Pie R Squared

I ran into R from Geometry when we were standing in line at the caf. I usually bring my lunch because it’s wicked expensive to buy food at school but I forgot it.

Okay, who am I kidding? Honestly? Lucie didn’t go to the grocery store.

Okay, who am I kidding, again? If I’m really honest…Lucie lost her job again. We still have our apartment and our car and I guess we have a little money because Lucie wasn’t panicked like she usually is when she loses her job but she got sort of distracted by it and didn’t go to the store. So that’s why I didn’t have any food for lunch.

So, I’m standing in line, trying to figure out what the cheapest meal is - the salad bar where you pay by the pound or the a la carte stuff like meatloaf or pizza buns - when I hear R come up behind me and say,

“How do you find the area of a circle?”

Me: “Uh…with a ruler?”

R laughs. “I’ll give you a hint. Pi.”

Me: “Apple or cherry?”

R laughs again, like he’s never heard that joke before. “What looks good today?”

Me: “You.”

LOL! No chance…that’s what I was thinking, though.

Me: “Uh…salad bar?”

Because what am I gonna say? I have no money and am trying to buy the most food for the least cash? That makes me sound like a loser plus I’m pretty sure his family is kind of well-off and I don’t want him to offer me a loan. And three, I’m a girl and girls are supposed to eat crap like salads, even if they want a big slab of meatloaf and mashed potatoes.

R nods. “Anything but the meatloaf.” Then he shrugs and says, “I’m a vegetarian.”

Me, with a smile: “Me too.”

R nods again. “Cool.”

And just when I think I’m gonna mention tutoring and see if he’s still interested and maybe glean some sort of tell from his answer, like if it would be more than tutoring, the line moves and the cafeteria lady asks me what I want and out of sheer instinct, I say, “Meatloaf and mashed potatoes.”

R looks at me funny but doesn’t say anything.

Me: “I mean, just a salad, please. No meat at all. At all.”

But I think it’s too late. R takes a salad from the salad bar and walks over to the drinks.

I don’t know how to salvage this one. Should I?

JA, where are you when I need you????