The Notebook
III
Rosa
Garcia maneuvered her newly enlarged body into the ladies restroom, not
noticing the occupied stall. The
cheerleading co-captain saw her reflection in the mirror with her newly rounded
oval face looking back on the verge of tears.
The
“Yeah,
I’m fat,”
Anna
Marie stuttered, “How? When did this happen to you?” then glancing over
“Listen,
just because you snagged Scott Hansen you don’t have to gloat,”
“Before Tuesday, how do you remember me? Figure-wise, fat or thin?”
Anna Marie smiled and said, “Come with me, you want to know what happened. I’ll get you the answer.”
“Are you crazy? Listen you might not care what other people think about you physically, but until a few minutes ago I was a cheerleader, if people see me they’ll laugh their heads off.”
“Trust me on this,” Anna Marie said, “If it had been anyone else in that stall to see you first they wouldn’t have noticed a thing because in their mind you’ve always been fat.”
Anna
Marie grabbed
Just
as they emerged, Mr. Nolan, the band instructor walked by with a smile on his
face. He greeted the two young women and
continued on his way as they followed him down the hallway. Anna Marie then turned her head around and to
“What did I tell you?” Anna Marie said, “So do you want to find out how this happened to you?” The look in Hispanic young woman’s face told Anna Marie the answer.
Scott Hansen was in Ms. Applegate’s office finishing up grading the quizzes for World History. Logging onto the computer, he grabbed his backpack and opened it up. His plan was to do some research until the 4th period World History class’ quizzes were ready to be graded that was until he noticed that a black bound notebook was missing from his backpack. Scott got out of the chair and started rifling through the backpack, taking everything out in case he had missed seeing it, but then fear started to creep in that it was gone or he left it for another student to find.
Scott grabbed the key to the office and went to leave, as he did he saw at the end of the hallway an African-American young man looking nervous with a black bound notebook in his hand. Suddenly Scott’s fear was mixed with concern as he started walking towards Todd Walker.
“Hey,” Todd said hesitantly with a forced smile trying to hide his apprehension, “Glad I got you. Look what I found,” but he instantly saw that Scott wasn’t going to buy it and quickly put the notebook in his friend’s hands.
“Todd, please don’t tell me you used it?” Scott said not masking his worry that his fat admiring friend had done just that.
Todd
knew all Scott had to do was look in the notebook and see where he had written
Scott looked at his friend, who he had grown up with his entire life. They had never gotten angry at one another, but Scott couldn’t believe what Todd had done, going behind his back. “What the fuck?!” Scott said catching Todd off guard, “You stole the notebook and used it, even though no one knows anything about it much!”
Todd
glanced down, realizing that he had seriously fucked up, but behind him Anna
Marie and
Anna Marie saw the notebook in Scott’s hand, but also the expression on his face. It was one she had seen him have a few times, a combination of being pissed off and hurt. Her focused turned to Todd, noticing his posture and face, then remembered how she had noticed him trying to talk to Scott earlier. “Will someone explain to me what’s going on?” she demanded, not caring what the answer could cost her.
The question startled Todd, who looked directly at her, while Scott just raised an eyebrow as he looked at Anna Marie. Then Todd sputtered, “I wrote your name down in that notebook,” he motioned to Scott’s hand, “because I wanted to make you fat. And I thought you wouldn’t notice”
The
admission startled Anna Marie while
“How did you learn about the notebook in the first place,” Anna Marie asked Todd before looking at Scott for the answer.
Scott looked at his girlfriend of six days and best friend his entire life, then the friend that had betrayed him, and then his classmate. “This,” he held the notebook up, “has some kind of power that fattens whoever is written in it. Yesterday, I told Todd about it because he’s a fat admirer and I wanted to show off. I thought since we were close friends and he had kept my secret fat admirer leanings to himself that I could trust him, turns out he might not have been that close of a friend.”
Todd did not saying a word. Anna Marie looked at Scott and said, “Why didn’t you tell me you told him?”
“I guess a part of me realized that it could have been a mistake and I should have told you and Sarah, I guess I wasn’t the best boyfriend.”
Scott opened the notebook and held it up for her to read before saying, “Read from where it says ‘The Rules’ to line containing your name.”
They
turned to see Sarah Wu, her mouth gaping open in astonishment as she stared at
“I wrote her name in the notebook,” Todd sighed.
“How did you?”
Todd cut her off, “Scott told me about the notebook and I took it out of his backpack last period when he was talking to Monica Sager after class.”
Sarah was stunned for words as she looked at everyone before focusing on Scott and saying, “What did I tell you? That thing is dangerous and it shouldn’t be used like a toy.”
“You
can talk about all of that later,”
Anna
Marie looked at her and said, “
Scott then said, “Yeah, according to the rules the least amount of weight you gain is to 200-pounds or 100-pounds if your karma is positive, each one depends on some factor we don’t know about.”
“I have issues with Whitney that put me in the negative, you know bratty little sister stuff. So that was like 50 extra pounds against 550 extra.”
Scott pulled out a pencil, “I can write you down for your karmic weight, if you want?” and was posed to begin writing.
Four pairs of eyes looked at her before she asked, “There’s no way for a total reversal?”
Anna Marie shook her head before saying, “The good part is that when you get home, all your other clothing will be the same size as what you’re wearing now.”
Sarah then went up to Scott and said, “You just had to tell him, didn’t you?”
Before Scott could answer, Ms. Applegate came down the hallway and said, “Hi everyone. Scott can’t tell you anything about your class work.”
Sarah then said, “No I was just getting back to class,” then glared at Todd who avoided her gaze.
As
Anna Marie looked at Scott then turned and waddled away. He closed the notebook and went back inside the office, unlocking it for his employer. Scott finished the next batch of quizzes in five minutes, uploaded everything into the computer, and grabbed his stuff.
As he neared his car, he noticed Anna Marie leaning against it. His girlfriend, so he hoped, looked at him with a concerned face. “Sorry I didn’t tell you about Todd,” he got next to her, “I shouldn’t have kept if from you.”
“I
figured you might have, but even if you did tell me it wouldn’t have stopped
what he did to
“So what does this do to us?” Scott asked, “Want to think about this dating thing?”
Anna Marie was surprised, “What? I might be a little upset you didn’t tell me, but that doesn’t mean Todd being a jackass is going to end us. Now if our date tomorrow is god awful then we’d a decision to make. But I’m taking away your butt grabbing privileges for two weeks.”
