What happens in the lunchroom in Chapter 7?

In Chapter Seven, we learn that the school's lunches are delicious but the cafeteria is small and Patina can never find a place to sit. Instead, she walks laps around the room, eating as she goes. She tries to make it look as if she has somewhere to go. She has it timed so that she makes ten laps around the room, finishing as the bell rings. She is only on her second lap on this day when Becca summons her, asks why she never sits down, and makes room at her table. Patina's first instinct is that it may be some sort of trick or joke, but she takes the seat and it is not.