I walked the line, examining every vegetable with a scrutiny most tweens* reserved for pizza. All around me, other students exclaimed over which mustard they wanted or if they wanted cheese with their chili. My choice lay on the ignored end and I had only moments to make it or I'd face the usual teasing.
"Yo, sis."
My twin, Caleb, jerked his head at a steaming pot of chili. “ewww... “ my lips lifted on one side. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a vegetarian but when it comes to a red frank nestled inside a soft white bun, there was only one way I went.
"Give it a try," he said.
He arched an eyebrow. The aw-come-on-sis-you're-such-a-wuss look almost made me give his way a try. As I took a step in his direction, I remembered what Dad said the night Mom made watery canned chili.
"This looks like what the kids used to do in their diapers."
"Yuck," I muttered under my breath.
Gripping my tray, I inched past sauces, cheeses, meats, and other oddball toppings. One turned my stomach.
Who likes cream cheese, mashed potato chips, and olives?
To my amazement, the boy in front of me scooped three mounds of the mess onto his hot dog. He picked up a bottle of hot sauce and drenched everything until red rivers ran across his tray.
"Gross to the extreme," I grumbled.
The kids around me moved so slowly I didn't think I'd have a chance to eat. One by one, the ones in front of me pulled away. At last I stood before what Caleb called rabbit food.
Peppers of every variety and color beckoned. Red and green tomatoes offered sweetness, and the servers had cut them into wedges, perfect for a frame between the hot dog and bun. Yellow, reddish-purple, and white onions sent out pungent aromas. Those and many other vegetables promised to send me into Hot Dog Heaven.
With shaking hands, I reached for the tomatoes to alternate them with cucumbers. I looked up when strange fingers touched mine.
"Oh!" My soft exclamation didn't penetrate the lunchroom chatter. To my surprise, Amy Wilkins stood across from me and she wanted what I did.
"I didn't know you liked vegetables on your hot dog," Amy said.
"They're the only thing that tastes good."
To prove my point, I set about creating a cradle for the rest of my usual toppings. She exchanged tongs with me as we did the cucumbers and tomatoes then added chopped onions, three kinds of peppers, olives, sweet and sour pickles, and coleslaw. For the final step, we ladled olive oil and vinegar dressing over everything.
Our hot dogs properly dressed, we strutted across the cafeteria and sat at a table near the door. I'd always preferred it for a fast exit but today, I wanted everyone to see us eating our treats. If one of the guys decided to give me a hard time, I'd stare them down.
"This is heaven," Amy said. "I wish I'd known you liked your hot dogs like this, Cindy. You could have joined our club when you started here this year."
No snicker came from a group of boys to the right. For the first time since my family and I had moved here two days before school started, I didn't feel like an outsider.
"Thanks." I chomped into the first delectable bite. The deliciousness of the vegetables combined with the steamed hot dog. Dressing only made everything taste better. As I chewed, I wondered what kind of club Amy meant, but she wasn't talking since she'd just taken as big a bite as me. We ate in companionable silence for a few minutes until Mary Sinestro, James Watkins, and Barb Tinker joined us. Their franks had the same toppings as ours.
"Hey, who knew the new kid liked veggies on her hot dog?" James exclaimed. "Welcome to the club."
I managed a huh before going for the second bite. It tasted every bit as good as the first.
"None of us like the usual toppings," Barb explained before diving into hers.
"So we made up this club," Mary said. "It's called Hot Dog with Veggies Lovers. That way, the others can't give us a hard time."
"The HDVLs," James said. "Everyone thinks it's some great club but we never tell them how they can join."
A swallow let me answer. "Sounds great. Is there anyone else in the club?"
"Nah," Amy said. "The rest of the sixth grade are a bunch of idiots."
We laughed and I settled into eating the sweet potato chips. My new friends, I noticed, had the same thing on their plate. Funnily enough, we'd all picked paprika instead of ketchup.
The cafeteria noise rose but at our table, silence reigned as we ate our meal. Hot dogs with veggies, coleslaw, and salad dressing got soggy quick. We didn't have time to talk about the latest pop quiz or who'd thrown a spitball in science.
Right as we all popped the last bite into our mouths, another tray clunked against the table. "I couldn't get chili." The words came from Caleb. "They made it with turkey. Can you imagine ruining good chili with turkey? Gross!"
I peeked at him as he reached for a cucumber supporting a mass of vegetables on his hot dog. "Don't do that." My voice was no louder than the rest of my friends but we had to instruct this newbie to vegetable-topped hot dogs into the worst horror.
"Why not?" Caleb asked.
"Everything will fall out," I explained.
The others nodded their agreement. Caleb picked up his hot dog, shoved half into his mouth, and chewed. His face changed from angry at not getting his favorite topping to absolute bliss in a second. As soon as he swallowed, he lifted the hot dog again.
"Sis, you should have told me sooner how great this was."
"Like I didn't try," I retorted.
We finished lunch and a discussion launched. Should we go back for another or hang out in the gym until fifth block?
"Are there any HDVLs in second lunch?" I asked.
"Never thought about it," Mary said. "We're the only ones in first lunch but the servers always put out tons of veggies."
"Maybe." Amy looked around the cafeteria. "I wonder who they are?"
"We can always ask," Barb suggested.
Caleb finished his hot dog and licked his fingers. "I want another."
I looked at the clock. We had thirty minutes before the bell rang. My new friends nodded. Laughing, we ran back to the line to load another dog. Caleb beat all of us there and threatened to use up all the cucumbers and tomatoes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
|