It's Kim to the rescue!

Just as Lucy was about to completely break down, Kim came up to the front of the line, "Hey girl, what's taking so long?"

"N-None of my..." Lucy started to say.

"Her cards were all declined," Jeff interrupted, talking over her.

"Aw Lucy, I'm sorry," Kim said with a frown, "Here, I'll buy your lunch today. You can pay me back later."

The blonde handed Jeff her own card, which was accepted without difficulty. Lucy sheepishly took her bowl and ice cream and followed Kim to their usual table, "Thanks a lot Kim. I don't know why my cards were all declined."

"Don't worry about it," Kim replied as they sat down, "The last thing I want is for you to go hungry just because you don't have any money."

"That's the thing, I should have had more than enough on all of those cards," Lucy said, "I think there was a glitch either at the bank or the register."

"Yeah, maybe," Kim 'agreed' half-heartedly as she eats her sandwich, "I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. I'm sure everything will work out in the end."

"But he cut up my cards!" Lucy vented, "He even got my driver's license!"

Kim frowned and reached over to put a supportive hand on her friend's shoulder, "Hey, hey, relax... it was probably just an accident. I'm sure if you need it you'll be able to get a replacement no problem. You're just over-emotional because you're hungry."

Kim pushed the bowl of chicken and macaroni closer to Lucy, "Trust me, you'll feel a lot better once your belly's full. Now eat up."

Lucy reached for her bowl, but hesitated when she noticed something.

"Um, Kim, you forgot my silverware," Lucy said.

Kim did her best to look the part of the ditzy blonde, "I did? Oh, sorry... but I don't think anyone would judge you for eating fried chicken with your hands."

"B-But what about the macaroni?" Lucy stammered, "And the ice cream? I need a spoon for those."

Lucy started to get up, but a moment too late it seemed, as there wasn't a spoon or fork to be found at any of the dispensers. In truth, a busboy had already dumped all the remaining silverware from the cart into a plastic tub with the dirty stuff being sent to the kitchen for cleaning and hauled it off while Lucy had been talking to Kim, but Lucy had just managed to miss him.

"Looks like they're out," Kim muttered as she forced a frown to the best of her ability, before whispering to her friend, "I mean, you don't need a spoon, do you? You've got two perfectly good hands to use."

"Are you nuts?" Lucy hissed, "I can't..."

"If you eat it quickly and wipe up afterwords, I'm sure no one will notice," Kim reassured her. A bold-faced lie, as most of the people still in the cafeteria were already keeping an eye on Lucy, sneaking glances in her direction whenever they felt she could get away with it.

Lucy looked down at the bowl in front of her, her stomach gurgling in hunger. Normally she wouldn't even consider such a thing, but she had skipped breakfast that morning, and she was hesitant to throw out two-thirds of her meal before she even tasted it. But could she really risk the humiliation of being caught eating macaroni and ice cream with her hands like an animal?