The Notebook

VII

The mid-January night was cold even though it was windless, yet the steam coming from the mouths of Rosa Garcia and Sarah Wu seemed to show otherwise as they crutched outside the former’s car. The two were bundled up enough to restrict their movements, though it affected Rosa more than Sarah thanks to over 200 extra pounds on her frame. Sarah moved up to look over the hood of the Accent then motioned to Rosa. The 339-pound young woman grunted getting to her feet and looked around the parking lot outside the Greendale High School gym.

Sarah went around the front of the car then turned to Rosa. “She might have gone over to the lot behind the main building.”

Rosa was looking at her hand before saying, “Possible with more cars there.”

“Is Scott’s match coming up soon?”

“No message from Todd yet,” Rosa said putting her hand into her winter coat pocket.

The two young women walked towards the larger parking lot behind the main building, keeping an eye out for their query. The cold air was making their noses stuffy, forcing them to breathe through their mouths giving them sore throats, but they persisted in their stakeout. The two had hardly talked all, not wanting to announce their presence. But something had been bugging Rosa for weeks and she needed to discuss it.

“I need to ask you something.”

“Sure,” Sarah replied, “If it’s about the assignment in.”

Rosa cut her off, “It’s not,” then saw something out of the corner of her eye.

Rosa stopped, grabbed Sarah’s arm and guided her behind a Toyota Tundra. Putting a finger up to her mouth, Rosa looked around the end of the truck then turned back and indicated to Sarah where to look. Carefully Sarah peered in the direction Rosa pointed out and saw a short haired blond wearing a stylish cap and equally fashionable overcoat leaning up against a decade old mid-size sedan. The young woman was looking off in the other direction then she started turning her head and Sarah moved back behind the Tundra.

“Well, she doesn’t want anyone to notice what she’s doing,” Sarah commented to which Rosa shrugged.

Both knew that unless something dramatic happened then it amounted to just some curious behavior to go along with the numerous pranks and supposed misdeeds from second- and third-hand sources of their subject. Sarah glanced around the end of the Tundra then settled down while Rosa looked at her cell before putting it back in her coat pocket with a shake of the head.

“So what did you want to ask me about?”

Rosa was startled for a moment. “Um, has Bert been acting strange lately?”

“He hasn’t around me.”

“Well, it just seems that as soon I’m in eyesight, he just starts acting weird. It’s like he wants to ask me something but just can’t,” Rosa said as she felt her mobile vibrate.

Sarah watched Rosa read the text. “Maybe he wants to ask you out to the Valentine’s Banquet. It’s less than a month away.”

“What?!” Rosa blurted out. She fumbled with her mobile, trying to not think of the ludicrous idea. Sarah had turned her head around the end of the Tundra and Rosa nudged her, “Scott’s match is almost up.”

Heading for the gym entrance they heard the cheers from inside grow louder with each stride. Rosa thought about what Sarah had said but it just didn’t make any sense. Why would Bert Girard want to go to the Valentine’s Banquet with her? She had never seen any interest from Bert; he just seemed to act weird around her. Rosa knew the look and attitude of guys interested in her from when she was a cheerleader and Bert didn’t so that. Sarah and Rosa reached the doors then each grabbed a handle and swung a door open. Rosa looked back in the direction they had come before turning towards the cheering crowd at the end of the hallway as Scott was announced.

Tonya Winters inhaled the cold air through her nose even as the same air was making it stuffy. She wasn’t surprised, having walked around the parking lot almost the entire evening setting up her surprise for after the meet. Looking around, she wondered if she had enough time to visit more cars and if anyone was watching her. Several times Tonya thought she had been, but only saw brief puffs of steam in the night air which really didn’t prove anything. She took out her mobile glancing at the time before taking another look around when she was startled by her ringtone and saw Isabel’s face come up.

“Hey, is it about time?”

“Yes,” Isabel replied barely loud enough to be heard over the background crowd noise, “Scott’s match will start any moment.”

“Thanks,” Tonya said before hanging up.

Tugging her knit cap over her ears, Tonya headed for the gym doors, looking around to see if anyone was watching not seeing a soul. She entered the gym as she heard the official start the match. Quickly running down the hallway she made her way through the crowd bumping into a few people including Isabel’s fat sister as Scott quickly scored several points. She found Isabel saving a seat at the end of the bleachers sitting down just as Scott scored another two points with a takedown making the crowd roar.

Watching Scott continue to press his advantage, Tonya removed her cap revealing her shaggy pixie cut and opened up her coat due to the unbearable heat in the gym. She didn’t turn away from the action as Scott had his opponent close to a fall trying to finish the match quickly. His opponent was able to prevent it as the first period ended, but the referee gave Scott four points for a near fall. Tonya looked at the score seeing that Scott was up 8-0, even though his opponent was one of a few all season that had actually been able to take him to a second period.

Isabel then leaned over, “I don’t know what you were doing but it better be worth it. I had to fight off a lot people to keep this seat.”

Before Tonya could respond she noticed Scott getting in a defensive position to start the second period with his opponent in the offensive position on top of him. It took only a few seconds after the referee’s whistle blew for Scott to get out from under his opponent, gaining a point for a reversal and then took his opponent to the mat for two more. Then Scott cradle rolled his opponent and held him down for a pin signaled by the referee whistling the match over. Tonya and Isabel leapt up cheered with the rest of the packed gym while Scott and his opponent got to their feet. The referee held up Scott’s hand making them and the rest of the crowd cheer once again.

Tonya turned to her fellow cheerleader who wore a big smile on her face as Scott and his opponent did the post-match ritual. Returning the smile Tonya looked over her friend for a moment then back to the mat as Scott sat down near the end of the bench and noticed his fat ass girlfriend in the front row almost behind him. Unconsciously Tonya shook her head just a bit and her smile disappeared as she looked at Anna Marie Zelman, who was sitting next to Scott’s parents. She wondered what Scott saw in her, it just didn’t make sense why someone as popular as Scott wanted to be seen with someone so hard on the eyes.

The announcer caught Tonya’s attention as he gave the results for the three teams involved in the night’s matches. She cheered with everyone else when it was announced that Greendale had won against both opponents. Eventually the noise level changed from cheering into dim conversations as the Bruin fans started getting to their feet. Tonya glanced at the time on her mobile then turned to Isabel, “I got to run; I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Isabel only nodded in reply though Tonya thought she wanted to talk about something. Tonya put her cap over her blond hair before making her way through the crowd and exited the building. Avoiding the milling crowd right outside the doors, Tonya quickly walked to her SUV. Starting it up with the heat on full blast, she buckled up, turned on her headlights, and eased out her spot. After backing out, Tonya stopped and flipped down her visor to see her blue eyes, button nose, and oval shaped face then flipped it back up after seeing her make-up was okay.

