Dibs! (Chapter 5)

After being told by a teacher to report to lunch without any problems, the girls sat at their usual table in the cafeteria with white and brown stains on their shirts and bruises on their faces. They all looked back at Bret who was sitting in a farther table next to his said girlfriend, talking and laughing.
"I can't believe he has a girlfriend," said Madeline.
"I can't believe you ruined my sweater," added Andrea, tugging her shirt. "It's velveteen."
"How come none of us knew this?"
"Maybe we were blinded by his good looks," Debra conceived.
"Looks never looked so good," Lizzie said, almost in a whisper.
"Was the fact that he was actually ours all in our head?" asked Madeline.
"Could be," responded Skye. "Maybe we thought he was hitting on us but in fact... he was just being nice."
"How can nice be so fooling?" asked Lizzie.
"I don't know," replied Madeline. "But I do know that Bret almost tore us apart."
"Almost?" Andrea inquired. "We were just tearing each other apart out there ten minutes ago."
"Fine, it did tear us apart. And that is so lame of us."
"You're right," said Skye. "We're best friends."
"Meaning we shouldn't fight over a guy we barely know," added Lizzie.
"And our bond is stronger than what a boy can provide," Debra included.
"And no matter how hot-hot-hot he is," said Andrea, "friendship is endlessly important."
"Now that is what I'm talking about," said Madeline. "We need to stick together, not disconnect. We only knew Bret for a couple of days and we already thought he was our boyfriends."
"Typical girl problems," said Lizzie.
"Exactly. We've known each other for years and we're fighting over a boy that we've known for seventy-two hours. Even I can admit that is crazy of me and I can't say I'm crazy."
"I can admit that, too."
"Me, too," Debra said.
"I can admit it," Skye agreed.
"I'm crazy all the time so I know that's crazy," Andrea concurred.
"Hey, we can all get a little crazy sometimes," said Madeline. "I mean look at ourselves. We're covered in cupcake."
"And those were gross cupcakes," said Skye.
"Hey, I made them," glared Lizzie.
"Oh, I didn't mean your cupcakes. I meant the cupcakes that I-- I had yesterday. They were gross. But yours-- mmm!"
"Thank you. I can make you some if you want."
"Nah, I'm cool."
"We should hit the bathroom so we can clean this off," recommended Andrea.
"No," Madeline replied. "We should keep this on. Because when we walk out in the usual crowd of people, our stains will become symbols. Symbols of when the going gets tough and the tough gets going. But no matter what, we all need to stick together through thick and thin which we all did."
"That is a good idea!" said Lizzie.
"Yeah, but we can't walk around every day with cupcake stains on our clothing," said Debra. "We'll attract ants."
"I once wore a shirt that had a stain on it. Afterwards, my Aunt Alex had to live with me and my parents for almost a week. I got rid of the shirt and my aunt was gone like magic."
"Uh-huh," Skye nodded with a crack in her voice.
"Girls, let's promise to never fight ever again," said Madeline. "Like can we all agree?"
The girls consented.
"Dibs!" Andrea suddenly shouted as she saw an unknown boy enter the cafeteria. She hopped out of her seat and ran towards to the boy to greet him.
The girls stared at Andrea interacting with the boy, creating a long silence.
To break the silence, Madeline said, "At least she said 'dibs' first."