NOVEL WEB Chapter 22
"Do you think chickens get emotionally attached to the eggs we eat?" Shanice asked kind of out of the blue.
We were all walking toward the bus stop with the school and the checkpoint behind us. Yuka led the group with me and Emma right behind her and Shanice and Aliya behind us.
"What?" Aliya asked.
"You know, cause chickens lay the eggs we eat."
"..."
"Maybe? I thought the eggs we ate were different from the ones with chicks." I said.
"I don't think so." Shanice disagreed.
"Actually, the eggs we eat do not have embryos since most factories rely on hens producing eggs according to light cycles." Emma stated.
Emma's info dump points have been low recently. Glad she was able to get a few here.
"Oh. I didn't know that." Yuka said in her raspy voice.
"Same." Aliya added.
We stepped over a pothole on the side of the road. The bus stop was now in sight.
"Did you finish your assignment, Yuka?" I asked.
"I didn't but I can work on it when I get home."
"Is it for that techie teacher again?" Aliya asked.
Yuka sighed. "Yeah. We're working on another essay."
"You're English teacher must love grading or something. I've barely gotten any homework so far." I explained.
"What about you all?" I asked the group.
"I don't have too much." Aliya said.
"I have a decent amount of work." Shanice said.
"...I have a lot but I'm getting through it." Emma murmured.
"That's good." I said as a pickup truck passed us.
Shanice pumped her fist in a very animated way. "Hang in there, Yuka. I bet once people stop turning in work she'll decrease the homework."
Aliya scoffed. "Pssh. Doubt it. With how old the teachers are here I bet they just think 'These youngsters are lazy. When I was their age I did two essays a day." She tried to do an old lady voice at the end.
The second tallest of the group laughed a little. "That was your old lady voice? Here, I'll show you how it's done"
She cleared her throat and bent over. She started talking and somehow sounded exactly like a 70 year old "These young cats are always staring at their phones. At their "Instabook" and their "Chirper". Next thing you know when they're my age they're heads are gonna be so hunched they're hair is gonna touch the floor!!! Hunky Dory!!!"
We all burst out laughing when Shanice yelled the last line.
Even Emma! She was giggling while trying to cover her mouth.
"What does...Hunky Dory...even mean?" I asked in between laughs.
"I have no idea. I think I just heard one of my grandparents say it." Shanice admitted.
"Goodness..." Aliya said as she was just calming down from her laughing fit.
"We seem to be here." Emma announced.
Sure enough right in front of us was the 47 bus sign.
"Let me check Maps to see when the bus will come." Yuka said as she pulled out her iPhone.
She tapped a few things and looked up at us. "It's a couple of minutes away."
"Great." I said.
"Has everyone been to Ronda's before?" Aliya asked.
"I mean it's the only diner in town. I assume everyone in a 20 mile radius has been." I asserted while crossing arms.
Yuka frowned while putting her phone in her jacket pocket. "True. We don't have a lot of food places here."
Everyone nodded.
"I think they should build more fast food places." Shanice said.
"I know! I think they should too." I exclaimed, surprising Emma.
"Ouh, I would love a Taco Bell." Aliya said.
"Good pick. Taco Bell. Good pick." Shanice murmured to herself.
"I would love a Popeyes. I had some when I was in Cali'. It was sooooo good." Yuka said. She shut her eyes while extending the "so" as if imagining the chicken.
"Subway..." I said while looking up at the clouds. One cloud looked suspiciously like a sub sandwich.
I wasn't drooling here by the way! That's gross!
"..."
"Subway?" Emma murmured in a judgemental tone.
"Yeah...I'm thinking the same thing." Aliya said while pulling her phone out.
"Hey! What's wrong with Subway?" I said.
Shanice cleared her throat and started talking fast. "Well, the bread is always hard. The lettuce is dry. The meat is too chewy. The cookies are stale. It's pricier than KFC. Your sandwich always looks microwaved at the end. The..."
I ain't writing all that.
Basically, the second tallest of the group ranted about Subway for a minute or two.
"...Maybe it was just a bad experience?" I suggested.
Shanice shrugged. "Maybe."
Yuka put a question forward. "Popeyes or Taco Bell?"
"Popeyes!" Shanice exclaimed.
"Taco Bell." Aliya said while scrolling on her phone.
The three of them started arguing about the fast food chains.
I looked down at Emma. "What fast food chain do you want here?" I asked.
"It's not exactly fast food but a Biggby would be nice." She murmured.
"Let me guess, you would read there." I assumed.
The bookish girl nodded. "The atmosphere is painfully contemporary but it's still a different experience to the school library." She explained.
Painfully contemporary? Maybe McDonalds is at a state of prickling contemporary with their new-ish minimalist look.
"I get that. Maybe we could go to one in Edith. Could be fun."
"Could be."
"Here comes the bus!" Yuka exclaimed.
I turned around to see the 47 strolling down the street. A couple of seconds later and it was right in front of us. Its doors opened swiftly. Yuka and Shanice got on and paid. As Aliya was stepping on I felt my phone vibrate in my bag. I took it out and checked it. It was a text from 'Maid 2' and it read:
M2: Your mother, Mrs. Armani would like to meet with you sometime before the 31st of October - Maid 2
Really!?! What does she want now! Wait---it's September. Why is she asking this early? Maybe it's so I don't come up with excuses since there's so much time to prepare. She doesn't know me well enough. I will still stall! I do not want to see that woman.
"Jocelyn...the bus will leave you if you don't board now." Emma said plainly from inside the bus.
"I'm coming." I said as I put my phone in my pochette.
I'll deal with my mother another day. Let me enjoy today.
I stepped onto the bus.