The Lunch Special
By Noel Buwan
It has to be me, it has to be! Maeanne crossed her fingers inside her desk.
If she was chosen, she had the chance of being noticed by Joshua, the cutest and cleanest boy in fifth grade.
Finally, Maeanne heard her teacher Ms. Han call her name. She perked up with bright eyes. She was going to be a cafeteria kid! To be a “cafeteria kid”—the label for students assigned to lunch duty—meant a chance to be like the “cafeteria adults”—the widely admired staff who managed the cafeteria. To most fifth graders, being a cafeteria kid meant getting to leave class early. To Maeanne, though, it was more than that; instead of watching Joshua talk to other pretty girls from afar on the playground, she would get to see him up close from the other side of the lunch line.
“Please leave thirty minutes before lunch time,” Ms. Han told Maeanne and the other students who were chosen to be cafeteria kids. This bunch included Maeanne’s best friend Karina. She gave Maeanne her signature thumbs up from across the room. Three other boys were chosen, a rambunctious crew Maeanne and Karina labeled as “the kickball boys.” They took kickball too seriously—screaming and tackling each other as if they were competing in the major league. One time after recess, one of them tried saying “hi” to Maeanne as the class lined up to go inside. Maeanne nearly gagged. He reeked of sweaty socks. Karina, while pinching her own nose, shielded her from him. Luckily, the other two were too busy fighting over who would bring in the kickball.
Maeanne didn’t bother to look at them when Ms. Han called their names.
Ms. Han proceeded to today’s math lesson, something about fractions. But Maeanne didn’t pay attention. Her mind was already imagining her interaction with Joshua. Would he notice her? Would he say “hi”? Maybe smile, or compliment her new haircut? After all, her mom took her to the salon yesterday so that she could get the same bangs the pretty fifth grade girls had. Well, she knew her real chance could only happen if she was assigned to a visible station on the lunch line. That fate was up to the head cafeteria adult Ms. Lydia.
Maeanne once again crossed her fingers inside her desk. Just one chance!
Soon, the analog clock on the wall read 11:30 am. Ms. Han gave Maeanne and the rest of the cafeteria kids one quick glance as she broke down the steps for making the fractions have the same denominator. That look was their signal. Soon, the cafeteria kids were walking along the outdoor hallway’s concrete path toward the cafeteria.
“We get to work together!” Karina said to Maeanne. She then pointed at her bangs and added, “By the way, your new look’s really cute!”
“Thanks!” Maeanne said as she patted her bangs down on her forehead. “I’m glad you noticed.”
“Of course I would notice!” Karina said. “And I think more people will too.” She winked at Maeanne.
Maeanne blushed. “Well, if I’m not assigned behind the milk fridge, maybe they will.”
“Yeah, the milk fridge is too cold,” one of the kickball boys said, the sweaty socks one. Maeanne and Karina ignored him. The other two kickball boys filled in the awkward silence.
They soon piled in through the cafeteria’s side entrance, which was the same one the cafeteria staff got to use. With her lunch duty status and new haircut, Maeanne felt confident she would stand out to Joshua. Her cheeks brightened with anticipation as she washed her hands and put on her lunch duty gear: a pair of clear plastic gloves, a white mesh apron, and a white mesh hair net. When it came to the hair net, though, Maeanne’s high spirits fell. She tried to keep her bangs straight down, but the hair net’s elastic band made her look like a mop.
Just my luck.
As Maeanne fidgeted with her hair net in front of the backroom mirror, one of the cafeteria adults, a stout middle-aged woman named Ms. Yolanda, told Maeanne that she could fix Maeanne’s bangs for her after their shift ended.
“Is that okay, sweetie?” Ms. Yolanda said.
Maeanne pouted.
Ms. Yolanda glanced at the clock. She then tried adjusting Maeanne’s bangs inside her hair net. When Ms. Yolanda was done, Maeanne looked at her reflection. Her bangs now looked similar to the hair on the Pringles mascot, minus the mustache.
“How’s that for now?” Ms. Yolanda asked.
“It’s good,” Maeanne replied with a smile, trying to conceal the bitter reluctance in her voice. “Thanks, Ms. Yolanda.”
The analog clock that hung on the wall facing the lunch line showed fifteen minutes before lunch. The moment of truth had arrived.
Ms. Lydia gathered everyone together in the backroom. She assigned everyone to their stations. “The stations will be in this order, so listen carefully, kids. Marco will be on milk, Dennis will be on chicken sandwiches, Maeanne on smiley fries, Luke on mac and cheese, Karina on fruit cups, and Ms. Yolanda will be there to help each of you as needed. I’ll handle the checkout at the end of the line.” Ms. Lydia raised her fist in the air. “Are we ready to knock out the Monday lunch rush?”