Scott looked at her before saying, “Ok. See you tomorrow,” then kissed her on the cheek before she waddled off towards her car.
The next day Scott arrived at school to find Anna Marie waiting for him at one of the side entrances. He opened the door for her and proceeded into the building, “So you excited about tonight?”
“Don’t know if I’m excited. But when I told my parents yesterday I was going on a date, they were both fearful and excited,” Anna Marie answered.
Scott looked at her, “You haven’t told them about us?”
“It’ll be a surprise.”
The
two exchanged looks as they headed down the hallway. Then
“They didn’t?” Anna Marie whispered back.
“No. I had a wardrobe full of the right size, but it had changed to some of the worst pieces of clothing I’ve ever seen. No one should be forced to wear what was in my closet, so I had to spend yesterday finding something decent.”
The
five-minute bell rang as Scott and Anna Marie exchanged looks. Then
The
three seniors went their separate ways with Scott heading to senior English
where he said hi to Ms. Applegate before taking his seat. As the class got underway, Scott thought
about what
After English, he headed to Accounting where he knew Sarah was going to have an unpleasant look waiting for him. Sure enough as he approached the classroom door Sarah came from the opposite direction with an accusing expression that turned into a frown. Meeting outside the classroom, she then asked, “You still have the notebook or did someone else you showed it off to decide to take it for a joy ride?”
“Don’t worry. I’m thinking of something to deal with it,” Scott answered as Anna Marie came up to them and asked, “Deal with what?”
“The notebook,” Scott responded, “I need to see about some things before I tell you what it is. But since I found it, I’m taking responsibility for it, and I have an idea to deal with it.”
The second period bell rang and the three took their seats for a class again devoted to their already finished group project. When the bell rang ending class, Scott went to leave when Sarah grabbed him and asked, “Mr. Hick’s classroom?” as Anna Marie came close.
He looked at them and said, “I’ll be working on my idea so I’ll see you at Pre-Cal & Trig,” then turning specifically to Anna Marie he said, “I’ll pick you up at the time we discussed.”
A kiss on the check from his girlfriend and Scott headed for his locker. He arrived at the alcove where his assigned locker was located and changed out his books. As he did, Brandon Wight, a junior teammate on the wrestling team, arrived at his locker a few down from Scott’s. The two nodded to one another before going about their business when suddenly Monica Sager popped up next to Scott. “Hey.”
“Hi,” he said automatically while focusing on what he was doing.
“I just want to thank you for the advice, it helped a lot last night,” she continued.
Scott had to think before looking at the younger and shorter Sager sister, who sported a big smile on her round face making her blue eyes twinkle. “No problem, glad it helped you out.” He closed his locker and said he’d see her tomorrow for class if not sooner.
She
smiled and moved over in
“Hey Scott,” she said innocently, “I heard through the grapevine that you have a date tonight. First one in a while, I think,” her voice turning sympathetic, “It’s a shame you’ve been on a draught for so long.”
He looked at her uninterested before responding, “I’ve had plenty of dates since we went to the Valentine Banquet freshman year, just not with you.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t make up for lost time,” she said brushed her body up against his, “Let’s face it, you’re this school’s greatest athlete ever and you’re settling for the fat, mediocre sister of Whitney Zelman, you deserve much better,” she said leaning up against him.
Scott looked at her before taking a step back making her stumble forward before catching herself. “What about Jerry?”
“What about him? The only thing going for him is that he’s rich, besides that he’s pathetic, easily manipulated by a pair of breasts.”
“And you think shoving yours in my face will convince me to dump Anna Marie for you?” Scott raised a corner of his mouth, “Nice try.”
He walked past a frustrated Alexia as Kari giggled at his answer. Brandon and Monica walked out with smiles on their faces looking at Scott leaving. Alexia glared at them, “What are you two smiling at? You’re so far down the social ladder you’re staring up Anna Marie’s fat ass!” The last part she shouted so Scott would hear her then told Kari to shut up.
Ignoring Alexia, Scott continued to concentrate on the plan he was developing in his head to deal with the notebook in his backpack. The first was to make sure he remembered correctly what his English classmate’s father did for a living, and that meant asking one teacher in particular. After travelling across the building, he confirmed his suspicion and headed to the front office, eating lunch as he went. Once arriving he found important visitors, staff, and administration talking to one another or working.
Principal Carter was talking to several school board members while another was talking to Mrs. Graham. The 54-year-old, very professionally dressed woman with conservatively styled brown hair with gray temples was smiling as she talked to a black haired woman dressed in a pantsuit. The school counselor was speaking loudly so everyone wouldn’t miss what she was saying, “The authority in this school is lax, so much so that students completely ignore calls over the loudspeaker for them to come to the office. Take for instance, the younger Zelman girl. She obviously suffers from low self-esteem because she can’t measure up to her older sister thus leading to her obesity problem along with her anti-social behavior and morbid personality, as can be seen with her appearance. But every time I reach out to help her, she ignores my summons.”
“That would never have happened when I was in school, Mrs. Graham. This individual seems to be a problem and if school administration doesn’t back you up, Ms. Zelman’s situation might have to be addressed by the board.” The woman in her mid-30s said eying the Principal and her fellow board members.
“Thank you Mrs. Nelson, it’s comforting to know someone is concerned.”
“What is her name again?”
“Zelman, Anna Marie Zelman,” Mrs. Graham said as Mrs. Nelson wrote it down on a piece of paper.
Having been ignored by everyone in the room, Scott walked past the two women and eyed his Principal with a slight curve to his mouth before getting to the receptionist’s desk. “Could you tell me Bert Girard’s schedule after lunch, please?”
The receptionist, Mrs. Fuller, smiled and nodded before started typing on her computer. She noticed Mrs. Nelson and Mrs. Graham smugly looking around the office and asked, “Rumor says you’re headed on a date tonight, but I can’t remember with whom?”
It was an obvious set up that Scott couldn’t resist, especially after taking a glance at a now smiling Principal Carter waiting for his answer. With a smile on his face and with force said, “Anna Marie,” then pausing for effect, “Zelman.”
Suddenly Mrs. Graham looked very uncomfortable as she looked around the room while Mrs. Nelson seemed embarrassed for having egg on her face. Mrs. Fuller gave Scott his answer and he went to leave. Then one of the board members talking to Principal Carter turned to Scott as he was leaving and extended a hand, “Mr. Hansen, hope training has gone well since the end of last season. I’m hoping to be on hand to celebrate you bringing back another state title.”