Looking around as she slowly made her way out through the parking lot, Tonya noticed some of the spectators heading for cars she had visited earlier in the evening and smiled. As she drove, Tonya thought about what Isabel could want to discuss and if it was about why Alexia had recently decided to take an interest in her. Tonya couldn’t help thinking that Isabel looking to get the captain’s position, but it didn’t make much sense as Isabel didn’t use her social position compared to everyone else on the squad. The only thing left Tonya could think was that Alexia was playing with her, but she couldn’t tell to what end.

Glancing at her dashboard clock, Tonya’s mind turned to her activities during the meet and smiled when her mobile started chirping with an avalanche of tweets and texts being sent to her. Tonya resisted taking her eyes off the road especially so close to home. After a few minutes, she turned through subdivision gates and quickly turned down a short cul-de-sac punctuated street. She edged around the circle and stopped a third of the way around in front a large multi-storied red brick home with white trimming and pillars bracketing the front door.

Exiting her car with mobile in hand, Tonya pressed her keyless remote to lock the SUVs doors as she walked up the drive. Opening the white front door, Tonya heard the familiar sounds her family made during their evening routines. Her mother was talking on the phone, her father was watching his beloved Jayhawks playing in the living room, and she could hear the hum of her younger sisters playing their music loud in their respective rooms probably in competition with one another.

Tonya headed past the front stairs for the back of her home and went up back stairway just out of eyesight of her mother in the kitchen. Just as she emerged into the hallway upstairs she saw the shine of her father’s clean shaven head emerging from the stairs at the other end of the hallway. He smiled at her, “Hi Tonya, I didn’t hear you come home. Everything go well at the meet?”

“Yeah, it was exciting.”

“Good to hear,” he replied before starting to knock on the three doors at the other end of the hallway making the music stop in each. Heads poked out of each room as he said, “I don’t want to hear Justin, Taylor, and Demi over Dick Vitale so turn it down.”

Tonya was in her room before her sisters started to complain and looking at her mobile as the tweets and texts kept piling up. Taking off her cap and coat, Tonya sat down at her desk and woke up her computer, typing in her password with one hand while glancing at all the messages on her mobile with a growing smile. She clicked Twitter and started reading all the things her fellow cheerleaders were saying about what had happened.

Tonya leaned back in her chair, put her long legs up on the edge of her bed, and stretched out her 5’8” frame as she continued reading. After a while she ran her hands through her shaggy blond hair before taking her feet off the bed, leaned forward, and continued reading everything with a smile. Finally Tonya turned away from the computer screen and grabbed her textbooks to finish her homework before going to sleep.

Preparing for bed, Tonya traded her form-fitting long sleeved sweater and tight blue jeans for a t-shirt and short shorts. The tight outfit revealed her straight body shape with her 32BB breasts, slender hips, and flat backside. As she turned off her bedroom lights, the recently turned 17-year old smiled as she thought about how the others were going to be impressed about the havoc she caused. After tonight there was no way she wasn’t going to become the captain next year.

Scott Hansen toweled his still moist brown hair one more time before combing it down and putting a cap over his head. In one motion he grabbed his gym bag and slung it over his shoulder and walked out of the locker room. The now near empty gym was deathly silent compared to the cacophony of sound that had vibrated not so long before. Anna Marie, Rosa, and Sarah were seated together talking amongst themselves as he approached. “What was all that noise? We could tell it was from outside, but nothing beyond that.”

“Turns out it was connected to our stakeout,” Rosa said, automatically getting Scott’s attention.

Sarah said, “It looks like thin-skinned firecrackers were placed near the engine and heating units on several cars, as the cars warmed up they caused deafening pops that surprised the drivers.”

Rosa then spoke up again, “That resulted in several crashes or ruined cars plus people running all over the place adding to the chaos. Right now there are at least a half dozen Greendale police and as many sheriff deputies in the parking lot going through everything.”

“Was Tonya near any of those cars that you could tell?” Scott asked.

“Yes,” Sarah answered.

“We looked at all the cars that had already been affected when things first went down and Tonya had been near them for a period of time while we were tracking her,” Rosa added.

Anna Marie finally joined the conversation, “I think the evidence is pretty good to put Tonya up for a vote. And the requirements for putting her in the notebook are there with no parking lot cameras and she would have been wearing gloves so no fingerprints.”

Scott nodded. “Alright tell Todd and Bert we’ll deliberate tomorrow at lunch.”

Rosa and Sarah said their goodbyes then headed for the hallway entrance leaving Scott and Anna Marie. Sitting down next to his girlfriend, Scott nudged up against her and brought his hand around her back, brushing it across the top of her hefty backside. He kissed her on the cheek and she turned towards him before planting one on his lips then returned to looking forward. “You’re dad thought you did a good job tonight.”

“What did you think?” he asked grabbing a hold of the fleshy upper arm furthest away from him.

“You seemed a bit winded in the first period of your last match, you might want to layoff yearning for me nightly and keep your strength,” she replied with a wry smile.

He raised an eyebrow. “I’ll remember that this weekend when you come to cuddle.”

Anna Marie stiffened up and shifted her large seat. “About this weekend, Whitney has planned a double date for us. She wants you and Brad to get to know one another better.”

“I don’t want to know Brad any better,” he replied tersely.

“I haven’t wanted to spend time with him either,” Anna Marie replied, “Unfortunately it’s not your sister he’s dating.”

“Come up with some excuse that we can’t do it then.”

She turned it him, “I would love to do that, but my mom likes the idea and frankly I’m not going to be pestered by both my sister and mom. So let’s just do it and get it over with.”

“No,” Scott stated matter-of-factly.

Lines grew on the 278-pound young woman’s forehead and around her mouth as she became visibly upset. “Listen Scott, I don’t like it any more than you do, but I’m only asking you to kill a few hours.”

Scott just shook his head.

Anne Marie stood up, walked a few steps away as butt and hips swayed in her form-fitting black leather skirt, and then turned back towards him. “I’ve gone twice to your church with all the pressure and the uncomfortable expectations your family history brings, I’ve let you set the general tone of our relationship because I agreed with it, and I’ve stuffed myself with and without your help in an effort to get a bigger ass. Just do it this once and then we can come up with excuses on why we can’t do it again.”