“Yeah!” Everyone cheered and raised their fists in the air too.
“Fantastic! Let’s do this!” Ms. Lydia said.
Maeanne, shaking off her earlier disappointment, smiled as she poised herself behind the warm tray of smiley fries. Sure, she may not look as perfect with her new hair as she had envisioned, but Joshua would understand, right? It was cafeteria kid protocol after all. Plus, she had been assigned the station that came after the chicken sandwiches—the ideal spot. It was near the center of the lunch line, which meant no big equipment would block her and everyone on the other side could see her.
I’ll definitely get to see him now.
As the minutes ticked by, Maeanne put exactly four pieces of smiley fries into each small carton box and neatly lined them up on the counter. At the same time, she played out imaginary scenarios between her and Joshua—things like a wink and a wave.
“Your station looks perfect, Maeanne!” Ms. Lydia said as she checked each station one last time before lunch began. “Dennis, line up your trays the way Maeanne does. You’ll fit more trays on your station that way.”
“Yes Ms. Lydia,” Dennis said in a defeated voice. Maeanne glanced at him and noticed he was the kickball boy with sweaty socks. She sniffed the air around her. Fortunately, the usual grease-tinged air of the cafeteria was the only thing she smelled.
It was now 12:05 pm, a few minutes past the start of lunch time. Maeanne looked out through the open doorway. Her class was the first one to arrive.
I’ll practice my smile on others before he gets here.
When her classmates greeted her and took smiley fries from her station, Maeanne beamed as naturally and brightly as she could. While she did, she fantasized about her fateful moment with Joshua: she would scoot a fresh box of smiley fries towards him and he would smile back.
It’ll be perfect!
Waves of classes soon floated down the lunch line and disappeared into the lunch room. As she pushed out refill after refill, Maeanne became less conscious of her thoughts and surroundings.
At last, Joshua’s class arrived. Maeanne broke out of her trance when his face came into view. Joshua was near the front half of the line, talking to two boys who stood in front of him. Maeanne felt her cheeks grow hot.
This is it! I can do this!
But her fantasies went poof! in an instant.
There were only three servings of smiley fries left on the station and nearly twenty more students to feed. She had lost track of her supply of smiley fries! As a cafeteria kid, Maeanne was required to tell Ms. Yolanda to get the next tray from the warmer when 25% of the current batch in the tray was left. Her tray contained zero smiley fries. Her eyes searched for Ms. Yolanda. She was helping Karina unpack a new box of fruit cups.
If only they would hurry! Maeanne thought.
“Did you run out?”
Maeanne jerked at sweaty-socks kickball boy’s interjection. “Y-yeah.”
He didn’t look up from his task with the chicken sandwiches. “You know she’s right there, right?”
“I do, but she looks busy with Karina.”
“You still have to.”
“I know, but—”
“Ms. Yolanda! Maeanne’s out of smiley fries.”
The eyes of the cafeteria adults, the cafeteria kids, and some of the incoming students zeroed in on Maeanne and sweaty-socks kickball boy.
Maeanne's frantic eyes scanned their blank faces, including Joshua’s. He was currently next to the milk fridge, and the pace of the lunch line wasn’t slowing down.
She wanted to duck and hide. No no no, this is embarrassing!
“Really?” Ms. Yolanda said as she looked at sweaty-socks kickball boy and then over at Maeanne’s empty station. “I’ll get it for you right now, Maeanne.” She then turned to Karina. “Will you be okay unpacking the rest?”
Karina gave Ms. Yolanda a thumbs up. She then gave Maeanne a thumbs up, which Maeanne knew translated to, “No worries friend! I’ll be okay!” Maeanne sighed with relief and reciprocated with a look of gratitude.
While Ms. Yolanda went to the warmer, Maeanne smiled awkwardly and stood with her hands folded in front of her.
Stay cool, she repeated in her mind.
The first few students from Joshua’s class had taken the remaining smiley fries from her station. A handful of them, Joshua included, were forced to skip her empty station since Ms. Lydia told them to keep the line moving.
A boy standing behind Joshua said, “What? No more fries? Lame!” He sneered at Maeanne. “Worst cafeteria kid ever!”
The corners of her smile dimmed. Joshua looked at her as the boy said this. She couldn’t tell if Joshua was also annoyed or disappointed or worse—judging her.
“Then just eat mac and cheese!” sweaty-socks kickball boy said to the boy behind Joshua.
“And fill up on fruit!” Karina added in a friendlier voice.
Maeanne looked at her fellow cafeteria kids and then at the boy and Joshua. The boy rolled his eyes and ignored both of them. Joshua’s face remained unreadable.