The
comment made Scott remember his first day back to school after winning his
first state title, 16-years old and an inconsequential sophomore the week
before he returned an instantly popular.
The seniors and juniors treated him like an equal while the freshman
stood in awe of him. The special school
assembly to celebrate his win didn’t just bring the student body, but their
parents and any alumni of
Mrs. Nelson looked thoroughly mortified as he answered, “Training has been good and all, but I haven’t been in a competitive match since that last summer tournament I was in just before school began. But I’m ready to get back into action.”
“Good to hear and good luck,” the board member said as he shook Scott’s hand again followed by his colleague.
Scott left the office, glancing over his shoulder to see Mrs. Nelson not so confident anymore, and headed to Pre-Cal & Trig. As he walked along the hallways and up the stairs he thought his idea was doable, if he could get all the people together to discuss it. He didn’t want to interfere in anyone’s lives too much, but he knew something needed to be planned around the notebook and soon.
The end of lunch bell rang as Scott entered the classroom leaving him with ten minutes to continue thinking. He politely ignored Sarah’s inquires before class and once it was dismissed he quickly left. Scott headed away from Ms. Applegate’s office, rushing towards the gym building instead. Wanting to catch-up with Bert, he didn’t stop to talk with anybody not that he wanted to talk with anyone at the moment. He exited a stairwell and turned immediately out a set of double doors leaving the main school building then headed towards the gym building.
Todd
slammed his locker shut, half out of frustration and half out of anger. He sat down on the bench situated in-between
the rows of lockers inside
Standing up, Todd just wanted to leave and forget the entire day. Then shouting coming from the shower area caught his attention. Todd walked over and found three football jocks holding down an overweight, glasses-wearing nerdy looking student dressed for gym in ill-fitting clothes while slowly heading to the showers. The young man was struggling as the jocks laughed and made mock pig squeals. Finally Todd said, “What the fuck are you doing?”
The jock holding a headlock on the intended victim retorted, “What’s it to you Walker?”
“Besides the immaturity of what you’re doing or that you’re assaulting him?”
One of the jocks holding a leg then said, “What are you going to do? Squeal like our piggy here?”
“Good one John,” the other jock holding the other leg said, “It’s not like he can beat the crap out of us like Scott, you’re just his friend. But I hear the two of you aren’t on speaking terms so what do we have to fear with beating you up?”
Todd just smiled, “Suspension for assaulting an African-American student.”
“Hey,” John protested as he stood up, “Don’t think you’re any better than me, no one cares about black-on-black violence.”
But John had let go of the leg he was holding and the pudgy student kicked his other leg loose before getting out of the headlock. Todd only comment, “I would just say that it was Kevin and Ron who assaulted me while you beat up Bert.”
The nerdy senior got to his feet and backed away from the jocks next to Todd. The two sides looked at one another before Kevin, who had had Bert in the headlock, said, “We got class or we’ll get suspended from the game.” The three jocks then walked away leaving Todd and Bert.
Bert looked at Todd. “Thanks.”
“No problem.”
The two then went their separate ways, neither of them seeing Scott looking from behind a row of lockers. Scott watched his friend walk towards the door while Bert headed out to his gym class. He decided to call Bert and leave a message at Todd’s before his date. Scott glanced at his watch and started heading for Ms. Applegate’s office so he could leave as soon as possible to get ready for that night.
As
Scott raced back to the main campus building,
However
that fact led to another bizarre moment.
Alexia and her annoying clique had passed her in the cafe. While it appeared no one remembered her as a
cheerleader,
Kari piped up, “There’s Isabel.”
Alexia
had apparently noticed
But then Amanda replied, “She’s hot for a sophomore and besides it’ll teach some of those juniors to know their place.”
Alexia laughed. “Good point. Besides, if she becomes a floatation device over the summer it won’t be our problem.”
Rosa
had wanted to smack Alexia or give her a piece of her mind, however like she
had always done numerous times before she just kept her mouth shut to avoid an
argument with the blond bitch. While she
wasn’t a cheerleader, a lot of people who had avoided her because of her close
proximity to Alexia now at least said hello even though
The
third bizarre thing she had noticed was her family’s interaction with her. Isabel had always ridden with her to school
even after she had turned 16 and gotten her own car. However, that morning, Isabel had driven off
as
Scott walked up the curved sidewalk to the porch steps in front of the Zelman’s home. He had on a suit jacket over a dress shirt with a pair of khaki pants with his church shoes to complete his outfit. After leaving school, Scott’s stomach had started filling with butterflies and he found himself getting increasingly nervous for no reason. He walked up to the front door, took a breath, and then rang the door bell. Scott told himself that there was nothing to worry about; he was just going out with his best friend. Then the door opened and he realized why he had been subconsciously nervous.
A middle aged man around 50-years old with predominately brown hair, a quarter of it gray, and gray eyes that highlighted a harsh expression on his diamond shaped face. A half or full inch taller and slightly heavier than Scott, the older gentleman was in excellent physical shape so much so Scott hoped he looked as good as Mr. Zelman at that age. Looking at Scott, Mr. Zelman’s breathed out, “Thank god,” and instantly relaxed with a smile on his face, “Anna Marie wouldn’t say anything about who she was going out with, her mother got the idea in my head that someone with three times as many holes than the human body is suppose to have was going to show up.”
Scott raised an eyebrow and replied, “Glad I exceeded expectations,” before a muscular arm quickly wrapping around his shoulders and pulled him into the house.
Shutting the door, Mr. Zelman pulled Scott up next to him and led him through the foyer with an expression of pride on his face. Still a little intimidated Scott made some small talk, “I noticed the Mustang in the driveway, did Whitney get a new car?”
“Nope,” Mr. Zelman said then forced out contemptuously, “It’s her boyfriend’s,” then his voice turned more neutral, “They came together.”
Just before they entered the living room Mr. Zelman projected his voice, “Catherine, you won’t believe who Anna Marie scrounged up for a date?” Then with a big smile of pride on his face pushed Scott in front of him and guided him into the middle of the living room.
Scott, already startled by Mr. Zelman’s reaction, was a bit uneasily as he looked around the room. Though no one was in there to his surprise, which changed when out of the kitchen came a middle age woman around 50 with upper back long brunette hair with a few streaks of gray. Saying as she entered, “Robert, why are you raising your voice?” She blinked as she looked at Scott then put her hands up to her mouth and said, “Scott Hansen?! Our daughter has a date with Scott Hansen? Where’s Anna Marie?”
