"No wonder. They would probably run for the hills." I finally managed to overcome my surprise and force words out of my mouth "His whole aura does not exactly scream shopping mall Santa."

The corner of Stone's mouth twitched upwards while his study on my face never withered.

To avoid his smirking, I opened my school bag and stuffed my head inside it so that I could find my lunch.

My eyes landed on the food I had brought from home, and I let out a small cry.

"Is everything okay?" Lana called.

I pulled my head out of my bag and ignored the hair covering my face as I complained "I usually have chemistry before lunch. I had it almost every day before lunch last year. My teacher used to let me use the kettle to boil my noodles."

"Your teacher let you make your lunch in class?" Brennan questioned in disbelief.

I nodded my head and placed my un-boiled pot of noodles on the graffitied table.

"I could just go and put some hot water from the bathroom in it. It might taste a little like a sewage rat though." I rambled on while my stomach started to churn uneasily "Or I could just eat it raw and crunchy."

Lana's nose wrinkled in disgust at my words before she softened her face and asked lightly "Did you not bring any money?"

"No. That was the point in my noodle cup." I purposely left out my father and our lack of income as an explanation "It saves me money."

My Dad left a hundred dollars a month for the food shopping. It seemed a lot of money on paper, but it was not in practise. I had been living off toast and jam for the past week.

"Here." Lana insisted, taking out her sandwich and splitting it in half "Take this."

I smiled at her gesture, but I shook my head anyway.

"I'm not taking your lunch. That is all you have." I told her sternly before assuring "It is fine. I'll just have something when I get home."

Brennan removed his arm from the back of Lana's chair as he stood up and announced "I'm going to get something from the cafeteria. Do you two want anything?"

Lana shook her head.

"No, thank you." I politely declined before informed him of our lovely lunch hall "Now it is time for the briefing. Do not buy milk because it is out of date. Do not buy any fruit because the flies from the kitchen live there. Do not buy the custard because I found a bee in it once. Line up for food and do not push because Dinner Lady Mary will kill you and put you in a pie if you do."

Brennan eyes widened and he appeared completely weirded out when he uttered "What?"

I shrugged while declaring "She is like Sweeney Todd without the barber shop."

The bench underneath me creaked as Stone stood up and followed Brennan to the lunch line.