The kid who sat by himself

Giancarlo, better known as the kid who sat by himself, was a kid who always sat by himself in the cafeteria at lunch.

A couple of years into high school, Josh and Jared had a pretty regular spot for eating lunch, always at the back left of the cafeteria with their drama classmates. Once a group of students had established a lunch spot, they pretty much stuck to it, and the guys had more or less memorized where everyone ate every day.

One day, they noticed a student they had never seen before seated at a table right in the middle of the cafeteria. He was skinny and Latino, with slicked back, gelled hair and glasses – and he was all alone.

In fact, not only was his table completely empty, so were all the tables surrounding his. He just sat there on his own island, eating a sandwich, slowly looking around.

Josh and Jared always noticed interesting characters like that, but this guy in particular stood out.

Notably, the kid often wore a graphic T-shirt that read, “Here I am, now what are your other two wishes?” Jared was puzzled; it seemed odd for someone who never spoke to anyone at all to walk around displaying such a bold and cocky message. Josh figured the kid's mom simply bought him the shirt without even reading it.

Over the coming weeks, the kid continued to sit by himself in that same spot in the middle of the cafeteria. Nobody ever talked to him. On the rare occasions people did sit at his table, it was just because it happened to be available, not because they knew him. These students did not interact with the kid, even if they sat right next to him.

Josh grew bothered. He couldn't get past how the kid would always just look around, almost as though he was feeling sorry for himself. He wanted to do something.

One day, Josh went over, sat down next to the kid, and introduced himself. He pretended he recognized him from middle school and was just saying hello. To Josh's surprise, the kid was completely unfazed by the sudden visitor and didn't react very much at all. He introduced himself as Giancarlo.

From that point on, Josh and Jared didn't pay much more attention to the kid, but they never forgot about him. In fact, he was memorialized on the Still Home for the Day track, “Why You Sittin By Yourself.”

Strangely, the kid was never seen anywhere in the school other than the cafeteria. Nobody knew which of the school's academies he was in, either.

Toward the end of their high school careers, Giancarlo seemed to actually make friends and was occasionally seen eating in the cafeteria with other people. This pissed Josh and Jared off.  ❒

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