“The guy is a pompous jackass. It would be one thing if we’re married and they were married, but I just can’t stand the guy and don’t want to spend any more time around him than I have to.”

Anna Marie opened her mouth and stood there looking at him before closing it and shook her head. “At least you could suck it up and work a little in our relationship. I’ll see you tomorrow at lunch.”

She turned, walked towards the hallway, and disappeared from Scott’s view. He looked at where she had gone for a little while before getting up and grabbing his bag. A sick, bile taste was in his mouth as he walked towards the hallway, he spit in a nearby trash can to no use. He passed several other students, but didn’t acknowledge them on his way outside.

As the brisk cold air hit him, Scott’s sour mood only grew worse as he saw Anna Marie’s taillights headed out of the parking lot. A police officer came up to him asking to inspect his car for a possible foreign object. He led the officer to his car and popped the hood, after a quick look around the officer gave him the okay. Scott nodded, closed the hood, and got in. He started up the Sundance and headed home, as he left the parking lot Brad Whitmer entered his thoughts, further worsening his mood.

The next morning Tonya was startled awake when her alarm went off. She yawned as she got out of bed; a cold shower shook her awake, ready for the day as she wondered what others would be saying about last night. Tonya toweled off and blew her shaggy hair dry, she grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and put on a body-tight dark green turtleneck. She brought some order to her hair then applied some make-up to finish her morning routine.

Tonya grabbed her coat and backpack on the way out of her room, turned the corner to the back stairs. Emerging opposite the kitchen, she entered in to find her younger sisters seated around the table and her mother finishing up a batch of pancakes. She sat down in one of the open chairs just as her mother turned around.

“Antonia,” her mother said her Ukrainian accent emphasizing the vowels in surprise, “I was getting worried that you would miss breakfast. I have more pancakes ready.”

Tonya glanced around at the table noting the syrup covered plates in front of her sisters. “I’ll be good with two, mom.”

Her mother brought over two plates of butter dripping pancakes, one she set in front of Tonya and the other she picked off to put on the plates in front of her sisters. Her solidly built mother returned to the counter as Tonya and her siblings ate in silence until the youngest said, “Mommy, can I go over to Raquel’s after school? Daddy can pick me up on his way home.”

Tonya glanced at her mother, not really caring about the answer since she was going to be with the cheering at the both the girls and boys basketball games. Her mother nixed the idea, but said that if she was good then maybe she could spend a night over the weekend. This satisfied her baby sister, but her twin middle sisters decided it was the time to argue about the relationship between Justin Bieber and Selena Gomez. Quickly finishing her plate Tonya stood up and said, “I’m brushing my teeth. Five minutes after I’m done, I’ll be headed out to my SUV. I will to waste gas waiting,” then put her plate in the sink.

By the time Tonya walked out of the front door, her younger sisters were scrambling to get their coats and backpacks on. She got to the driver’s door just as her sisters came running out of the house headed for the front passenger’s side door. Tonya unlocked her door, got inside, and started the SUV when the twins reached the passenger’s side door only to find it locked. She brought the window down slightly and said, “Ana gets the front seat, you two in the back,” she brought the window up before they could whine.

With no choice Belle, the younger twin, walked around the front of the SUV to the door behind Tonya. Before she had even shifted into drive, Libby called shotgun after Ana got out only for Tonya to tell the older twin to stay her in her seat. Once all of them had buckled up, Tonya put the SUV into gear.

The drive was uneventful as usual to Greendale High with stops at the elementary and middle schools. Tonya parked near the gym doors to avoid a long walk that night. While other students parked closer to main building to stay as little outside in the cold as possible, however the 17-year old junior didn’t mind the cold even with skinny jeans making her legs numb. On her way through the parking lot Tonya noticed Isabel and her sister, some hot looking junior boys goofing around, Todd Walker and that annoying fat nerd he hung out with, and finally Alexia and the other senior cheerleaders. As she passed the cheerleading captain requested a meeting at lunch making Tonya smile with the sense that obtaining her goal was within reach. She entered the school with a beaming smile.

The brisk cold wind made Bert Girard and Todd walk quickly from the latter’s car towards the school building, making it a priority. Once inside the two went their separate ways to 1^st period Thursday classes. They interacted with the other council members throughout the morning, however whenever Bert got close Rosa he became extremely nervous and was thankful that something would force one of them away from the other. Before the council members knew it the bell rang ending 2^nd period and sending the student body to lunch.

After walking to his locker alcove to grab his lunch, Bert headed for Mr. Hicks classroom and was surprised to find he arrived first. He moved some seats to from a circle before sitting down to wait. He nibbled on his sandwich, Anna Marie came in the room giving him a smile then putting down her book bag and lunch on the chair next to his right. The auburn-haired goth grabbed something from her bag and headed to Mr. Hicks’ office, the pronounced movements of her butt and hips taking his attention before they disappeared.

Sarah came in and sat opposite Bert in the circle then looked around for Anna Marie upon seeing her bag. Seeing Anna Marie talking with Mr. Hicks, Sarah gave Bert a smile and sat down. Rosa came in the room a moment later sitting to the right of Sarah and looked at Bert before he glanced away. Anna Marie came back, put her things on the floor and sat down. Just then Scott walked in taking the seat between Bert and Rosa. Before everyone could react Todd came into the classroom, stopped, and blinked to process what he was seeing before heading to the last seat open between Sarah and Anna Marie.

Bert felt the awkwardness, but did not speak as he ate. After a few minutes of quiet eating, Todd cleared his throat. “From the message I got, we have business to take care of.”

Scott finished his sandwich then opened up his book bag and produced the notebook. Bert listened as he opened up the meeting by refreshed everyone on why the investigation into Tonya had been started. He shifted in his seat when Scott mentioned his motion earlier in the month and then turned the floor over to Sarah and Rosa. Bert listened as they described what had happened last night and noticed Todd looking at the floor.

Once Sarah and Rose had finished there was silence around the circle as everyone continued eating, Bert looked back and forth at Scott and Anna Marie on either side of him noticing how tense they seemed. Finally he spoke, “Um, I don’t want to speak out of turn,” and saw everyone turn to him, “But it’s probably time for Todd to present Tonya’s defense, if she has any to be presented.”