“Probably still upstairs,” Mr. Zelman said.
Mrs. Zelman came over to Scott, with a smile on her face and hugged him saying, “What a surprise,” then looked him up and down as he did the same with her. Around 160-pounds, Mrs. Zelman had rectangular shaped body with an undefined waist and relatively flat stomach. Mrs. Zelman then said, “I’ll go get Anna Marie and a camera.”
“Catherine, don’t start going overboard,” Mr. Zelman said as his wife headed out of the living room.
Scott watched her leave noting the full round bottom Mrs. Zelman possessed then quickly looked around the room. He noticed on the fire place mantle a picture of Mr. Zelman when he was younger with his parents, Anna Marie’s grandmother was sporting a beehive of fiery red hair. He was starting to glance at a picture of Anna Marie’s maternal grandparents when from behind him came, “Scott Hansen, is that you?”
Turning
around he saw Whitney Zelman with a smile on her face as she entered the living
room followed by her boyfriend. Anna
Marie’s older sister walked over to him, her smile accenting her inverted
triangular face with a blunt pointed chin.
She wore a low-cut, strapless mini dress that showed off her hourglass
figure of her 38D breasts, a narrow waist and flat stomach with a prominent,
though not bubble, butt plus shoulder-wide hips, and shapely legs. Whitney’s brunette hair was pulled away from
her face to the middle of her back as she hugged him and said, “My little
sister got herself
Scott half smiled as Whitney then turned to the black haired guy behind her and introduced him, “Scott, this Brad. Brad this is Scott Hansen”
The guy look came up, extended his hand, “Bradley Whitmer III,” he said in a smug voice. Scott shook his hand even as Mr. Zelman, who had both his hands on Scott’s shoulders tighten his grip until it was over. Then Brad asked, “Hansen? I have a friend in the athletic department who keeps talking about a local student named Hansen who is one of the most sought after wrestlers in the nation that is taking a higher priority than even football or basketball recruits.”
Whitney
then said, “That’s Scott.
Almost
instantly Brad quickly went from smug to very friendly, “Well as alumni of
Scott tried to loosen the grip of Mr. Zelman, who had tightened his grip on Scott’s shoulders as Brad had become friendly. “Well, my GPA, test scores, volunteer, and school achievements make me eligible for a free academic scholarship not only at Hamilton but Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Iowa, Iowa State, Minnesota, and other really elite or rising programs. That’s why I’m so highly recruited I don’t have to take an athletic scholarship that could be used for someone else.”
Mr. Zelman then said, “Well that and his mat credentials that he keeps padding during the summers when not working on my crew at construction jobs. My guys really like his work ethic on the job.”
Before anything else could be said, Mrs. Zelman came from the foyer with camera in hand and said, “Scott, she’s coming down.”
Scott was then escorted by everyone into the foyer as Anna Marie came down the staircase with her mid-length auburn hair pulled back into a French Twist with a gothic touch showing off her oval face. She had black lipstick and dark green eyeliner contrasting with her pale skin. Anna Marie was wearing an oversized, belly-fitting dark green and black corset that lifted her breasts up and showed them off, while underneath was a green low-cut blouse that covered her arms. Her corset overlapped the top of a black leather skirt that went down a little past her thick knees and was form-fitting around her backside and hips before becoming spacious at her thighs. To complete her evening outfit were high-heeled black boots that went up to her knees and black lace gloves on her hands.
Anna Marie got to the bottom of the stairs and looked at Scott, who was getting that butterfly feeling in his stomach again. Whitney then let out an excited little squeal and came same over to her sister, she gave her a hug saying, “You look so cute,” then realizing that might not be what Anna Marie was going for, “In a dark no-nonsense sort of way,” she fumbled through not being able to contain her excitement.
Mrs. Zelman then said, “Let me get a picture of my two girls,” as she coax Whitney to turnaround and Anna Marie to stay standing next to her sister. As their mother took a series of pictures of the broadly smiling Whitney and his less excited date, Scott couldn’t help noticing how many similarities the two sisters had. Both were the same height in or out of high-heels, the shape of their faces were close as Whitney’s was an inverted triangle while Anna Marie’s oval face still had vestiges of it’s original heart shape while both had a blunt pointed chin shared with their father, and genetically emphasized backsides shared with their mother.
Then Mr. Zelman said, “Scott and I have a little chat.” Scott then found himself being led by Mr. Zelman towards his office. Once they were inside, Mr. Zelman closed the door and walked around Scott to sit down at his desk.
Scott waited nervously as Mr. Zelman opened his desk drawer and started shifting things around. “Where are you headed tonight?”
At first startled, Scott responded, “Old Byzantium, the Greek-Italian restaurant next to the mall.”
“Good choice,” Mr. Zelman replied, “It has the advantage of tasting expensive without being so,” then brought out a bundle of rolled up bills from his desk, “This one is on me.”
Scott saw him pull out a $50 only to take two identical bills from his jacket pocket. “It’s okay. I’ll use some of the money I’ve been saving over the last three summers from working with you.”
Mr. Zelman got up from his desk and put the $50 in Scott’s jacket pocket before saying, “Take it as a thank you for not having to discuss with my wife about how many times Anna Marie rolled her eyes while Brad was talking, especially since I will be.”
Scott raised an eyebrow then uttered, “Uh-huh.”
Mr. Zelman then put his arm around Scott and changed the subject, “I’m sure your father has had ‘the talk,’ with you. And while I’ve given it to some of Whitney’s dates, I’m not going to waste either of our lives giving it to you because if anything where to occur between my youngest daughter and yourself that results in me becoming a grandfather lets just say that after college you’d be joining the business as the successor to my third of the company. That is unless you of course you go to Olympic competition or a more lucrative profession.”
Scott looked at him, “Well, a condom would be used in any event however it would be somewhat redundant since Anna Marie is on the pill.”
“When did that happen?”
“Freshman year,” Scott responded matter of fact, “Just in case.”
“You mean in case some jackass was to do something that would result in me going prison for killing him?” Mr. Zelman replied seeing Scott nod. He then looked at the clock and said, “Well I suspect Anna Marie is wondering why you’ve abandoned her with her mother, sister, and the jerk in the foyer for so long. And I can’t avoid this dinner forever,” he paused before asking, “When are you expected home?”
“Considering I need at least seven hours of sleep, I got to be in bed by midnight. So I’ll bring her back the latest 11, like usual when we did friend stuff.”
