The Courtship of Cerridwen Circe Whitethorn
Chapter 2: Lunch Date

If you've ever watched any romantic anime you're bound to see one more scene where the main couple share a huge homemade lunch box at school. Normally it's somewhere private, away from the busy hustle and bustle of the main school. Normally they share their lunch either on the roof of the school or in a deserted classroom. Another popular scene is the two will often share an umbrella on rainy days. Often while holding hands. Sharing an umbrella is another one of those classic anime tropes.

I often think my life is just that, an anime, a slice of life anime with elements of the supernatural thrown in to be more precise. I'll give you an example: I'm a witch, I come from a long line of witches, my mother is a witch, my grandmother was a witch, her mother was a witch. My dad is a warlock too. I also live in the countryside, the area that surrounds my house is mostly used to grow rice, yes rice is grown here in the hill country of Mississippi along with other such stables as cotton, soybeans, corn, winter wheat, and ryegrass.

I also have a crush or a possible future boyfriend who is gender fluid and our relationship is often the subject of the school's gossip mill. I sometimes wish people would just leave us alone, but nine times out of ten most people are cheering for us to get together and become an official “Couple” by having Daisy ask me to attend one of the many formal dances held throughout the year.

But to be honest, I'm not sure either of us were ready for that. Anyway it was lunch time at Benton Academy, the hallways were filled with students rushing toward the cafeteria. Now the food at Benton academy leaves much to be desired, its bland, tasteless, often cold and sometimes even raw. Chief Jordon Ramasy would have a field day whipping our cooks into shape. I would even pay money to see that. I could see it now, Benton Academy being featured on the newest PBS Show “ Cafeteria Nightmares”.

I had peeked at the menu for lunch during breakfast and knew today would be meatloaf, mashed potatoes, collard greens, a side salad with your choice of dress, and finally your choice of either a cornbread muffin or a roll, beverages included either milk or water. But if you had two dollars to your name you could buy a coke-cola from one of the vending machines outside.

That sounds pretty nice right? Wrong, let me tell you this, the meatloaf would be cold, greasy and floating in a horrible brownish water they will try to pass off as gravy. The meat would act like a sponge and soak up this horrible mixture, so you'll be tasting it in every bite. The mashed potatoes would taste like rubber. Good luck trying to swallow that stuff. It would be like trying to swallow a rubber ball, and would taste like one too. And when it comes out, may God have mercy on your soul. You'll break your tooth on the cornbread muffin and you can shatter a window pane with the roll. The water would taste like it was strained through a dirty gym sock, and the milk would be warm and watery.

In short you would be better off chewing on the grass that grows out by the field house than trying to eat that stuff. You come to Benton Academy to learn the classics, to study such high minded subjects such as Latin Western Civilization, The Bible, The sciences, and The Classics. You do not come to get feed.

Anyway to get around this, and to save some money on lunch fees, I decided to start bringing a lunch to school each day. And well when Daisy and I became an item we decided to start having lunch together. In classic anime fashion we decided to have our private lunch time in the new nurses office. Our new school nurse was a young woman named Dawn Sharbrough who had replaced the aging Nurse Miller.

Nurse Sharbrough was a young nurse who had just finished her nursing degree no more than a year or so ago. It was funny, Nurse Sharbrough had graduated from Manchester Academy, the biggest rival Benton Academy ever had. Funny in my sick sense of humor. She was also like me, and often took her own lunch in the nurse's office too and would often watch over Daisy and I as we ate. In a way I'm glad she was there. I mean I trusted Daisy not to try anything with me, and he never really flirted with me, it was I who would often flirt and tease him.

Anyway having a member of staff there was helpful, just in case the other members of staff wanted to raise a fuss. And Nurse Sharbrough was well, you see she was often too busy working on her manuscript to pay much attention to what Daisy and I were doing. I think she dreamed of becoming a published light novelist and was working on an Isekai called “Chronicles of Sea Breeze”.

According to Dawn, she was making good headway and expected to finish the first volume soon. She hoped to self publish it and see some copies at a local anime convention. She was also tinkering with a sequel or a side story. That's pretty cool I guess.

