Hunger – Part 2

By: Megan Forziati

Tommie eyed up the piece of apple pie like it was the last remaining Oreo in Mom’s hidden package. He leaned in, opened his watering mouth, and sunk his teeth in. Scream. Then pain. But the scream wasn’t from Tommie and the pain had come out of nowhere. His eyes flashed open and he rubbed his cheek where Miss Apple Pie slapped it with rings and all. Tommie looked around to find all eyes on him. The girl to his left was staring daggers at him as she rubbed her forearm. Now Tommie looked as if he had been slapped on every part of his face. The red color ran from his hairline down to the very toenails that curled into their protective shoe. The teacher ignored the interruption as it was the end of class and dismissed the students with a wave of her hand. Tommie grabbed his backpack and sprinted out the door. Embarrassment should be bottled as an energy drink, for Tommie ran like he’d never run before.

With the might of four large men, he spun the Cathedral’s revolving doors and landed himself outside in the fresh air. The day was beautiful, and the sun beat down on the top of Tommie’s hair. He could feel it laughing at him. In a daze of embarrassment and disturbed nap still lurking behind his tired eyes, Tommie realized he was in fact hungry. He made a B-line for Einstein’s Bagels in Benedum. Letting the humiliation pass, Tommie was happy that class was over and the girl who smelt so much like apple pie was behind him. He would have to find another seat on the complete opposite side of the lecture room for the remainder of the semester. Although he had to admit she was a little dramatic. It wasn’t like he had bitten through her perfectly white “Sweater Weather” attire. He laughed out loud. He didn’t much care for her anyway, so the hell with the pie deceiver and her stringent slaps.

All Tommie cared about was fulfilling his hunger. He stepped into Einstein’s and was immediately met with warmth and the smell of fresh bagels. He strolled up to the counter, placed his order for a roasted veggie artisan flatbread and grabbed a juice out of the cooler. He walked up to the cashier with ID at hand. The woman behind the register smiled with bright eyes and pushed his card away. She explained that Tommie was the 1,000^th customer of the day, so his meal was free! He couldn’t believe his ears! This was unbelievable! Tommie thanked the cashier and waited for his flatbread. He looked up just in time to see milkshakes and fries dancing on the TV screen above him.

Once every two weeks a two part short story will arise from the mind of Megan. In other words, once a month a brand new story will come out, however, in order to find out the ending of the story, you will need to tune in two weeks from the first part to get the follow up. Enjoy!