I looked at him like he was crazy. “Did you just say ew and poutine in the same sentence?” I said. He laughed, “Ya! I hate fries” he said. “You won’t hate them if you try them in a poutine” I answered. “I have tried!” He said, “They’re still gross!” he made a face. I grimaced “You need to have them in Quebec, the best fries are in Quebec” I said, remembering fondly the month I spent there over the summer. “Everything’s the best in Quebec” Avery grumbled. “Do you have a problem with Quebec? If you have a problem with Quebec you have a problem with me bud” I said. He sighed “No no that’s not it” He said. “It’s just this girl who I was in love with moved to Montreal because she claimed everything was better there; the food, the shopping, the guys” sadness creeping into his tone. I felt bad for him, that girl was right everything is better there. I spent a month there on an internship in a magazine three years ago. The magazine was run in a small town called St-Agathe. I stayed with a wonderful couple and their son, Sebastian. Sebastian showed me around the town and everyone in it. We would spend hours talking in the most random places around town about nothing at all. We would sneak out late and stay out until early in the morning. His parents were totally oblivious and never found out. One night as we sat on the beach two blocks from his house eating our ice cream Sebastian asked me to be his girlfriend. Of course I accepted I had been waiting for him to ask me since the second day. I was leaving in a week and he made me promise him that every summer I would go there for a month and we would pick up where we left off. The last two years it’s been like that, I’d forget all about him during the school year but during June I’d look at my calendar and at the bottom of the month a date would be circled with a heart and Sebastian was written in it. Then I would miss him terribly for a month until I finally got driven out to stay with him. I’d usually forgotten him by now but for some reason poutine made me think of him. “That’s horrible, I’m sorry” I said. “It’s worse than horrible, you don’t have any idea how hard it is for me” Avery said. I smiled a sad smile and said “I do believe me”. He looked at me like he didn’t believe me. We were up in line and the lady behind the counter was already yelling at me. “Look if you don’t want no ribs, don’t come here! Let’s go, let’s go! Do want some ribs? Ribs?” She was waving a sandwich with a fake barbecued rib hanging out of it. “Um no thanks, I want a poutine” I said. “Right! Right, kids don’t want no ribs it’s the special, we always push the special but does it ever get gone? No no no kids always wanting these cookies” She was blabbing to herself as she made my poutine. I looked at Avery. He raised his eyebrow at me. “OKAY! Eres your poutine now go go go” Crazy lunch lady was waving her arms at me. “C’mon Julie, moving along” Avery said pulling me along to the desert section. “Hiya!” he said to the lady behind the counter, she gave him a dirty look for being so happy. He pointed to the hugely frosted cupcake behind the glass “That one!” he said with utter glee. Talk about sugar addict. “Here’s your freaking cupcake now get out of my face” bored-really-rather-be-smoking-outside lunch lady said. We walked up to the cash. “Alright so that’s…1 dollar and 2.50 which would bring the total to…” The fat-idiotic-needs-to-go-back-to-school lunch lady behind the counter fumbled in her drawers and pulled out a calculator. “Jus a sec, how do you git this thing on?” She said jabbing her fat fingers into it. “Uh the grand total would be 3.50” Avery said. “Right thanks kid, now pay up” I handed her the money and we walked off. “Well they’re crazy” I muttered. “You should meet my guidance councilor, biiotch!” Avery whispered as we pushed our way out the caf. I giggled. “Ooh! Poutine” The little blonde girl said when we reached Ben and the “others”. She helped herself to a fry “Thanks!” she said. She looked up at me “Hey! You’re not De! You’re new! I’m Ashley, nice to meet you!” she said extending her hand. She was awfully excited I observed. “Julie” I said with a smile. “Nice to meetcha” She said sitting on the ground and enjoying her fry. I sat down next to Ben. He was talking to a pretty brunette who was holding hands with a very cute boy. “Ooh Poutine, don’t mind if I do” Ben says reaching for a fry. “Yes, go right ahead no need to ask my permission” I said narrowing my eyes at him. He just gave me a goofy smile and waved his arm in the direction of the pretty brunette and her boyfriend. “This is Michelle and Zach” they both wave and smile in unison and say “Ellow there” I laughed. “Hey guys” I said with a smile. “I’m Julie; excuse me for a sec while I eat my poutine”. I finished it in record time, “That was good” I said laughing. Ben laughed to. “Urgz, I have Chem next” Zach complained. “Hey!” I said “Me to!” I high-fived Zach. “I as well shall be joining you in the wonderful classes of science” Avery interjected. I laughed and gave him a high-five as well. “Darn” Ben said, “I feel left out”. Michelle laughed “Aw poor baby” she said patting him on the shoulder. I looked over at the clock there was 5 minutes till the bell. “Shoot!” I said and jumped up. “Where are you going?” Ben asked. “To my locker to get my stuff” I said. He got up “I’ll come to” we waved to everyone and walked upstairs. “So what do you think of my friends?” Ben said holding the door for me. “Well Avery’s great, Ashley seems very happy and Zach and Michelle seem very nice” I said. “Are they dating?” Ben smiled and nodded his head. “They have been, since grade 7” he answered. “Whoa” that’s 4 years! I thought. “Where’s your locker?” Ben asked. “On the third level” I answered. Quiet possibly the worst place to have a locker. It took forever to get anywhere in this school and my locker was on the third floor. “Holy poop!” Ben said “There’s only five minutes left, I need to go to my locker to! I can’t go all the up there!” I raised my eyebrow at him. “You don’t have to you know.” I said. “Goodie!” he said and ran off onto the second floor. I continued my long climb up to the third floor.