Rosa spoke up before Todd could respond. “When we voted to investigate, I stated I had a theory about her actions. Well I’m going to tell you what the theory is.” Bert noticed everyone’s attention was on Rosa as she continued, “When we were sophomores Alexia aimed to become cheerleading captain devising a plan in which she would impress all the younger cheerleaders by doing pranks. She also set several juniors cheerleader against one another, and one of them didn’t know she was a candidate. All these factors allowed her to win the vote for captain. I think Tonya is doing something similar to be captain next year. Obviously Tonya is doing pranks, but it seems Alexia has decided to set up my sister as a possible rival for he own amusement. Since we’ve seen what kind of pranks Tonya has decided to do, and while this may be too personal I don’t want to see what she’ll do if she views my sister as a threat.”

Todd spoke up, “I don’t think we should vote for personal reasons. However, I really don’t have a defense after last night.”

Bert waited for Scott or Anna Marie to say something, but both seemed detached. Just to stop the awkward silence, he cleared his throat. “I propose that Tonya Winter gets written into the notebook.”

Scott suddenly snapped back into his leadership role, “We have a motion. All those in favor raise their hands.”

Bert raised his hand along with everyone save Todd and as usual none were raised when Scott called for those opposed. Scott announced that the motion had passed and Bert let out a long breathe. Taking a pen Scott opened the notebook, but just as he touched pen to paper he lifted it up. “Do you want to vote on weight? If not, I something in mind.”

“What a concept! Deciding not to control the process,” Anna Marie stated making Scott twitch his face and shift in his seat as a long awkward pause descended.

Not able to bear it any longer Bert spoke up, “I’m pretty sure you have something appropriate in mind,” he looked at Rosa, Sarah, and Todd for support.

The other three at first only shook their heads before vocally as Bert glanced at Anna Marie and Scott see their reactions. Neither gave anything away on their face, though both seemed to be uncomfortable in their seats. Scott wrote something in the notebook before closing it and excused himself while putting the notebook in his backpack. After he left the room the awkwardness remained along with Anna Marie for a few minutes. She then stood up, “I got questions about an assignment that need answered,” and headed out the door with her backside and hips moving wildly.

The silence remained amongst the rest of them before Sarah asked, “What the hell was that all about?”

“I don’t know,” Todd said, “I was surprised to see them not sitting together.

While Rosa was at a loss for words, Bert wasn’t. “I think they had a fight.”

“What makes you say that?” Rosa asked.

Bert turned to her and felt Sarah and Todd looking at him then cleared his throat. “Well from personal experience, their body language and unusual statements points to that.”

“What personal experience?” Sarah questioned.

“My parents are divorced remember, I might have been young but I noticed things.”

The others glanced at one another before Todd said, “Well I guess it was bound to happen sometime, it’s not this is happily ever after land.”

Bert finished his lunch and decided to leave, putting back not only his chair but Scott and Anna Marie’s as well. He headed out into the hallway as the others discussed what Scott might have decided to put in the notebook. For himself the whole thing was somewhat defeatist. He remembered standing up to Tonya back in November while he and his fellow geeks and nerds were talking about the Rook tournament. Now he alone would have that memory because to everyone else there it probably did not happen. Before Bert knew it, he started thinking about that same Rook tournament where he had met Autumn and tried unsuccessfully to think of something else only to start thinking of Rosa as well.

Tonya threw her backpack onto the gym bench before opening up her locker. She pulled out her cheerleading uniform and looked at. Tonya started imagining the green and gold captain’s C located in the upper left hand corner. The image brought a smile to her face as she placed it on the bench as well and turned to the mirror attached inside of the locker door. Hearing voices entering the locker room she quickly checked her make-up. Tonya straightened up to see Alexia and the other seniors on the cheerleading team coming around the end of the locker bank and towards her down the aisle. She smiled with confidence.

Alexia kept eye contact with Tonya as she walked down the aisle towards the junior. The cocky expression on the shaggy haired blond’s oval face made Alexia admire Tonya a little. Alexia wore a smile on her face, but only for show. She really didn’t care who was captain next year, though she had wanted to play her game some more Tonya would impress all the younger girls with what she had done last night. Alexia knew she could still have some fun, but only if she really put some effort into it which would be an annoyance to her.

For a moment the two looked at one another, but Alexia didn’t want to waste any more time than she had to. “I have to say that last night was quiet a show,” Tonya smiled, “Scott was on fire last night, looks like he’s in line for a third state title. And then there is the rest of the team, especially Brandon. I’m going to have to figure out different rotations for not only the wrestling squad but also the basketball squads.”

Alexia noticed Tonya’s cockiness dim slightly before continuing, “And then there were the fireworks in the parking lot. I’ve done some great pranks, but never so great that nearly every on duty police officer in Greendale along with as many sheriff deputies responded. It was amusing, if not annoying trying to leave however I can’t deny the quality.” Tonya perked up making Alexia’s stomach turn.

“Well that’s big of you to say,” Tonya replied.

Alexia kept her face straight. “If I was an egomaniac I would assume you’d ask for my endorsement when the next election comes, however I’m sure you’ve already told the junior varsity members about your exploits so you wouldn’t need it. I asked for this meeting because you need to cool it for a while, since you’ve got the position sown up. If you were to continue and by some chance get caught or one of the younger girls then the entire team could get screwed over.”

“Really?” Tonya responded, “Then why the meetings with Isabel?”

Alexia looked Tonya in the face, “Did I say,” she trailed off. A confused looked appeared on Tonya’s chubby cheeked face, but for some reason Alexia thought it had changed.

The sudden change of expression on Alexia’s face wasn’t hard for Tonya to notice and made her concerned about what the head cheerleader was seeing. Believing it was something on her face Tonya turned and was shocked at was in the mirror. Her familiar slender oval face had been replaced by a larger version staring back. Tonya thinking she might be having an allergic reaction brought her hand up when she noticed her fingers were looking a tad chubby then saw that her face seemed to thicken with the beginnings of second chin under her jaw in the mirror.

Tonya glanced down to see her breasts growing and further a bulge of a developing belly. Suddenly she felt her clothes getting tight all over her body; looking to her left she saw her upper arm getting thicker and quiver when she moved it. Out of the corner of her eye, Tonya saw in her reflection a prominent second chin that was taking over the front of her neck. As she shifted her stance, Tonya noticed that her thighs were rubbing against one another just as she started feeling constricted in her jeans. Then there was a growing tightness around her waist as the waistband of her jeans started cutting into her softening midsection. Just as suddenly as it began, her expansion stopped and Tonya started to examine herself.