Anyway, returning to the story, it was lunch time and I was now walking up the stairs that connected the lower part of the school with the upper part. You see the nurse's office is located on the second floor, kind of between the first and third floor of the school. It used to be located on the bottom floor, but last summer, the summer of my Freshman year, they decided to remodel a few of the unused classrooms on the second floor and make them into a proper nurses office, instead of having the nurses office being located in an old, mostly discharged broom closet.

Anyway I soon reached the door that would lead me into the nurse's office. You could tell this was the door because unlike the other doors of the school that were painted a dull gray color, this one was pure white with a red cross in the middle. I still debate the wisdom of having a sick student climb a flight of stairs to get to a nurses office, but whatever. Anyway I knocked upon the door and from the other side I heard Dawn Calling out.

“Just a moment please!” She called out a moment later as she was opening the door. And for a good long moment she peered out at me. Her brown eyes seemed confused and she seemed space. At last she noticed the brown bag I was holding in my hands.

“Oh!” She said, smiling a little. “Lunch time!” She said holding the door open for me. “Daisy is getting everything set up for you.” She said moving to the side. “And don't mind me, I'm working on the ninth chapter of Sea Breeze.” She added.

“Cool!” I said as I moved, the moment I moved in the room was the moment I was hit with the smell of Lysol Disinfectant spray and Clorox Bleach. Pretty much how I expected a nurses office to smell. A few more steps and I was nearing the little table that Dawn had set up for us. And then I laid eyes on Daisy and I could feel my cheeks starting to turn a beat red.

“Hey.” He said blushing as he looked up from the book he was reading. I think it was one of the 'Wheel of Time' books. I knew Daisy was a huge fan of Robert Jordan. He folded the book down and pushed a small red and white can of coke cola across the table.

“Cool.” I said, smirking a little, I loved seeing him blush. “I brought your lunch, so you don't starve today or pass out from hunger during P.E.” I said smiling as I held up the brown paper bag. “Today you're having a skillet hamburger, on a toasted all wheat bun, what a side of golden flake cheese puffs.” I said smirking again as I reached into the brown sack and pulled out a foil wrapped hamburger. I tossed it to him and he caught it.

“Thanks.” He said.

“You know, you two need to hurry up and make it official, because you're both just too cute together.” Dawn chimed in as she smiled toward Daisy and I.

At that very moment I felt like Dawn had just picked a heavy iron frying pan and had slapped me right across the face with it. I was shocked, speechless, my mind was totally blank. I peered at Dawn, who just giggled as she peered toward me. It seemed as though she could read my thoughts through my face and that caused her to giggle more, almost like a mad woman. Daisy though seemed lost as always, lost for words or more focused on the foil wrapped hamburger in front of him.

“Not this again!” I said rolling my eyes as I started to unwrap my own hamburger. Once the hamburger was unwrapped I took a big bite out of it and sighed. It tasted pretty good I guess, but it was nothing compared the hamburgers mom makes at home. I guess that was common though for a daughter to compare her cooking and talents with her mother's. After all is not the mother who is the measure stick that she uses to measure her own success? Don't son's use their fathers as measuring sticks too, to measure their own success?

“What?” Dawn said, taking a deep breath as she looked up from her own lunch. “You guys have been talking for like the whole summer. Sure you guys might have had a little summer fling and stuff.” Dawn added. “But I want you to know that other girls are taking a closer, and harder look at Daisy, he's one of the few boys in school that manage to maintain a high grade point average and hold down a steady job at Sunflower as a courtesy clerk.” Dawn paused. “Comes from a good family, and is also the nephew of the town's Episcopal Priest.. or niece depending on the day.”

Daisy seemed hyper focused on his food to notice that Dawn and I were talking about him, and the way Dawn was going on it sounded like she was trying to sell me a used car or something. God I swear that boy could be so clueless at times, I swear he would walk out in front of a speeding truck and end up getting Isekai'd into another world as well as a flat pancake on the blacktop.

