Chapter 2: Calpurnia & Saul

While Tifara and her friends continuously gazed at Calpurnia and her friends eating breakfast with President Saul and his friends, Tifara and May frowned at Calpurnia and her friends. The students' chatter constantly entered into Tifara and her friends' ears. Tifara and May's eyes were almost closed and they breathed a little faster and quieter.

Oh, great! That's jus' fantastic, Tifara angrily thought, First it was May and the other girls tryin' to get with Saul. Now Calpurnia wants to as well?! Whatever her reason is to be with Saul I jus' can't simply allow her to be with him. Period.

"Alright, guys. Gotta go eat some breakfast now," Sam said. "Don't worry about them."
"Yeah, he's right, you guys," Dalila agreed, "We gotta go."

"Oh, what the hell does Calpurnia want with my Saul anyway?!" May roared while glaring at Calpurnia.

"Yeah!" Tifara agreed for a while until she angrily turned her face to May. "And why do you keep sayin' 'my Saul,' huh?!"

"Well, he is gonna be my Saul afterall, and you're jus' gonna have to deal with it, Tifara." May angrily turned to Tifara as both girls growled at one another, showing off their teeth.

Sam and Dalila sighed while watching Tifara and May fight over Saul, before Sam frowned at them.

"Ahem!" Sam said, letting go of his girlfriend's hand, walking towards Tifara and May. "That's enough, you two!"

Tifara and May ignored Sam and continuously growled at one another. Sam placed his hands onto their shoulders.

"Ladies…that's enough now…" Sam said with his annoyed, impatient face.

As Tifara and May continued to ignore Sam and growled at one another, Dalila looked around all over the cafeteria and saw something that caught her eye. She quietly gasped, opened her mouth and widened her eyes. Sam gave Tifara and May his serious look on his face, while the students around them curiously watched them and chatted louder. "I said, 'That's enough now!' Damn, y'all!"

Dalila quickly turned her attention to her boyfriend and friends. "Plus, the administrators are goin' to come over here now and sent y'all to the principal's office if they see y'all fightin' like this. I mean, would y'all want to get in trouble on your first day of school?"

Tifara and May stopped growling at one another as soon as they heard Dalila said to them. They quickly turned to and saw the administrators spotted them, wondering what was going on here. Holy shit, Dalila's right! Tifara thought, I better stop fightin' over Saul and get some breakfast before May and I get in trouble. Sam let go of Tifara and May. Tifara and May gave each other their guilty faces at first, closing their eyes, scratching their heads.

"So, um, Tifara…about Saul…Please forgive me for fightin' over him," May said.
"Yeah, me too," Tifara said as she and her friends heard the fifteen minute bell rung. "Let's hurry up and get some breakfast, shall we?"

"Yeah, that's a great idea. Well said, Tifara," May agreed when she and her friends walked forward to go get some food. The crowd's chatter was toned back to normal levels and the administrators returned to watching the crowd instead of them.
"Thanks for gettin' Tifara and May to stop fightin' with one another," Sam said, holding his girlfriend's hand and smiled.

"No problem, Sam," Dalila responded. "That's the least I could do."

****

After Tifara and her friends got their breakfast, they began to look for a table for them to eat. A certain portion of boys and girls behaved similarly to those in the hallway earlier. Tifara's heart pounded harder, her eyes twitched while moving a little sideways, and sweat came down from her forehead. Tifara wanted to grabbed onto her necklace, yet she couldn't due to carrying her breakfast tray around. Oh, great! Here we go again… Tifara thought, looking up at the ceiling. Dear Lord, please give me strength to overcome my persecution. In Yeshua's name, Amen.
Once Tifara returned her attention to her search for her seat, May noticed her uncomfortable face and gave her a sad look on her face. 

"Jus' ignore them, Tifara," May said, smiling at her friend. "Remember I told you in the hallway earlier."

Recalling May's advice in the hall, Tifara turned to May and said, "Thanks, May. You're the best. I knew I can count on you."

"You're welcome," May replied while she and her friends kept finding their seats.

They searched everywhere until they found their seats a bit far away from Calpurnia and President Saul-about two tables away. Once they sat at the table, they held each other's hands and looked at one another. They didn't allow the loud chatter to distract them in their prayer.

"Okay, who wants to pray for our food?" Sam asked.

"I'll do the prayer this time," Dalila answered.

"Alrighty then, go ahead, Dalila," Sam said as he and his friends looked up at the ceiling. 

"Dear Elohim," Dalila prayed, "We thank You for this food. Bless Your heart, mind and soul. Please protect us from anything bad containing this food, as well as don't lead us to the sin of gluttony. In Yeshua's name, Amen."

"Amen," Tifara, May and Sam said as she and her friends began to eat their food.

"So, guys…" Sam said after he chewed and swallowed his food. "Since we go to the homeroom period first and last daily, who do y'all have for that period? I have Mr. Fallon."