“Hell midnight is fine by me,” Mr. Zelman said, “But it’s up to the both of you.” He then opened the door and the two walked out to see Anna Marie looking tired of Whitney gushing and her mother ‘improving’ a few details here and there. “Okay it’s time to let them go. Catherine stop, she looks fine.”
Anna Marie waddled over to her dad and boyfriend, the former she gave a peck before going to the latter’s side and giving him a ‘let’s leave’ look. Scott then took her by the arm and headed towards the door, opened it for her, and followed her out onto the porch. Mr. Zelman cut off Mrs. Zelman and Whitney from following and closed the door behind Scott, leaving them alone finally.
“Wow,” Scott said taking her in once again, “You look…wow.”
Anna Marie smiled, “Thank you. I wanted to make sure you never would forget tonight.”
Scott then took her by the arm again and led her down the steps and the sidewalk, around his Sundance, and opened the door for her. Once she was in, he closed it, and walked to the driver’s side. Getting in, he started the car and backed out of the driveway to the street. Then as they drove away, Anna Marie asked, “What do you think of my skirt?”
Scott glanced over at her and said, “To be honest, if I did what I wanted to do, the conversation your father and I had probably wouldn’t have included words.”
Anna Marie laughed with pleasure for a minute before tapering off. She then asked, “What did my dad talk about?”
“Do you really want to know?” Scott asked glancing at her.
“He gave you ‘the talk’ or something?”
“Unless ‘the talk’ Whitney’s dates were given had him saying that they would become his successor for his share of the company after college, no.”
“Excuse me?” Anna Marie said disbelieving.
Scott then gave her a recap from when he had rung the doorbell as he headed down the street.
Leaving
her bedroom,
“Anna Marie?” Mrs. Garcia asked then after a few seconds of thought, “Zelman? Whitney’s younger sister?”
“Yeah,”
Mrs. Garcia ignored the editorial comment her daughter had added then asked, “Any idea why he would ask you over, perhaps a party?”
“Prank?”
Mrs. Garcia accepted the explanation and then said, “Mrs. Ramirez asked if you’ll help at the event on Sunday. Think about it, college admissions like to see volunteering.”
At the same time, Sarah was on her computer doing some homework with earpieces on listening to music. At first she didn’t hear the knocks on the door, but then the pounding and the shouts by her mother suddenly caught her attention. Sarah stopped the music then took out her earpieces and said, “Just a second.”
Opening the door, her mother handed her a piece of paper and said, “Your little brother apparently answered the phone when Scott called. He wrote down a message for you, but forgot about it by the time you came home. It’s about some meeting tomorrow at his home with other seniors. It’s not a party is it?”
Sarah looked at the note and said, “No, just something for school. Don’t worry about it.”
Her mother accepted the answer and Sarah closed the door looking at the message in her brother’s handwriting, wondering what Scott was up to. She returned to her computer and decided to check if The Bear Truth had been updated. Getting to the site, she couldn’t help but utter, “What the hell?”
Todd parked his car outside his house then proceeded to grab groceries out of the trunk. He lugged the bags up to the front door, put half of them down on the porch, and opened the door. His father was watching the news on TV and saw his son come in; the older man with graying temples stood up and grabbed some of the bags. “Thanks for picking these up son, having a white collar job being needed at the office is just time consuming.”
“No problem,” Todd said, “Mom and Kayla back yet?”
“No, they’re still at the school. I think your sister is going to be upset that she’s been stuck there for so long after school with no one picking her up.”
As they got to the kitchen with the groceries, Mr. Walker then said, “I got home just as Scott was calling. He said Bert Girard needed a ride to his house tomorrow and to get in touch with Bert tomorrow.” Before Todd could respond they heard the garage door closing as Mr. Walker said, “I guess you barely beat them home.”
“Yeah, I guess so,” Todd replied but quickly thought about what Scott’s message meant.
Later that night as all of their classmates were thinking about Scott cryptic messages, Scott and Anna Marie arrived at her home. The two were talking about their time in the restaurant as Anna Marie said, “Well you weren’t watching the reactions some of the other women were giving me. They kept it hidden on their faces, but their eyes told the story. They couldn’t believe I had the gull to wear something so form-fitting.”
“I didn’t care what the women thought, I was showing you off to all the men,” Scott said with a smile, “Especially those that seemed to be a little envious that my girlfriend had a very big booty. I wish they hadn’t given us the corner booth, I would have liked to have seen us in the center of the room so to speak.”
“You didn’t like the romantic setting in a darken corner with only candlelight, up against each other, feeding me romantically during dessert while under the table we played footsie, among other things?”
“Well, I guess some trade offs wouldn’t have been worth it then,” Scott said making Anna Marie burst out into roaring laughter.
“I guess sex is always on guy’s minds!”
Scott laughed as well before both died down and they looked at the porch light on above the front door. “Well, I guess all good things come to an end,” Scott said before getting out of the Sundance and walking around to the passenger’s side. He opened the door and gave Anna Marie his hand. She took it. After she was out, Scott closed the door and they walked up the sidewalk then up the porch steps.
“I really enjoyed tonight,” Scott said as he looked into Anna Marie’s eyes.
“Which part? The restaurant? The stares? The showing me off?” Anna Marie slyly asked with a smile.
“I enjoyed being with you and everything else was just a bonus.”
He was rewarded with a sudden long kiss before Anna Marie said, “That might get you some privileges back this weekend I suspended a few days ago,” giving him a knowing look.
However, her comment brought Scott back to the reality the next day would bring. He looked away from her unsure as Anna Marie quickly looked puzzled that her comment wasn’t generating the right reaction from her boyfriend.
Scott sighed and said, “I didn’t want to end tonight on what could be called a really bad note, but that idea I was mum about at school today?” he waited for Anna Marie to nod, “Well before coming over I called Sarah, Rosa, and a few others to come over to my house tomorrow around an hour after school is over to discuss what to do with the notebook. Tomorrow you’re going to get questions, but I can’t tell you anything. I need to present my idea to everyone at the same time, afterwards you can decide if my suspended privileges get restored or not.”
Anna Marie pecked him on the cheek before saying, “Well, I guess after my meeting with Mrs. Graham, I have something interesting to look forward too.” She opened the front door and waddled inside before smiling and closing the door.
Scott waited a few seconds before turning and walking to his car. The night hadn’t ended in the manner he wanted to, however things might get better if tomorrow it all worked out. He got inside, turned the key, and backed out of the driveway before heading home.
