Karyn watched Joan enter the cafeteria and head for the lunch line. For some reason, she had an odd sense that she was missing an important detail. Whatever it could be tickled the edge of her mind, daring her to remember.
"Hello? Karyn? You listening to me?" Rob waved at her from across the table.
Karyn blinked. "Oh, sorry. What were you saying?"
The boy shook his head. "Doesn't matter. You were lost in your own head again. What's going on?"
"I don't really know," Karyn admitted. Then, she pointed her chin at something over her friend's shoulder. "But it looks like Joan's actually late for lunch. A rare sight for the season."
"Joan? You mean the cheerleader?" Rob turned to inspect the brunette in question getting her food. "I seem to recall you mentioning that you were friends before."
Having gathered her lunch, Joan now stood with her tray in hand, glancing around with a rather lost expression on her face. Karyn nodded. "Her and Nicole. We all grew up together, and our families were pretty close."
"That close, huh? But I never see you guys talking to each other."
"Oh, we still talk, now and then. But not as much as we used to. Nicole started drifting away years ago, and Joan stayed by her side. Now, it seems they're both gravitating towards Sarah's group."
On cue, Nicole called out to Joan from the table where Sarah and her posse had gathered. The brunette hesitated for only a second before heading over.
Karyn grimaced. "Thankfully, Joan's always been too much of a tomboy to be completely brainwashed, but I'm not so sure about Nicole."
Rob contemplated this over a swig of soda. "So, if Joan's a tomboy, how come she didn't stick with you? You're pretty tomboyish yourself, if you don't my saying so."
The girl shrugged. "She and Nicole always shared a special bond. Though it's struck me as weird, too. Don't misunderstand. I'm happy for them. But a voice in the back of my head agrees with you."
"Jealous?" Rob suggested with a smirk.
This was met with an eye-roll from Karyn. "You know me better than that. I know this sounds crazy, but it's more of a sense of wrongness. Like something is out of place. Joan is out of place. And in a way, so's Nicole."
"Sounds crazy alright. But color me intrigued. What do you want to do about it?"
"Do? Nothing really. But I guess we can just keep an eye on those two, just in case."
"I'm gonna have to watch cheerleaders?" Rob did his best impression of a suffering martyr. "Though it brings me much anguish, I shall pursue this sacred mission to the bitter end, m'lady."
"Spare me," groaned Karyn.