Dalila finished chewing her food while Tifara stared at Calpurnia having a conversation with President Saul, eating her food. "Mr. Fallon, huh? Never heard of him. I hope he's good…"

Tifara glared at Calpurnia while her friend chatted with one another. I wonder what they're discussin' over there, she thought, I wish my friends and I sat right next to them, so that I could eavesdrop on their conversation.

"Tifara…" Sam said as he and his friends turned their attention to Tifara.

Tifara ignored them and still paid attention to Calpurnia's conversation with President Saul, continuously eating her food. 

"Tifara…" Dalila said, snapping her fingers near Tifara's face. 

Tifara also ignored it and was still paying attention to Calpurnia's discussion with President Saul, eating her food.

"Tifara…" May said, tapping her fingers on Tifara's arm hard.

Placing her hand onto her arm, Tifara turned to May and frowned at May,  rubbing her arm. "Ow! That hurts, May! What the hell?!"

"Sorry, but Sam wants your attention," May said, closing her eyes.

"Oh…" Tifara said as she turned her attention to Sam. "Well, what is it, Sam?"

"Who is your homeroom period teacher?" Sam asked.

"I have Mrs. Kane," Tifara answered, continuously eating her breakfast, watching Calpurnia having a conversation with President Saul at the same time. 

"So you have Mrs. Kane then, huh?" Dalila asked, sighing, giving Tifara her sad face. "Too bad we all have one different homeroom teacher then." She closed her eyes, leaned forward and placed her hands under her chin. "Which means we may have to come to your homeroom classroom once the first homeroom period ends." She then opened her eyes and looked at Tifara. "What's the room number for your homeroom period, Tifara."

After chewing and swallowing her food, Tifara looked up and placed her finger on her chin. "I have, uh, Room Waw-Nine, I think. I'm not so sure. Lemme check jus' to make sure." Then she dug through her backpack, searching for her schedule. "Ah, here it is." She pulled out her schedule and examined it. "Turns out I was right."

"Great!" May exclaimed while Tifara placed her schedule back into her backpack. "That means me, Sam and Dalila will come to get you once your first homeroom period ends!"

"Yeah, you can count on us, Tifara!" Dalila said, closing her eyes with a smile.

"Mhn," Sam responded, shaking his head.

Tifara smiled at her friends. "Thanks, you guys for caring for me."

"Don't thank us, girl," Dalila said. "Thank Elohim for that. He uses us for your protection afterall."

"Yeah, you're not wrong about that." Tifara continuously grinned at her friends, then smiled up at the ceiling. "Thank You, Elohim, for havin' my friends at my side to protect me at this terrible school. In Yeshua's name, Amen."

"Amen," Tifara's friends said, seeing Tifara returned to finish up eating her breakfast.

"Can you believe that we're Secondary School Sophomores now?!" Dalila asked while Sam and May also ate their breakfast. "I bet Sophomore year is gonna be different from Freshman year, huh? I jus' hope this year's better than last year, that's for sure."

May finished chewing her food and drinking her soybean milk, looking down from her left and raised her eyebrows up as if they formed into a mountain. "Yeah…I jus' hope so…"

While Sam and Dalila comforted May once they finished chewing their food and drank their soybean milks a bit, Tifara drank her entire soybean milk before she widened her eyes and opened her mouth. Huh?! Tifara thought, What the hell?! There she saw Calpurnia and their friends left the table with President Saul and his friends, placing their trash into the trash can, putting them on the tray holders, leaving the cafeteria. Calpurnia still had a conversation with President Saul, laughing with him. Aw, great! Jus' great! Tifara thought as she glared at Calpurnia. Now she's leaving with Saul. Jus' fan-freakin'-tastic! I gotta go follow them!

As soon as Tifara stood up from the table and picked up her tray, her friends looked up at her face, curiously cuckolding their eyebrows at her. 

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Where are you goin'?" Sam asked.

"I'm goin' to put my food up in the trash can. I'll be right back," Tifara answered as she was about to leave the table.

May grabbed onto Tifara's arms. "No, Tifara. Stay here. Not until all of us finished eating our breakfast."

"Yeah!" Sam roared. "Are ya crazy or somethin'?!"

"I'm not crazy for puttin' the trash in the trash can, Sam," Tifara responded, glaring at May. "Now let me go, May!"

"No, I won't!" May cried, "Don't you think about what happens if you go off on your own like that on this school campus?!"

"Yeah!" Dalila agreed, "Don't you recall why you hate goin' to school in the first place?! You were afraid of gettin' harassed and bullied here, remember?!"

"Yeah!" May also agreed, "I even had to comfort you for it twice today, remember?"

Tifara then felt guilty of her actions as she sat back down and sadly examined her food, after Sam shook his head. "You guys are right…I'm sorry I've acted foolishly, would y'all forgive me?"

"Mhn," her friends responded when they continued to eat their food.

Once they finished eating their food and drank their entire soybean milks, they threw their trash into the trash can and left the cafeteria with Tifara.