Alexia couldn’t shake the feeling that moments before the fat blond standing in front of her had been slender cheerleading teammate. Looking at the gaping Tonya staring at her attire like she just realized none fit properly, the idea seemed absurd especially as she remembered interactions with the junior for the past three years and in most Tonya had some poundage.

Tonya brought her eyes back up to Alexia’s with a puzzled look on her fat-cheeked face with a dangling second chin underneath her jaw. “Uh,” Tonya said before looking down again then looking around at Alexia and the others, “Alexia, I, uh.”

Alexia was exasperated with the junior, “I didn’t come here to waste my time. You indicated that you knew who played the prank last night,” the thought that Tonya had been a slender cheerleader just moments before went to the back of her mind, but she couldn’t shake it.

Tonya looked bewildered when Amanda chimed in, “Alexia, look what she has.”

Alexia turned to see Amanda holding up a cheerleader uniform and immediately the thought that Tonya had been a slender cheerleader leaped to the forefront of her thoughts again. Taking the uniform from Amanda, Alexia resisted bringing the subject up because in either case Tonya was a porker now.

“So dreaming of the good old days of the beginning of your freshman year when you were a slender junior varsity cheerleader that fit into this uniform? Because at the end of the year, it was very ill fitting and frankly it looks like you haven’t learned from that experience,” Alexia said looking at Tonya’s belly and muffin top.

Tonya quietly looked down again as Alexia took a step closer and pointed, “Look who’s come to say hi. It’s a little bit of Tonya’s belly.”

Tonya pulled her sweater down as the others laughed, but it slowly crept up the front of her belly to expose an inch of flesh. At the reddening of the junior’s face, Alexia smiled. “Let’s not forget that we can’t sicken people with the sight of your thighs, just look how they’re squeezed into those jeans, pressing against one another. I wouldn’t want make extra work for the cleaning staff.”

Tonya looked down again trying view her lower half as laughter started again. Then Alexia brought the one-sided conversation to an end. “Maybe if you lost 50 or 60-pounds, you make the tryouts next fall. I doubt you have the self-control, so I would suggest you take note of Anna Marie and Rosa. They might be bigger heifers than you, but at least they know how to dress their blubber.”

Tonya watched Alexia and the other seniors walk away, her cheerleading uniform swing from one of the captain’s fingers as they headed out. Grabbing her backpack Tonya wanted to check herself out in a larger mirror, but the end of lunch bell sounded. Her next class was on the third floor of the main building, before her expansion it would have been an easy journey but now she didn’t know and didn’t waste time.

Catching only a glimpse of herself in the mirror Tonya hurried out of the locker room getting use how to walk with her new weight. As she entered the parking lot, she was already winded and had to slow down. Tonya felt her sweater ride up to expose a little bit of her belly to the cold as she continued through the parking lot. Pulling her sweater down as she continued towards the main building, Tonya focused her attention the pavement not wanting to see how others were looking at her.

Entering the main campus building at the bottom of a stairwell, Tonya started up the flight of stairs as quickly as her tight cloths comfortably allowed her to move. Every now and again she looked to see the expressions on the faces of other students towards her, but mainly found indifference or no one taking notice. In-between the second and third floor, Tonya believed she saw a nerd do a double take when he passed her, she glanced at him and thought she remembered him standing up to her a few months before.

Once on the third floor, Tonya headed down the hallway to her classroom, she started feeling winded but a glanced at the hallway clock and hurried her pace just as the bell rang. She walked through the doorway breathing hard and made her way up the narrow aisles of desks, trying not to bump into any. Tonya reached her seat then hesitated as she noted the space she was expected to occupy and wondered if she could fit.

Tonya settled uneasily in her seat with plenty of room and nervously looked around the room. She noticed some odd looks by those near her, as if she was acting weird. Mrs. Jasper starting her usual beginning of class quiz making Tonya turned her attention to the front of the room. As the class period continued Tonya slowly zoned out from the lesson, thinking about Alexia’s reaction at her expansion or complete lack thereof exhibited by everyone else save that one nerd. Suddenly the bell rang and Tonya realized the rest of the class was gathering up their books.

Tonya started getting her stuff together and tried to find the homework assignment, but couldn’t. Giving up, she stood up, pulled her sweater down over the bottom of her belly again, and headed for the door. Tonya made her way to the nearest stairwell and went down a floor. Glancing at her watch made her start to hurry though she still was not use to her extra weight and the unusual sensations she was experiencing. Barely beating the bell, Tonya sat down in the first available seat as Mr. Hicks started taking attendance.

Tonya attempted to pay attention during class however her mind continued to dwell on what had happened at the end of lunch. Before she knew it the bell rang ending the day, Tonya wrote the homework assignment down and gathered her things into her backpack. As Tonya head out the door, she pulled her sweater down over the bottom of her belly and turned on her mobile. She was startled when it chimed indicating a waiting message. Seeing that it was from her mother, Tonya started thinking about what if anything her family would say.

“Hello Antonia,” her mother said accenting the vocals in her name, “Make sure to pick up Oriana first. I have already called Mrs. Garcia to warn her that your sister and Raquel might try to pull something, so she will pick up Raquel later than she usually does. I’ll see the four of you at home.”

The message ended and the automated voice went over the mailbox options as Tonya pondered her mother’s routine sounding message for her to pick up her sisters, almost as if she had been fat for years. Making her way to her locker alcove, Tonya saw Mrs. Jasper came walking down the hallway talking to another student. Deciding to get her missing homework assignment Tonya stood next to the wall out of the flow of traffic until the other student left the teacher’s side. Mrs. Jasper turned, “Tonya, do you have a moment to talk?”

“Not really, but I didn’t get the homework assignment written down and wondered if you could tell me what it was?”

“Are you sure that’s all, I noticed you were distracted during class. If you want to talk about something, I am willing to listen or get you in touch with the new counselor.”

Tonya shook her head. “I need to pick up my baby sister right away. So if you could give me the assignment I would appreciate it.”

Mrs. Jasper nodded and gave her the assignment before adding, “Don’t hesitate if you need to talk about anything.”

Tonya nodded before heading to her locker. She avoided making eye contact with those around her, especially the VJ cheerleaders. After getting what she needed, Tonya quickly proceeded to her SUV through the thinned out hallways and stairwell before traversing the parking lot filled with teenage drivers. Tonya used her clicker to unlock the SUV, putting her things in the trunk before going and to the driver’s door. Hesitating a moment, Tonya opened the door and proceeded to clumsily get up into the seat thanks to the awkwardness she had with her new poundage.