The last day of the school week was always the same mixture of routine school day and anticipation for the weekend, but this was no ordinary Friday. The last home game for the football game along with the added fact it was against the school’s biggest rival had nearly everyone hoping their team could deliver a win. But for Scott and Anna Marie, the school day was just a prelude. Arriving at the same time, they met up in the parking lot and headed into school with their arms around each other’s shoulders.
Both
noticed a few stares as they walked in, but thought nothing of it. They went to their separate first period
classes. Though both had different
things on their minds as they sat in their respective seats when Marty Duke
handed a print out to Scott while
“You’re
two-timing me with Alexia,” Anna Marie said matter-of-factly then holding up
the print out Rosa had given her, “
“What did you tell her?”
“That your only date with Alexia is considered the worst waste of your personal time ever and if you ever two-timed me with Alexia what I would do to the both of you would make national news. Also I told her that you were mum on specifics and just to show up at your house and to go around to the double doors on the ground floor. At least that’s my guess as to where you’re having this meeting.”
“Good guess. As for the thing with Alexia, I wouldn’t expect anything else from you though I’m surprised you didn’t mention the notebook.”
Anna Marie stopped and said, “Thanks for reminding me. Now the only thing that would get the nation press’ attention is what I would do to you personally.”
They entered Economics holding hands with the print outs in the others, then immediately both threw them away. The other students at first looking at them turned away either in disappointment of not seeing a break-up or satisfied that The Bear Truth had started gossip for no reason. Jerry Cabot seemed a little relieved at seeing them together, he wasn’t going to be a punch line the day of his last career home game. Then entering the classroom just as the bell rang was Todd who looked at Anna Marie before she turned away from him and sat down, then at Scott who glanced at his girlfriend before sitting down. Todd sat down as well.
After class, the pair went to their lockers and then headed to Mr. Hick’s classroom. Scott arrived first and immediately found Sarah pushing a print out of The Bear Truth into his face and said, “What the fuck are you thinking?”
After pushing her hand down, Scott then said, “We’ve already seen it. It’s a lie, just like the one that happened to Drew Hahn two years ago but not as serious or personally costly.”
Sarah backed down and said, “Even if you really were two-timing Anna Marie there would be no way you’d lie using that incident, even if it happened to be with Alexia. Hell, Alexia wouldn’t even try to lie mentioning that incident.”
A minute later, Anna Marie waddled into the room and looking at the print out in Sarah’s hand immediately said, “Don’t worry, it’s not true.” Before Sarah said Scott had already explained it to her satisfaction.
They sat down and Sarah quickly asked what the meeting was about however Scott was mum about it. Anna Marie just replied that he was being secret about it, no hints whatsoever, not even to her. Sulking a little bit, Sarah then asked Anna Marie about the night before. Scott kept his peace as they talked about the date.
After awhile, Sarah and Anna Marie had nothing else to talk about and the three left the classroom. The trio walked down the hallway when out of a side corridor appeared Tim Collins and Katie Hahn, snuggly holding each other as they walked. When they met up, Scott nodded to Tim who returned the gesture only for Katie to suddenly ask, “That article in The Bear Truth wasn’t true was it?”
“Not a word,” Anna Marie replied with a smile.
“Good to hear,” Katie said as Tim glanced at his watch, “Ever since what happened to Drew because of that site, I don’t know if anything from it is really true.”
“How is Drew doing,” Scott asked.
“Good,
he’s enjoying
“Oh sorry, you’re right. Talk to you later,” Katie said before Tim somewhat led her away.
As the trio continued on their way it was Sarah who broached the subject, “I have to tell you that website is something. What’s on it is basically true, which sucks you in and when they outright lie it is surrounded by true articles that keep making you come back. But those lies cause so much trouble, especially in Drew’s case.”
“Yeah,” Scott said, “I hate to say it but considering I finally have a girlfriend, she and I are probably going to be featured a lot.”
“Like I care,” Anna Marie said, “I got the school’s hottest catch, let them write what they want.”
The end-of-lunch bell rang and they split up. Scott headed to Spanish arriving just after Todd. The two looked at one another for a second. Then Todd started to ask, “About,” but Scott turned away and conversed with Monica. Todd sat down moments before the bell when Scott sat down, looking towards the front of the classroom.
When class ended, Scott left for Ms. Applegate’s office while Todd headed for the library. On his way he passed Anna Marie, headed for the administration offices. His 287-pound classmate moved to the far side of the hall after noticing him. Todd was becoming more and more use to being shunned; however the message from the night before made him confused about what was really going on and it was frustrating to him.
After passing Todd in the hallway, Anna Marie focused her attention on the task at hand, teaching Mrs. Graham a little lesson about throwing around her supposed power. She passed the front office and continued down the hallway to another set of offices, the first being for the school counselor. She knocked on the door and there was no answer, she tried the doorknob to find it locked. Anna Marie then leaned against the wall opposite the door and waited.
Checking her watch every few minutes, Anna Marie patiently waited and either nodded to passing teachers and staff or said hello. Then Mrs. Carter walked by and asked, “How did everything go?”
“It hasn’t yet I’ve been waiting twenty minutes.”
The principal was obviously angry and walked back to the office, a minute later Mrs. Graham hurriedly came out looking like she had been forced to put her tail between her legs. That is until she saw Anna Marie and instantly changed to show a very confident, almost superior outlook. Anna Marie smiled and thought to herself that this was going to be easier than she thought.
Mrs. Graham opened her door and said, “I’m glad you finally decided to grace my office with your presence. Please come in and sit down.”
Anna Marie walked into the office and put her book bag down next to a stiff backed wooden chair that she sat down on. Mrs. Graham went around her desk and sat down in a cushioned back chair. Picking up a pad of paper and switching on a recorder, Mrs. Graham then read a statement about the state’s student privacy law. Once completed, Mrs. Graham then directly talked to Anna Marie, “Ms. Zelman, let’s discuss why you’re here.”
Before the counselor could continue Anna Marie responded, “Because you kept on harassing me at school and called my home to the annoyance of my parents, who considered you on the same level as a telemarketer. Finally, you annoyed Mrs. Carter so much that she asked me to satisfy your need for attention.”
Anna Marie crossed her arms and looked around the office as Mrs. Graham tried to find a response before meekly saying, “We’re here because of your anti-social behavior.”
