Three Ring Circus

    Luci took the first bite out of a slice of her turkey sandwich. She scanned the entire cafeteria slowly as the flavors of wheat bread and turkey mixed inside her mouth. She liked observing the cafeteria during lunch time. Nobody sat with her; she had no friends to sit with. People thought Luci was weird and creepy. She was aware of that but she was only being herself. After a few years of being alone, Luci had gotten used to it. She was more interested in watching "the friends" of the cafeteria. The students were like her television. 
    Since Luci sat alone every day, she was able to notice things before anybody. In addition, her senses were heightened because of it. So she spotted a chunky boy 40 feet diagonally away standing up. Then another boy, who was more slender and happened to be sitting next to him, stood up. He was wearing a sweatshirt, ripped jeans and worn out sneakers while the first boy was wearing a flannel shirt, jean shorts and old combat boots with a black wool cap on his head. The thing that the two boys had in common: their tops were gray. Just the color of their shirts exuded a bad mood for Luci. Also, the two looked suspicious as they ambled away from their table. Nobody really noticed them except for Luci. 
    They stood in the middle of the cafeteria right in its largest aisle. Luci never took her eyes off of them. She anticipated their upcoming actions. Then the boy in a flannel shirt slowly lifted up his shirt, exposing in Luci's eyes a firearm tucked inside his jean shorts. Steadily, he wrapped his fingers around it and briskly, he pulled it out and raised it towards the ceiling. The boy fired the gun, creating the loudest boom ever heard. The noise startled everyone in the room except Luci, who saw it coming.
    "Freeze!" yelled the boy, pointing his gun aimlessly. "Nobody move."
    His friend in the sweatshirt took out his gun and began to aim idly. He pressed his back on his friend's back so they could each scrutinize a half of the cafeteria.
    "Anybody try to do anything, we will shoot you," the boy in the sweatshirt swore.
    The teens were scared and nervous. Some put their heads down; others sheltered themselves under their tables. But not Luci. She just stared at the boys and smiled. She thought the situation was funny. Every fearless jock and spunky cheerleader that she knew was just as spineless as everyone else. It blew her mind. She had to taste more.
    When the boys with guns weren't looking, Luci sunk underneath her empty table and got down on all fours. She started crawling out of the table into the table besides hers. Everyone sitting at that table had their heads down so they weren't aware of Luci. While crawling pass people's feet, she noticed how some people kept their legs still while others were fidgety. The symptoms of nerves, she thought. Later, she saw two people cowering under the table. She passed them without exactly looking at them. The two girls, of course, looked at Luci in confusion. She was basically the only person showing no fear.
    Luci then crawled out and continued to crawl through the aisle like a cat. She passed a middle-aged teacher who was standing by the emergency exit, whispering into his walky-talky. Eventually, the boy in flannel turned around and spotted the teacher calling for help. He directed his gun at the teacher and shot the walky-talky out of his hands. The teacher looked up with fright in his brown eyes, aware that he is defenseless. He moved from the exit and laid his back against the wall. He slid down and sat on the floor, reacting just like every teen in the room.
    "No calls for help," the boy in flannel hollered. "You stay until we leave."
    Since the boys weren't paying attention, Luci decided to stand up when she got near the tables from across. Crawling on the unsanitary floor made her jeans dirty. She observed the teens of one table who all had their heads down. Most of them were wearing lacrosse shorts. A typical clique, Luci though as she walked around the table. She sauntered around more tables, looking at people's scared heads. The students who crouched under their tables filled with puzzlement when they noticed brown boots just wandering around. 
    After eyeing about 5 tables, Luci stopped to watch the two boys whose backs were turned. The boy in flannel heeded a guy in a red varsity jacket who was texting on his cell phone from his lap. The boy in flannel pointed his gun at the wide-eyed athlete who sat up straight. He swiped his phone with his other hand and threw it on the floor. The boy stepped on it, cracking and smashing the phone.
    "What did I say?" he asked. "No calls for help. That includes a text. Stay down!"
    The jock laid his head down and set his hands on the table.
    "If we have to give another warning," shouted the boy in the sweatshirt, "we might have to start shooting."
    Luci wasn't threatened. She still thought the whole thing was funny. So without second thoughts, she began walking towards the two boys. Several of the students who had their heads down could view Luci at a 90 degree angle. She kept walking and walking until she stopped a few inches away from the boy in flannel. He turned around and faced Luci who just stared at him. Even though she was disobeying his rules, she wasn't doing anything really.
    "Hey, sit down," the boy ordered.
    Luci still stood there with the same creepy look on her pretty face.
    "I said sit down."
    No response.
    The boy pointed his gun towards her chest and cocked it. "Do as I say."
    Luci cocked her head but did nothing else.
    The boy in the sweatshirt looked at her then looked at his friend. "What is going on?" he asked with eyes filling with confusion.
    "I don't know," his friend whispered to him. "Who are you?" he questioned Luci.
    She smiled, creating a nervousness inside the boys. They were weakened by the crazed look in her eyes. The boy in flannel grew so anxious that he started to lower his gun in a slow motion.
    The two boys were so deeply distracted that they were easily ambushed by young security guards. Luci stepped back when two guards knocked the boys down into the ground individually. Each of the guards took away the boys' guns and replaced them with handcuffs. They restrained the boys' wrists and picked them up. Then they pushed the defeated boys through the aisles out of the cafeteria.
    When the gunmen were gone, one teenager cheered, making every teenager cheer. Before Luci could go back to her seat, a guy in a basketball uniform ran up to her and grabbed her. He lifted her up and held her like a trophy. Soon, hundreds of students surrounded Luci and clothed her with hosannas. Another guy stood next to the basketball player and helped him place Luci on both of their single shoulders. One girl started chanting her name, causing everyone to do the same. Luci had no reaction to the attention. She looked at everyone with a poker face. Even though she knew her life was going to change, Luci knew in her heart that it wasn't going to last so why enjoy it?