It took Tonya time to navigate the parking lot then make her way to the elementary school and become part of the growing line of cars waiting to pick up the students just as it ended the school day. After five minutes of moving forward, Tonya turned the corner to the front of the school building when one of the vice principals came up to her window then spoke her sister’s name into his radio and backed away so she could move forward along with the rest of the line of cars. A few minutes later, Tonya saw Ana come into view walking down the front sidewalk and open the passenger’s side door to get in.

Ana put on her seatbelt before Tonya moved out of line and headed for the middle school then said, “You’re early.”

“And Mrs. Garcia will be later than usual.”

Ana snapped her head around. “I knew I shouldn’t have said anything this morning.”

“And get in trouble when dad brought you home, if mom had decided to pick the three of you up today and not me?” Tonya replied as she pulled the SUV into another line of cars outside the middle school.

“Mom hasn’t picked us up since you got your license.”

Tonya glanced at her baby sister then realized that just like Alexia and the others, Ana didn’t have memories of her ever being a cheerleader. She saw Libby and Belle coming down the sidewalk arguing with one another, “You never know, I could decide to get a life.” Ana looked at her as the twins got into the back of the SUV and took a seat.
Once the twins had their seatbelts on, Tonya got out of line and headed for home. Once on the road twins started talking about some gossip they had overheard about some of their classmates. The duo were the only ones making a sound the entire trip and when Tonya turned onto their short street started calling shots to various things.

Tonya parked the SUV in front of their home and her sisters quickly got out, racing for the front door. She took her time getting out and then walked to the trunk to get her stuff. Closing the backdoor, she took out her clicker and locked the SUV, pulling down her sweater she walked for the front door. Opening the door, Tonya inhaled the smell of freshly baked cookies making her stomach rumble. She was almost to the stairs when her smiling mother came down the hallway with a plate of cookies.

“Don’t worry I know you like eating in your room,” her mother said handing over the plate.

Taking it, Tonya and thanked her mother before heading up the stairs. Almost without thinking about it, she grabbed one of the cookies and took a big bite. Before she reached the top, it was gone. By the time she had reached her room, two more had gone from the plate. Opening her door, Tonya took a moment to look back down the hallway to the staircase then back down at the plate before feeling her belly. She grabbed another cookie, put it between her teeth, and entered her room shutting the door behind her.

Anna Marie walked down the empty hallway towards the open office door, her boots thumping on the floor with her near 300 pound body magnifying the impact. She shifted her backpack straps on her shoulders, feeling the bottom of the pack brush the top of her butt before pulling it up to a higher position. Arriving at the office, she knocked on the opened door, watching Scott turn away from the paper he was grading.

“I caught a glimpse of Tonya after third period; well I think it was a chubby version of her at least. I’m guessing at most 215 pounds?”

Scott finished grading the paper in front of him. “Only 200,” he said leaning back in his chair, “Considering what Rosa theorized about what Tonya was attempting, I thought it would be fitting that instead of making her one of the biggest girls in school either socially or figuratively, the minimum weight gain would make her just another student.”

Anna Marie nodded and Scott turned around to grade another paper. She leaned against the doorpost with her thick upper arm and shoulder, patiently waiting on Scott when he glanced over his shoulder. “I guess you want to talk about something else?”

“Yeah,” she replied, “I want to see if you’ve decided to stop being a jerk and agree on that double date with Whitney and Brad.”

Scott continued grading papers, “No.”

Before she could respond from behind her came, “Excuse me.”

“Sorry,” Anna Marie said as she turned around and stepped aside. Looking down at Ms. Applegate, she asked, “Could I steal Scott for a few minutes?”

“Sure,” short teacher said before sitting down at her desk, “It’s not like he’s running behind on anything.”

As Scott got out of his chair, Anna Marie walked down the hallway. Turning a corner she stopped and waited for her boyfriend. Scott appeared around the corner looking displeased expression and put his back against the wall. “Why the hell can’t you just do this for me?”

“For you?” he responded, “Yesterday it was because Whitney wanted to do it, it was something your mom wanted you to do. Now it’s you wanting to do it?”

“You don’t have to live under the same roof as them,” she said exasperatedly, “I’m pretty sure your parents don’t bug you about us when you’re training, but my sister and especially my mom think I have time to talk when I’m drawing. The main thing they want to talk about it Brad and how the two of you should spend more time around one another so Whitney and I could spend more time around one another.”

Scott shook his head a little and gestured with his shoulders. “So? Do you know how annoying it is when you’re over that my mom keeps on giving me dating ideas, some are the same every weekend, and I keep on telling her you wouldn’t like them because you have told me that? Or that my dad keeps on wanting to give me dressing tips from the 80s? It’s not like you’re the only one who’s dealing with family in this relationship.”

“But I’m the only one of us with a sibling,” a hint of anger in her voice, “It’s a whole lot different than just parents. And with my dad liking you over Brad it makes things even more complicated. Could you please do this for me?” Then added, “I haven’t said no to any of the things you wanted to try.”

Scott looked at her, “You were all for trying them as well, and it’s not like I had to talk you into them and frankly wasn’t going to try if you didn’t want to.”

“Scott Hansen! Will you just go on this damn double date?”

“No,” he said matter of fact.

Anna Marie tried to keep her anger from showing. “Fine, tell your mom I won’t be coming over this weekend. I made plans to do something else.”

“Fine,” Scott replied before straightening up and rounding the corner out of sight.

For a moment Anna Marie just stood there before heading towards the nearest stairwell. She pushed the door as hard as she could and hearing it loudly slam against the plastic stopper as she came through the doorway. Her butt and hips swayed side-to-side brushing up against the rails every other step on her way down the stairs. The sound of her boots pounding down on each step reverberated through the stairwell until the last few steps. Anna Marie flung open the door to the outside and felt the cold hit her face as the door slammed against the outside wall.

Anna Marie couldn’t understand why Scott was being such a hard headed jerk about one simple favor. She regretted telling him she wouldn’t be coming over for the weekend if it was possible for to raise her foot up to kick her big ass, she would have done it. By the time Anna Marie reached her car and unlocked it, her temper had cooled down some. As she drove through the nearly full parking lot she wondered if Sarah and Rosa would be able to do something with her this weekend so she could avoid her mom and sister.