Anna Marie pounced, “Anti-social? I’m friends with Sarah Wu, Rosa Garcia, and Karen Sager to name a few. And let’s not forget that I’m dating the school’s sports stud, Scott Hansen. Only people who are concerned with appearances would say that I’m anti-social. Just because my fashion sense isn’t trendy, doesn’t make me anti-social. And just because I’m heavy, doesn’t make me a poor depressed fat girl who has no social life. I’m not a stereotype, so please don’t be so condescending.”
The school counselor looking very nervous glanced at the recording device and tried to continue, fumbling to try and find something to say next. Then she said, “I’m concerned that you aren’t availing yourself of the services the school is providing for the welfare of its students. Several,” she paused to find the right phrase, “Young women in your position would want a mature person they’re not related to seek guidance from. I mean, not everything in your life must be going perfectly.”
“Life isn’t perfect. When it isn’t, I have friends, parents, a big sister, and teachers here who wouldn’t keep me waiting for twenty minutes for a meeting. They wouldn’t need to be rounded up by the school principal when she was probably on an ego trip or trying to impress members of the school board.”
Mrs. Graham looked flustered as Anna Marie stood up and grabbed her book bag. The 287-pound young woman headed for the door and Mrs. Graham then sputtered out, “Where are you going?”
“You made me wait for twenty minutes then you basically insulted me throughout the meeting. Now my boyfriend is probably waiting for me, so I’m not going to waste his time like you wasted mine.”
Anna Marie left the office to find Mrs. Carter standing in the hallway nearby, she raised an eyebrow. “Done so soon?”
“Well, she made me wait then insulted me,” Anna Marie said, “So why waste anyone else’s time. Would that be seen as a problem for the school board?”
Mrs. Carter laughed before walking back to the front office. Anna Marie followed her passing the windowed entrance to the front office seeing Mrs. Carter looking serious towards Alexia and her little cheerleader posse. The former looked unhappy for apparently having to wait, though the sense Anna Marie got was that the meeting was something serious. While interesting, it could wait and she headed for the entrance closest to Scott’s Sundance.
Todd was bored out of his mind having completed all of his homework he was looking for something to interest him. For almost two hours, all of fourth period plus a half hour after school, he had been in the library waiting for Bert. That morning, Bert had found him first and their conversation about their respective messages from Scott. It turned out that Scott had invited Bert over to his house and learning he didn’t have a car said that Todd would give him a ride over after his club meeting after school.
Learning this Todd had wanted to ask Scott what was going on, but the somewhat cold shoulder treatment just made him more confused as to Scott’s motive and intrigued about what was going on. Sighing out loud, he tried to see if he had forgotten anything due on Monday. Then from behind came, “Todd, I’m finally done, you ready to go?” He turned to see Bert with a passive smile with his book bag starting to slip off his left shoulder.
Todd put everything in his book bag and threw it over his shoulder as he stood up, “Yep.”
They walked out to his car, the lot still pretty full as a pep rally was going on for that night’s game. They got in and headed for Scott’s home. Glancing over at Bert, Todd saw that he was a little uneasy before the overweight student pushed his glasses up and asked, “I’ve never gotten asked to come to popular person’s house by personal invite, I mean in grade school we’d get general invitations to someone’s birthday party but that was only until 3rd or 4th grade. I don’t know what to expect.”
Not knowing what else to say, Todd replied, “I don’t know either, he’s been pretty mum about the whole thing.”
They stopped at a railroad crossing as a train slowly passed. Todd then asked, “Well besides the language club, what do you like doing?”
Bert shrugged and said, “Online stuff, but mostly research into dead languages, it’s something my dad and I do together. It’s why I don’t have many friends.”
“You might not have a lot of friends, but then again this is high school. I know you have to at least like some one, maybe thinking ahead about asking them out for the Valentine Banquet?”
Bert got red faced and looked a little embarrassed as he shook his head. But Todd said, “There isn’t a wrong answer here, I mean you have to like someone. We got a lot of great looking girls.”
“Well okay. I got this thing for Rosa Garcia,” Bert said, “She might not be a great looking girl to you, but she’s classy, exotic, and confident. She’s just a dream.”
Todd was a little stunned as he drove the car over the tracks, “Hey, don’t think I wouldn’t ask. You listed three excellent reasons why any guy should go out with her and besides that she looks great. What’s keeping you from asking her out?”
“Well,
let’s face it I’m a nerd, geek, a loser.
Todd couldn’t help agreeing in his mind, but didn’t want to discourage Bert. “Hey you never know, she might say yes if you ask her out. Try for it.”
Bert though looked unsure.
Todd turned up into Scott’s driveway. Getting up to the house, he found the Hansen’s mini parking lot filled already, and parked next to the basketball hoop hoping he gave Mr. and Mrs. Hansen room enough to get into their garage when they arrived home. The two got out of the car. Bert headed up the sidewalk towards the front door when Todd said, “Bert, I think I know where Scott’s having this thing at. Follow me.”
Bert walked back down the sidewalk and followed Todd as he passed the garage doors and turned to the backside of the house with a walkway leading to a small patio. They got to the patio and turned to a set of French doors with opened blinds. Through them Todd and Bert saw four people waiting and talking when one of them saw them. All but one of the occupants didn’t seem to be happy at seeming the duo.
Inside the downstairs living room, Scott had felt the room turn slightly cold when he said, “They’re here.”
When Anna Marie, Sarah, and Rosa had looked at the doors and saw Todd with Bert standing on the patio looking in. Scott walked over, opened the door, and said, “Come on in.”
Bert walked in a little nervous while Todd hung back and looked ready to leave when Scott said, “This meeting includes you too.” Todd walked in, feeling the uneasiness the three young women had towards him before looking at Scott.
Scott looked around the room and could see that Anna Marie, Sarah, and Rosa weren’t particularly keen towards him as they shifted their eyes to Todd then before taking a brief glance at Bert. Then Scott grabbed his backpack and took out the notebook getting everyone but Bert’s immediate attention. “Four of you know what this is, but Bert you don’t. So before anything else happens, I want you to read this from the front cover to when the writing stops.”
Bert
took the spiral, black bound notebook.
