*Anthropological Officer N!xao Cangelosi knew a great idea when he saw one, and this was perhaps his greatest idea yet. Noting that one of the greatest needs for those females living away from home next to companionship was sustenance, it was only common logic that free food would entice those who would have a tendency of skipping classes. A small word of mouth campaign set it up: there was a home economics club starting to form up, and to attract interest, they were going to hold a free lunch to all, interested or not.

So there it was set out...plates, utensils, salads, breads, sandwich fixings, and a comically large bowl of punch with ladle. Seems quite inviting, even though there seems there's no one monitoring. And the smells...the smells were like a prelude to Nirvana...*

Pia was on her way from the library, a few new books in her arms. Today there was a few hours without classes or lectures in the middle of the day, and Pia was planning on spending it outdoors, reading. No use wasting the good weather.

But as she walked down the corridors, she could not help but feel her belly rumble a bit.

Oh yeah, there was supposed to be some sort of lunch event, wasn't there?

Deciding that it could not hurt to take a view, and maybe grab a quick bite, Pia went to investigate. She was a bit surprised that no-one was there. She hesitated, and decided to hang back a little, to see if anyone else would arrive.


(Come on, it is free food!)

*Oh hey...someone took the bait. The blob lays flat as it observed Pia. The food it had set out was designed to be quite appetizing. Sandwiches stacked symmetrically, punch glistening, aroma wafting to the girl's nostrils. Come, come...no need to hesitate much longer, eh? Eh?*

Pia slowly walked towards the table. She wanted to grab a bite, but it seemed rude to do so without anyone saying it was okay. She had been raised better than to be a petty thief, but she did believe that it was supposed to be a free lunch. Strange that no one was here..

"Hello?", she called out. As she did so, she turned around, biting her lower lip and toying nervously with her pigtails. She was now close to the table, her back towards it.
"Maybe I should just grab a sandwich and be gone?", she muttered to herself.

*The smell wafted along Pia's nostrils. Oh come on...all this food...one sandwich wouldn't be enough. Besides, seems no one else is about. She could just gorge herself...at least until the others showed up...*

"Argh! Why must I be so indecisive!", Pia said out aloud, chastising herself. She had decided that if no one was coming anyway, it would be no big deal if she just grabbed one quick bite and went on her way. She had been raised to not be greedy and inconsiderate, but all things in moderation.

Turning, she walked along the table, looking at the food. "What is this?", she said as she passed one bowl. Casting a glance past her shoulder, she grinned naughtily, and stuck a finger in the bowl, then sucked her finger. "Lovely.. some kind of mayonaise.. I think."

Don't worry, Susan. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes to fix the bug. You'll be able to get to the cafeteria long before they close. Riiiiiiiiiiiiight. It had actually taken over an hour for her and her partners to find and fix the bug in their final class project and then fix all the problems that had cascaded from that. Fixing the problems that had come from those fixes would have to wait until tomorrow; Susan was the only one who didn't have a class right now. Getting to the cafeteria for lunch, though... If I could move that quickly, I'd've been buried under offers of track scholarships... and probably JLA membership.

As she turned a corner, she caught a whiff of the scent of the luncheon. Oh, yeah. There was that home ec club 'free lunch' thing today. Sounds like a trap to me, but I could probably pick up a sandwich or something and leave before the trap catches me. This plan would have probably worked — there was only one other person there, and if it was a trap, it was meant to catch more than two — if the other person hadn't been...

"Pia! Hi!" Susan called out to the other girl as she entered.

*Ah, so there were TWO girls now. Interesting to say the least. Cangelosi kept still in his hiding place under the tables, eyestalks looking back and forth between Pia and the new girl Susan. It seems to be waiting for the girls to start chowing down. Especially considering that he had the NICE labs add a little bit of "seasoning" to the food.*

“Uuhgg”, I mumbled under my panting breath walking as fast as I could. In protest, I refused to be seen running to my next class. They scheduled my classes too far apart, and I swore that girl did it on purpose, because I am beautiful and she’s just jealous. I haven’t even been here long enough to know my way around, how does she expect me to keep up this pace, I kept running through my mind.

