Free Just Like Me by Dani Hall

you’ll eat tomorrow night.” I gave her a death glare, and finally got in line for a grilled cheese sandwich. She stayed in line with me.
    “You want a sandwich?” I asked, looking unconvinced at her.
    “Sure.”
    “You don’t like cheese.”
    “I’m staying with you, alright?”
    “We’ll get in another line for whatever you want to eat.” I promised, stepping up and taking a sandwich and putting in my to-go box. I stepped over to the green beans and piled them on my plate, then added macaroni and cheese. Odd selections, but hey, it’s what I like.
    I then turned and followed Lisa as she grabbed fried chicken, fries, and corn.
    “Starch, starch, starch.” I muttered, as we made our way over to the fountain drinks. She shrugged, putting her cup up and getting some sweet tea. I grabbed water. Curse her and her amazing metabolism.
    “You’re a weirdo for not drinking soda.”
    “Out of all the things in the past couple of hours, I don’t think this is my weirdest quality.” I fenced.
    “Good point.”
    We capped our drinks, grabbed utensils, and made our way to the exit.
    “So far, so good.” She whispered.
    We pushed our way back through the cafeteria door and out into the lobby, quickly walked out of the building and onto the sidewalk. Students were crammed in the building, standing in line at the smoothie spot, gossiping in the hall, playing video games. In this room, it was hard to believe I was even in college. The way everyone was having a good time, you’d think this was just a hangout spot. Not a university lounge.
    “She didn’t even look at your I.D.!” She whispered excitedly, as we finally hit fresh air. I love Lisa, but I really wish she’d try to hold her excitement sometimes.
    “Lisa…”
    “No one’s paying attention to you.” She muttered, picking up her pace along the sidewalk. We passed building after building until finally making it to the coffee house, which was next to the pond and bridge. There were trees that lined the pond, dying from the upcoming cold. Leaves scattered around the painted brick sidewalk, the last crumbles of their lives blowing in the wind. Tables lined in between the coffee house and the pond, we sat at a middle one.
    We popped open our boxes, sighing with relief. My hoodie was getting uncomfortable on top of my head in the warm weather. I rolled up my sleeves and grabbed for a fork. I speared a green bean while Lisa started for her fries.
    “So much starch. Fries and corn? And not to mention the batter on that chicken.”
    “Shu uh.” She sprayed, her mouth full of ketchup and saliva soaked fries. Ugh.
    “Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to talk with your mouth open?”
    She opened her lips wide, revealing the contents of her mouth.
    “Real mature, Lisa.”
    She giggled evilly, finally swallowing her food. She started pushing corn around on her plate.
    “So what are you going to do tomorrow on your date?”
    I glared at her.
    “What? You could be on a date with anyone, with those shades on.”
    “We need a code name.” I said, nibbling a bite of sandwich. Some of the crust was burnt. Yuck.
    “Yea, good idea.” She chewed on fried chicken, looking towards the sky. When she looked up she was thinking hard. “How about Mr. Black?”
    “Did you just pull that out of your ass?”
    “No. I did a relation thing.” She rubbed grease off from the chicken on her napkin. “Je-umm. The last name…compared to planes. Planes are white. White is the opposite of black. So…Mr. Black.”
    “Lisa…how can you describe black?”
    “Off black, pitch black…je-“ She stopped herself before she said it. “Oh. Well, that’s a lot closer relation. What about this. He plays a zombie right.”
    I widened my eyes at her, unable to believe she just blurted that out.
    “Sorry, but he’s like a dude that raises himself from the dead. So he’s Jesus.” She shrugged, happy with her conclusion. “Call him Jesus.”
    “Sure, I’m going to go see