“I'm just saying.” Dawns said. “That something should really happen soon. You two guys are just so perfect for each other. Okay one for one.” She said holding up one finger. “You guys both love anime, manga, and light novels. So that gives you something to bond over.” She held up another finger. “Two, you guys both want to attend an anime convention this autumn and maybe cosplay as your favorite character. I'm a cosplayer. And trust me its fun, it's even funnier if you do it with your boyfriend.”

“Ms. Sharbrough!” I exclaimed. “That's going too far! Daisy and I are just friends!” I paused. “I do like him though and I like spending time with him,” I added as I looked away.

“Honey, did anyone ever tell you that you have to be friends first before you become girlfriend and boyfriend.” Dawn said with a smile.

“True!” I said. “But I have so many questions to deal with first, like how would his older sister deal with it. I mean I've met his two older sisters before! But from what I can tell one is a bit odd and the other is a pure fire breather.” I added.

“And his mom!” I never met his mother before, or his father, I mean, I at least want to meet them before coming out to the world as Daisy's boyfriend. And another thing too, he's gender fluid, one day it's male pronouns and the other female pronouns.” I felt my voice starting to drag a little. The more I thought about it the more confused I became.

First things first, the pronoun thing is something you need to work out between you two.” Dawn said with a sigh. “There is no easy answer to that question, but it's a question only answered in time.” She paused again. “Second, as a distant cousin to the Bell family. My family farms cotton and owns a towing company out of Yazoo City. Our two families are kind of connected if you will. Anyway, Aunt Isabella will love you girl, and Susan and Linda would just adopt you as a new little sister. The family might have money, but their far from being toffee nose.” Dawn Added.

“Wow. So you're kin to the Bell Family?”

“And the Ford Family, and the Brewer families.” Dawn said with a sign. “It's a tangled web, don't ask me to untangle it for you. Because then we'll be here well into the night.”

“Uh, Pardon me?” Daisy said, “But Cerridwen your cooking has really gotten a lot better since we started sharing our lunches together.” He quickly added.

I wheeled around and noticed that in front of Daisy there was a crumpled up ball of tin foil, an empty blue, gold, and white bag of golden flake chips and an empty soda can.

“But I do have a question for you Cerridwen.” Daisy stood up and walked around the table. “Something I've been meaning to ask you for a very long time. Something that has taken me a while to work up the courage to ask you.” And with that he got down on one knee and took his hand into mine.

Dawn blinked and I blinked.

“HEY YOU'RE BOTH STILL IN HIGHSCHOOL. MARRIAGE CAN WAIT TILL YOUR BOTH AT LEAST EIGHTEEN!” Dawn yelled as she stood up, causing Daisy and I to look at her, her loud, booming voice filled the room and echoed down the hallway, down the stairs and through the aged brick walls. I'm sure every ghost in the schoolhouse stopped what they were doing, and shifted their heads toward the nurses office. I'm sure they were wondering what in the world was transpiring up stairs at this very moment.

“I..” Daisy seemed like he was beyond shock. His face turned beat red and his tongue twisted in his mouth. “I was going to ask her out to the movies this Saturday.” He said looking like Dawn hat reached over and picked up a heavy iron skillet and had just slapped him dead across the face with it. I was still shocked too.

“Oh..” Dawn said, blinking as she sat back down.

“Nurse Dawn.” I said smiling. “I think you've been reading one too many of those cheesy light novels again...” I said forcing a giggle, my face too was beat red. I then looked down at Daisy and smiled, the boy looked so scared, like he was standing on egg shells as he waited for me to say yes or no.

“Yes.” I said. “I would love to go out with you this Saturday.” I said finally. It seemed summer puppy love was starting to blossom into real love.. mature love I think. The kind of relationship that Jamie enjoyed with Ben or Madeline enjoyed with Matthew or maybe even the kind of hot and spicy relationship Taylor enjoyed with Caspar.

“Hey, at least this is a step in the right direction at least.” Dawn said. “Also hurry up and eat Cerridwen, lunch is almost over!”

And that was the end of that. I felt another foot of road had been laid in the long, winding road of courtship. A road that I hoped would lead me to the high altar of St. Andrew's church one day. And from there, only the Gods and Goddesses knew. But one thing was for certain. I still had a long, rocky road to travel.