My stomach through all this was growling loudly. I think everyone could hear it within close distance of me. “Screw this class, I’m gonna be late anyways”, I said frustrated, glancing over at the food table not 10ft from me. I’ll just grab some stuff and then head to class, I figured.

“Hi”, I said with a slight smile to the 2 girls already standing there. I set my books down on the end of the table, pushed my hair back off my shoulders, so it wouldn’t fall in the food. It all looked so good. “I’m new here. It sure is great that they provide free food like this for us girls on the move, don’t you agree?”, I said naively.

(I am such a newbie, but this sounds fun. Hope I can keep up.)

Pia jumped a bit as she head her name called out. She swirled around. "Oh!", she said, face cracking into a big smile as she saw who it was "Susan! Good to see you."
Pia could not help but blush a bit as she thought about the last time they met. It had been an.. interesting evening, to say the least.

The next to enter was someone Pia had never met. Not that that was so unusual. Despite her best intention to the contrary, Pia was a bit of a loner. "Yeah..", she said, uncertain. "It looks really good."

*The blob slinks better into the shadows. Oh...now there's THREE. Good, good, good. They haven't taken any of the food yet, but patience was a virtue. Keeping silent and flat as a piece of paper under the table, Cangelosi observes the human tradition of socialization.*

”Pardon me, hope I wasn’t interrupting. I’ll leave you two to talk. I have to hurry and get to my next class anyways”, I said while quickly grabbing a roll. They obviously knew each other. Proceeding on, I took a knife to spread the mayonnaise on the bread before picking a meat, “now let’s see”, I said out loud, but to myself. I never ate food like this at home, since my arrival here every day has been one of discovery. I think this one is sliced chicken, hmm, and this one beef maybe … which one to pick, I pondered. Well, both it is, I figured it couldn’t hurt.

Yes! A silent cheer for one of my new favorites, chips. I was so glad to see them on the table, but then there were other things in bowls, salads of some kinds. I tried to watch the other girls to see if they got any, and which one they picked. While waiting, I couldn’t resist a bite of my sandwich, so I didn’t die of starvation right there on the lawn.

Susan returned Pia's smile. "Yeah. Good to see you, too." There was a slight pause; while they'd met once before and had got along well, they hadn't, as Pia's slight blush hinted, exactly spent most of the time talking.

The silence was broken as another girl entered. “Hi. I’m new here. It sure is great that they provide free food like this for us girls on the move, don’t you agree?”

"Yes, it's... convenient." Far too convenient, really. She didn't voice her suspicions, though; she didn't want to come off as either paranoid or hazing younger students. "I think it's a one-time thing, though."

”Pardon me, hope I wasn’t interrupting. I’ll leave you two to talk. I have to hurry and get to my next class anyways.”

It seemed this girl had interpreted both Susan's and Pia's slightly hesitant responses to mean that she was intruding. "Don't worry. I just got here myself." Grabbing a plate and some bread, she looked over the sandwich fixings. Mayonnaise, blah... Where's the...? A-ha! Finding the mustard, she spread some as she decided what to put in the sandwich. Let's see... Ham, that looks like turkey, there's the swiss... Hmmm... She added a slice of onion, then went to look at the salads.

As she turned, she noticed the punch bowl. What is it with this school and punch? It was the only thing to drink at the prom, too. Remembering the prom, she relaxed slightly; she'd been sure that was going to be a trap, too, but she didn't remember suffering anything worse than extreme boredom then.

As Allirabeth bit into the sandwich, she felt quite...euphoric. As if every nerve in her body was heightened, head giddy...as if this was the best thing she had ever tasted in her life. The blob chitters softly as eyes flicked to Susan. Hrm...this girl seemed a bit too cautious for her own good. Let's hope she doesn't spring some premature alarm...

"No-no! You are not interrupting anything!". Pia hurriedly added her reassurances to Susan's. She glanced from one girl to another. She would love to spend some more time with Susan, true, but she knew well enough how it felt to be the one that got pushed away in social circles.
Pia had a tendency to a little awkward when it came to meeting new people, it was like she never could come up with something reasonably clever to say.

So instead, she picked up a plate and helped herself to the chicken salad.

"Mmm.. This one is quite good."