The Last Orphans by N.W. Harris Page B

and personality. After a few minutes, she pulled away and slumped her head forward, putting her face in her hands.
    Knowing she must have lost her parents, Shane wasn’t sure he could say anything to comfort her. Under much less stressful circumstances, he’d tried to talk with her several times in class, to learn more about her. She was always ready with the kind of answers that ended a conversation quickly, or at least didn’t offer any fuel to keep it going. Yet still, Laura’s brown eyes seemed kind, and he expected under all that makeup was a shy girl who put on a front so she would be left alone.
    “I’m going to go inside and g et something to eat,” he said. “You want to join me?”
    Laura shook her head, not raising her eyes to meet his. 
    He stood and hesitated before walking back over to the breezeway. He turned and looked back at her, hoping she’d come inside. It couldn’t be good for her to just sit out here and wallow in her sorrow. She didn’t budge, so he headed toward the cafeteria.
    “Shane.” Laura’s weak voice stopped him just before he walked inside.
    “Yeah,” he replied, pivot ing on his heel.
    “Thanks.”
    “No problem,” he said, not sure what he’d done. He smiled as best he could.
    Laura lowered her head, putting her face back in her hands.
    Walking through the double doors into the lunchroom, Shane stopped and blinked to adjust his eyes to the bright fluorescent lights. Although thirty or so kids sat at different tables across the room, he’d never seen the cafeteria so quiet. Similar to the kids in the gym, they wore somber expressions, munching with disinterest on sandwiches and potato chips doled out by three kids working behind the stainless-steel counter.
    “Shane,” Kelly called, “over here.”
    She sat with her sister, the three little boys and the girl they’d picked up behind the grocery store, and Aaron, at an isolated table on the far left side of the room. He walked over, thinking he would’ve loved her to call to him from across the lunchroom under normal circumstances, in the middle of the school day. She might have smiled politely at him once or twice during lunch, but most days, she’d sit with the rest of the cheerleaders, engrossed in animated conversation. Shane would steal awed glances of her, like the rest of the boys in school, with no expectation that he’d ever have a chance to sit next to the blonde queen of cool.
    “I got you a sandwich.” She pointed at a plastic tray with food on it.
    “Thanks, Kelly,” he replied , slumping into the seat.
    Across the table from Shane, Aaron stared with a blank expression down at his sandwich, probably worrying about his mom. The reminder that he’d lied about seeing Mrs. Morris stole away any joy he might’ve experienced from sitting next to Kelly.
    “How’s Laura?” Kelly asked with sincere concern in her voice.
    “Pretty s ad,” he said, shocked she even knew the girl’s name.
    “Should I take her some food?” Kelly asked.
    “Yeah, might be a good idea. But you should eat first.”
    Picking up his peanut butter and jelly on white bread, Shane took a bite. He didn’t have an appetite and gagged when he swallowed. Kids trickled into the cafeteria while they ate in silence. The lights made everyone look so pale, even more depressed. Shane kept hoping an adult would show up, that they hadn’t all been killed. He forced down half the sandwich and drank his milk, then munched on the salty potato chips.
    “Why do they call it peanut butter and jelly and not jel ly and peanut butter?” Nat’s sweet and curious voice broke the silence. She peeled her sandwich open and inspected its insides.
    Everyone at the table looked at each other, weak smiles rising on Kelly and Aaron’s faces.
    “J comes before P, so shouldn’t it be jelly and peanut butter?” Nat explained, sounding very serious.
    “It should, shouldn’t it? ” Aaron said, peeling open his sandwich and looking at its contents