What seemed like five hours to Maeanne was actually less than five minutes. Ms. Yolanda returned with the new tray of smiley fries and Maeanne soon continued serving. After the last few students got their lunches, it was finally time for the cafeteria kids to have lunch, too. As they removed their lunch duty gear in the backroom, Ms. Yolanda helped Maeanne tidy her hair, just as she had promised. Maeanne looked in the mirror as Ms. Yolanda gently brushed Maeanne's bangs with a pocket comb. Sure, she may have gone back to looking perfect, but she felt far from it.
Maeanne trailed behind the cafeteria kids as they filed out of the side entrance and returned to the lunch line through the open doorway. Ms. Lydia complimented each of them as they punched in their pin number at the checkout station. “Good job today, Marco! Great job for keeping the sandwiches going, Dennis, but try not to talk back at other students. Getting better at scooping, Luke. Nicely done as always, Karina! You too, Maeanne. And remember to always ask for help when you need it!”
Maeanne nodded but kept her head down as she punched her pin number on the keypad. A mix of regret, disappointment, and embarrassment sank into the darkest depths of her chest. She blundered her lunch duties and her moment with Joshua! Sure, she daydreamed of standing out to him, but not like this.
“You know Maeanne, it’s okay for things to not go perfectly,” Ms. Lydia said in a soft, cheerful voice. “It happens to the best of us, even me.”
From the other side of the lunch line, Ms. Yolanda pushed an extra box of smiley fries toward Maeanne. “Take it honey, you deserve it. I saw how you smiled when you served the students, even when you ran out. That’s a good skill to have, especially when you get older like us!” She and Ms. Lydia chuckled. Maeanne looked up at both of them with awe and admiration.
I was just like them? Maeanne’s face brightened as she placed the extra box of smiley fries on her tray. “Thank you,” Maeanne said, smiling.
She entered the cafeteria’s seating area. She spotted Joshua joking around with the same two boys who stood in front of him in line and a girl from a different fifth grade class. Joshua had snatched a smiley fry from the girl’s tray and bit into it. The girl began to complain and demand the other two boys to do something about the theft. It was the first time Maeanne saw a girl without bangs hang out with Joshua. Maeanne couldn’t help but stare.
Joshua suddenly stared back at her. He made a slight, unmocking grin as he held up half-eaten fry in his hand.
Is he showing it to me? Maeanne felt a light tug in her chest.
“Don’t be mean to your cousin, Joshua,” one of the boys said. “Let her eat her fries.”
Ahh, that’s how it is. Maeanne’s mouth curled up on its own. Maybe Ms. Lydia was right. Maybe it was okay, because then…
“Hey Maeanne! Over here!”
Maeanne looked around the cafeteria. Karina was waving at her and pointing at the empty seat next to her. Another genuine smile stretched across Maeanne’s face. She couldn’t wait to tell her about the luck that came her way.
As Maeanne walked toward Karina’s table, her mind replayed Joshua’s grin. That was for me! It was real and just for me!
A tap on her shoulder snapped her out of her latest fantasy. When she turned around, she was surprised to see sweaty—no, that wasn’t his name.
For the first time, she examined Dennis’ appearance. No dirt streaks on his shirt. No stench coming from his feet. His face was decent, but nothing special like Joshua’s. He seemed gentler than usual, though.
“Did you get in trouble?” Dennis asked her, gripping his tray and avoiding her eyes.
“No,” she replied. Why would he care?
“Good.”
A brief silence brewed in between them. Maeanne wanted to leave. As she began to turn away from him, Dennis looked at her tray and said, “Oh, you got extra fries?”
Maeanne nodded.
“You must’ve been really good at your job today.”
Was he being sarcastic? Maeanne squinted at him.
“I mean—” Dennis stuttered.
Oh okay, he wasn’t.
“I-I got scolded unlike you, so—”
Maeanne tried to conceal her impatience. “Yeah, the cafeteria adults said I did.”
“Good.” He looked like he was going to say something else, but his mouth scrunched up instead.
Maybe he wants some fries too, Maeanne thought, so she put half of the smiley fries from her extra box onto Dennis’ tray. “For helping me earlier.”
Dennis blinked. “Oh uh, thanks. I, um, wait—”
But Maeanne didn’t wait. She had already turned around and was on her way to sit with Karina.
**Author's Note: Please note that no part of this 100% original, human-produced text may be used or reproduced in any manner for the purpose of literary/creative theft and/or the training of any AI technologies/systems. Please support human creativity!
© March 3, 2026. Revised May 8, 2026. Noel Buwan. All Rights Reserved.