Todd opened up his locker, shifting books to and from his backpack. Afterwards he grabbed his lunch, closed the door, turned the dial, and attempted to pull the door open without success. Glancing around the rest of the alcove, he didn’t see anyone to eat lunch with that he knew and didn’t know where he wanted to eat it at. He knew the unusual Friday had started at lunch the day before.

After Scott and Anna Marie left, Mr. Hicks had come to the rest of the group to tell them his classroom would be closed the next day during lunch. When Todd had called Scott, he learned that Bert had been correct. Scott had been less than forthcoming when it came to Tonya and it was only when he had gotten a look at her this morning that Todd learned what his friend had decided to write in the notebook. He had been surprised to see Tonya at probably 200 pounds, if not slightly heavier, and for once it looked like her wardrobe hadn’t been changed to the best fit possible.

Walking down the hallway Todd thought about going to the cafeteria or maybe finding some guys he hadn’t talk with in a while. Then just in front of him came Sarah out of a classroom writing on a notepad, he stopped even though she kept walking without looking up. Todd was stepping out her way when she looked up and came to a startled stop. “Hey Todd, what are you up to?”

“Looking for someplace to eat lunch, you?”

Sarah put her notepad away and said, “The same.”

“What to find a place together?” Todd shrugged.

Sarah nodded. Todd started looking into open classrooms then back at Sarah as they proceeded down the hallway. Getting to the end of the hallway, they faced a choice between going either direction down another hallway and going up a nearby stairwell. He followed after Sarah who headed for the stairwell door.

Following Sarah up the stairs Todd laughed getting her attention.

“What?”

“I was just thinking that when the six of us got together,” Todd started, “I wouldn’t have imagined that the two of us would be the ones looking for friends to eat with.”

Sarah stopped and looked back at him. “What does that mean?”

“Well, right now Scott is most likely eating with other guys on the wrestling team. Anna Marie and Rosa are most likely talking about, well, um, issues dealing with their sizes. Bert is with his, um, fellow nerds or awkwardly trying to talk with women. Beforehand Scott would have been eating with his teammates sometime but others days it would be with a group of guys including me. Anna Marie would normally go into an empty classroom to eat then draw while Rosa would be with Alexia and the other cheerleaders. Bert would either be by himself or with his friends, not having to worry about talking with girls. From what I remember you were always sitting with people and talking. And when I wouldn’t be with Scott, I’d be eating with some classmates or fellow runners. So for whatever reasons, they’ve been able to keep in contact with other friends while we haven’t.”

Sarah opened the door to the second floor. Todd started to worry that he had hit a nerve before she spoke. “Everything you said is right, Except for one thing.”

He noticed Sarah was upset. “What did I get wrong?”

Sarah didn’t respond as she went into a classroom and sat down. Todd followed and sat down next to her, watching as she fumbled with things in her backpack while getting her lunch out. He slowly unpacked his own lunch, looking at her expectantly. Finally he asked, “Sarah, what’s wrong?”

“I wasn’t with friends all the time or even the vast majority of the time,” she began, “Except for a few times when Anna Marie and I would get together or if one of my extracurricular things had a lunch meeting, I usually would just find a room that had someone I knew or went to the cafeteria. The last months have been the most I’ve had lunch anyone, basically you guys are my closest friends.”

Todd looked at her, not knowing what to say. For a while they ate in silence before Todd spoke, “Sorry, I didn’t mean bring up bad memories.”

“You didn’t know,” Sarah replied, “I’m a tad upset that Bert has a higher social profile than I do,” she stopped for a moment she smiled before continuing, “What do you mean that Bert is worried about talking with girls? Well Rosa as mentioned that he’s been acting weird around her. Wait, is Bert interested in Rosa?”

Todd hesitated. “Um, it’s complicated.”

“Complicated?” Sarah said rolling her eyes then became serious, “Is he trying to ask her to the Valentine’s Banquet?”

Todd remained silent as he tried to figure out what to say while Sarah started to look impatient. Finally he said, “Um, Bert told me stuff in confidence and so, I, um, can neither confirm nor deny anything.”

“Really? You’re going to invoke the bro code?”

“Yes,” Todd replied, “And Scott would say the same thing.”

Sarah shook her head before continuing to eat in silence. After a few minutes they were both done and were just sitting there awkwardly. Todd sighed and said, “Listen I’ve probably said too much already, but Bert is nervous as it is and he doesn’t need a misunderstanding complicating things. But I would recommend suggesting to Rosa that maybe she should ask Bert if there’s something on his mind.”

The look Sarah gave him, made Todd worry he had said too much before she nodded. “Alright, I’ll do what I can. If Bert is nervous I’m not going to make it worse for him.” Just then the bell rang and Sarah grabbed the remains of her lunch before saying, “Thanks for company.”

“No problem,” Todd replied as he watched her throw her trash away as she exited the room.

The cafeteria was already beginning to fill up with lines forming at the food counters Tonya saw as she entered the vast space. Heading to the nearest line, she kept eyes focused down at the floor a few feet in front of her. As she waited patiently in the moderately moving line, Tonya glanced around to see if anyone noticed her being different. However, no one gave her a second glance as if she had always been fat to some degree.

It had only really hit Tonya about how things had changed after she had closed her bedroom door the day before. Her room seemed to have remained the same until she had looked in her closet. At first her clothing looked unchanged until she realized they were in bigger sizes, though barely fit or road up like her sweater had. After examining at every item in her closet she had sat down on the edge of her bed and tried to figure out what had happened, it wasn’t until one of her sisters knocked on her door to announce supper that she realized a few hours had past.

Getting closer to the counter, Tonya couldn’t help thinking about her last two meals. Her mother had always cooked a lot of food, but now that Tonya looked like she had indulged herself all those years it seemed her mother had decided to cook more. Tonya found herself eating multiple servings at each meal, which had almost caused her to be late this morning. Her mother had been more than happy to keep filling Tonya’s plate or passing things in her direction, no one in her family took a second look at her stuffing herself.

Tonya grabbed a food tray then proceeded down the counter and once through the line turn to find a seat at the rapidly filling cafeteria tables. Already rows were being filled, not only by those eating the cafeteria food but those who had brought their own lunches. As she looked around for a place to sit, Tonya couldn’t help but feel alone. She finally decided to sit in a corner and watched the majority of the student body. Her mood wasn’t helped by remembering that just the day before she had looked down on them.

