It was lunchtime. I was sat at a cafeteria table with Karl, Alex and Bad, which was just Darryl's nickname that everyone called him. I think it was a joke once, because Bad was so nice, but it stuck.

They were all munching away, and Bad kept offering me half his sandwich, which I turned down multiple times. I never ate lunch, mostly because I couldn't afford it, and I didn't want to take other people's.

"But you're so skinny," Bad whined. "You'll fall over and break into pieces at this rate."

"It's fine, really. I had breakfast," I told him, waving it off. "Plus, I have foods class next. I'll eat then."

Bad took his sandwich back, grumbling. Karl and Alex were chatting away, about something stupid, probably. I watched the clock, anticipating the bell. I was actually really hungry, and I hoped we were cooking something good today.

The bell rang, and I grabbed Alex by the arm, because he was in my class with me. "Ay, hold on, I still have a fry left," he complained. He grabbed it, shoved it into his mouth, and followed after me.

We walked into our class, and went to our station which was at the back, next to one of Alex's friends, Nick, and some blonde boy I didn't know. I really should be more social, but with my situation, it was hard to let people in. All sorts of things could go wrong, and when Bad had found out, he'd almost ran to the police to find me a foster home. Karl had to drag him back, telling him I was getting by just fine.

That's part of the reason I hadn't told Alex yet, either. I was worried he'd let it slip by accident, knowing his loud and social self.

Plus, I couldn't help but notice the sympathetic looks I got from Karl and Bad. They constantly tried to offer me help, and I'm pretty sure they debated a couple times whether it would be the right thing to do, putting me in a foster home. I convinced them not to, thankfully, but it felt horrible dragging them into my problems.

And so, for that reason, I'd never gotten to know Nick and the blonde boy. They were both friends with Karl, Alex and Bad, but I was scared to open my circle of friends. And so they'd kept their distance, probably getting the memo.

I jumped as the teacher started talking, jerking me out of my train of thoughts. Finally, time to cook.