He opened it up and read before glancing up. But before he said anything, it was Scott who
said, “Yes. Anna Marie and Rosa got fat. And it’s because of that notebook with
whatever power it possesses. Anna Marie
at first thought it was a joke until she found herself barely able to move
until I took a wild guess. Sarah found
the notebook on the kitchen table and didn’t know if it was hers or not and
found out Anna Marie was fat.” He paused
as he looked from Todd to
“He
showed the notebook to me and I let my admiration for big girls get the best of
me,” Todd said, “I took the notebook from his backpack and fattened up Rosa,” he
looked at Rosa then continued, “
Bert
looked around the room before Scott spoke up again, “Basically the notebook
makes everyone who reads it aware of the changes that have occurred through its
power. Those that are subject to its
power are aware of their change, but no one else’s unless they read the
notebook. And everyone else in the world
who is unaware of the notebook or hasn’t been affected by its power thinks Anna
Marie and
“But why show and tell me all of this?” Bert asked.
“Because,”
Scott said, “If you notice those strange characters in gold, the entry Sarah
made, and the similar ‘rule.’ She
guessed on a rule and it turned out she was right. We need to know what those other rules are
and guessing might not be enough. From
everything I know you’re good at languages.
Your dad’s a linguistics professor at
Anna Mare, Sarah, Rosa, and Todd looked at Scott while Bert concentrated on the notebook. Then Scott walked over to Bert and asked for it back. Taking it Scott then said, “This notebook is powerful and this past week, we’ve seen what it’s done if used wrongly.” Todd found himself being looked at by everyone, except Scott who continued, “Sarah repeatedly told me that the notebook need to be used for extreme cases or things could get out of hand. She right, that’s why I invited all of you here.”
Scott looked around the room then pointed at Anna Marie and Rosa, “Both of you have been subjected to the power of the notebook,” then pointing to Sarah, “You showed wisdom in how to handle it’s power,” pointing to Todd who nodded, “You showed the harm of unleashing it’s power wildly,” pointing at Bert, “You can unlock its unknown potential,” and then pointing to himself, “I found it and am its caretaker, though one with a spotty record.”
He stood in the middle of his guests and continued, “In society today, being fat is, let’s face it, frowned upon. Society would rather worship a young woman who is on the verge of looking like a skeleton and quick to bash that same young woman as fat if she actually looks healthy. This notebook’s power can bring judgment to individuals by making overall society look less on them. It’s not for simple dislike of someone, say for instance.”
“Alexia,” Bert blurted out.
“Exactly,” Scott said, “We’d all like to write Alexia’s name in this notebook, but while she’s a bitch does her level of bitchiness rise to getting written in this notebook? Or does this notebook need to be saved for those who are so duplicitous that they have fooled people into thinking of them as something their not or that our laws don’t have a punishment if they are found out. That’s what this notebook needs to be used for. That’s why I propose creating a sort of council to govern what goes into this notebook. Four of the six of us must vote to write an individual’s name into this notebook with an appropriate weight voted on as well. And as its keeper, I would be the only one to write in it unless the council deems otherwise.”
Scott examined the room. His five guests seemed to be thinking about what he was proposing. He waited a few moments more then said, “I’m open to your thoughts on the matter.”
“So,” Todd started asking, “The only people we would put in the notebook would be people who deserved some sort of punishment. But wouldn’t that just enforce a sort of stereotype against overweight individuals? And wouldn’t those we write in the notebook become the stereotypical sad fat people who are sad because they’re fat? I know I’m not the best person to bring it up, but would using the notebook like we’re talking about actually harm overweight people who weren’t written in the notebook?”
The room was quit for several minutes before Scott looked around then pulled a small table to the center of the room and put the notebook down on it. Then put his hand on it and said, “Unless there’s something else, I’m going to ask if you’re willing to create my proposed council.”
Anna Marie having listened to the conversation said, “Not because you’re by boyfriend, but because it’s what the notebook seems to be all about. I’ll be apart of the council.” She then put her hand on top of his.
“It’s the best thing to do,” Sarah said before placing her hand on Anna Marie’s.
“Yes,”
“I’m…in,”
Bert said putting his hand nervously on
The five of them looked at Todd who stood against the wall looking at them. He then walked over and said, “Because of what I did earlier, I’m never going to propose someone’s name for the notebook unless I have overwhelming proof. With all names proposed, I’ll be their defender. And if in the future everyone can consider forgiving me.”
Everyone looked at Rosa who said, “Are you in? Or out?”
Todd put his hand on top of the pile.
“The council is formed then,” Scott said.
“Indeed it has,” a feminine voice from behind Scott making him turn around to see from whom it had come from. Draped in a black robe with a hood that obscured all but her mouth, the figure looked at them from unseen eyes. “I wonder why a pact is being made upon my book, especially by those who have used it and have been affected by it.”
The six seniors looked at one another before all eyes turned to Scott, who turned back and said, “Your book? Who exactly are you?”
“I balance the scales, especially if one is destructive in the world.”
Scott looked back at his friends, first looking at Sarah who shook her head no then to Bert who looked a little pale. Then looking back at the figure asked, “What exactly is your book suppose to do?”
“It is to admonish those still alive for actions that have caused harm.”
Anna Marie then asked, “Why fatten them up?”
“Mortal cultural attitudes are always changing, what was considered centuries ago a positive is today considered distasteful. Though minor numbers consider something still of good value, if the vast majority including those most likely to be written in my book consider it a social stigma then it can be used to balance the actions of their lives.”
“Is
there a way to reverse the book’s power if your name was written inside it by
accident?”
“Only rules that have been discovered can apply, save one that still hidden or discovered is always enforced.”
Nervously Bert asked, “What is the best way to uncover the rules?”
“The first language of mortals.”
“I was hoping for a little more,” Bert stuttered.
“Start
name off languages,”
Scott interjected, “Try not to piss of the power entity standing in the room.”
The figure turned it hooded face towards each of the seniors before saying, “My time here is done. Use my book well. We shall talk again.” The cloaked figure disappeared as suddenly as she had announced her presence.
The group looked at one another before Bert said, “Wish that would have happened before I decided to join the council.”
“No kidding,” Scott said, “Then again, if we hadn’t made the council what would she, or it, have said when she had appeared later on if we weren’t using it in the way she really would have liked?”
“Let’s not think about that,” Sarah said, “We just learned that we’ll use the notebook for the purpose she wanted it used for. I take it to mean that unless we go freaking egomaniacal with it, the actions we take with it from now on don’t make us evil to the scales of justice.”
“Agreed,” Anna Marie said, “Unless we all suddenly find ourselves barely able to walk because of our weight. Let’s stick with our plan.”
Todd then took the notebook from the table and held it up, “So do we give it to Bert to start translating or should Scott keep it for now.”