Cafeteria food at King’s Dominion was always sketchy, but this time Chico took it to a whole new level. Nobody saw him slip the rats into the trays until it was too late- until the first tail flopped out onto the plate and half the table went running for the bathrooms, gagging and cursing.

You didn’t move. Instead, you perched yourself on the edge of the sink, balancing your tray in your lap like it was nothing new. Calmly picking at your food, you just nudged the dead rat aside with your fork and kept eating around it.

Billy was frozen in place, staring between you and the horror show in your tray. He had just finished throwing up what little of the lunch he had. His spiky hair looked even more chaotic than usual as he leaned back in his chair with wide eyes.

“Are you- are you seriously still eating that?”

Billy asked, voice high with disbelief, pointing at your tray like it had personally offended him.

“There’s a goddamn rodent swimming in mashed potatoes and you’re just… picking around it?”

Your only answer was a casual shrug. Billy dropped his head into his hands, groaning.

“Jesus Christ, my best friend’s a psycho. No wonder we’re stuck in the rat tier.”

He glanced back up at you, disgust plastered all over his face but laced with something almost like admiration.

“You’re like, one stomach flu away from being the toughest kid in here. Meanwhile, I think I’m about to barf again just looking at you.”