Tonya started looking around the cafeteria at the other students as she ate. Some she vaguely remembered names with faces from shared classes, usually other juniors. A number of them she had been cheerleaders with just the day before, most of those she saw today were from the JV squad as they hovered around Isabel. It wasn’t the first time Tonya today had seen her former friend, this morning as she hurried towards her first class she had bumped into someone. Out of habit she had turned around to criticize whoever it was, only to come face-to-face with Isabel’s much larger sister. The sizeable senior seemed to take stock of her and Tonya didn’t notice Isabel standing there until they made eye-contact. She had quickly turned and headed off towards her class without looking back.

Tonya noticed that Isabel was looking around the cafeteria, not wanting to be recognized she put her head down. After a minute she looked up and saw that Isabel sitting down again. Tonya started looking around the cafeteria again and saw the nerd who seemed to have taken notice of her expansion. He was sitting with some other nerds on a nearby bench and then Tonya realized where she remembered him from. He had been the one that had embarrassed her in front of the other nerds back at Thanksgiving as well as hanging out with Scott, his big assed girlfriend, and Isabel’s sister. She wondered if her social future was going to be with the likes of the nerd’s present company.

Tonya looked down at her food tray to find it empty. Grabbing it, she stood up and walked to the garbage can. Throwing away her trash and placing the tray on top of the receptacle, Tonya headed for the doors and noticed the convenience machines. She put in a dollar and pressed the buttons corresponding to the chips she wanted. Tonya grabbed the bag from the dispenser then headed out of the cafeteria, opening the bag as she did. She walked to the nearest stairwell. Her ascent up to the second floor did not take long and she slowly headed down the hallway to her class.

The end of lunch bell rang just as Tonya rounded a corner and approached her destination, Tonya saw a student walk out of the classroom. She thought she recognized the shorter Asian-descent girl as a senior, but wasn’t sure. Getting to the open doorway Tonya came almost face-to-face with a black student who was a runner and friends with Scott. He stepped aside to let her enter the classroom; Tonya kept her face down to avoid eye-contact and noticed she was clutching an empty chip bag. Quickly Tonya threw the empty bag away then sat down in her assigned seat, looking forward to the end of the day.

Checking the time on his phone, Bert walked down the hallway hoping to catch Rosa at her locker with no one else there. He was nervous already about what he wanted to discuss with Rosa and witnesses would have only made things worse. Bert walked past Katie Hahn, who smiled and waved at him. Bert returned the smile and wave then focused on his rapidly approaching destination.

Rosa was putting things in her backpack when Bert entered the alcove and to his relief there were only two students there. Thinking about how to begin, Bert was startled when one of the other girls asked, “What do you want?”

Bert saw Rosa turn to see what the other girl was talking about then saw him from the corner of her eye. “Do you have time to talk?” he asked.

Rosa nodded as the other girls shared a laugh after one said something about a nerd being a fat girl’s only hope. Bert might have cared about the insult before the notebook, but not now. However, Rosa’s reaction showed that she still wasn’t fully used to the insults given to bigger women. He waited as she closed her locker then moved out into the hallway with her.

After walking in silence for a little bit Bert decided he needed to actually talk. “Sorry if I embarrassed you.”

“Don’t worry about it, those two aren’t very creative,” Rosa replied, “Unfortunately I’ve come up with worse before,” before she trailed off for a few moments then changed the subject, “So what did you want to talk about?”

Bert breathed hard wanting to keep everything under control and not stutter. Looking over at Rosa, he couldn’t help but see a look of anticipated horror. Closing his eyes, he breathed again, before saying, “Well, for a while I have been, um, even before you, um.”

“Hey Bert,” Autumn Morgan said from behind them, “Rosa, how’s it going?”

Quickly put a smile on his face, Bert couldn’t believe his bad luck. Autumn had a big smile and a container in her hands, but Bert noticed that as she approached them Autumn’s eyes were darting between him and Rosa.

“Um, hey, um, Autumn. Alright, um, it’s going alright.” Bert stuttered, wanting to hide.

Rosa on the other hand, seemed relieved. “It’s going good, you?”

“I’m doing good, thanks,” Autumn responded now within an arm length of him. “I brought you something Bert,” she said bringing up the container filled with baked treats.

“Uh, thanks,” was all he managed to say taking the container then remembering that he still hadn’t given Autumn the last container she had given him. “Sorry, I haven’t returned your last container. I’m going to make sure I give it back to you Monday.”

Autumn’s smile hadn’t left, but her eyes brightened at that. “That’s okay; I hope you enjoy these. I found this great recipe on the web.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rosa start to move. “I have a few things I need to get done, I’ll talk to you later Bert.”

“Uh, okay,” he replied and watched as she walked down the hallway out-of-sight. Bert brought his attention back to Autumn, who was still smiling though not as much as she had been. He smiled back, still feeling nervous, and for a moment thought he saw Autumn’s smile disappear into an expression of uncertainty.

“Well, I have to go as well. Let me know if you like the treats,” Autumn said before giving him a hug that he returned. As she let go, Bert noticed how her hands slowly brushed the sides of his stomach.

For a moment Bert was speechless then realized that Autumn was waiting for him to say something. “Alright, I’ll, uh, be sure to tell you and, um, bring that container back as well.” She nodded and slowly walked the opposite way Rosa had, he noticed she glanced back once or twice before it became hard to make her out clearly.

As he turned around, Bert realized that he might still have time to catch Rosa. Though he might be an overweight and out-of-shape nerd, Rosa did weigh almost 340 pounds so there was a slight chance to catch her. Bert hurried to the nearest stairwell and grabbing the railing before going rapidly down the stairs, jumping the last two or three to the landings, then turning to go down the next flight.

Reaching the bottom, he was huffing but pushed through the door to the outside. Bert was immediately greeted by a burst of cold wind that died as quickly as he had felt it. Without the wind, the late January day was pretty nice with the sun shining brightly. Bert started jogging down the side of the building to where he had seen Rosa park that morning. Getting to a corner of the building, he turned the opposite way of the wall and jogged across the grass into the student parking lot. But just as he did, Bert saw the taillights of Rosa’s car turn out of view.

Heaving for breath with his sides hurting, Bert slowed and stopped. While catching his breath Bert starting thinking about how badly everything had gone. But he couldn’t ignore the fact that he was trying to deal with feelings for one girl while another expressed interest, plus he was chasing the former to the parking lot while holding a gift from the latter. Bert had a strong desire to laugh, but his sides were hurting too much to do so.

Alexia repositioned herself in the passenger’s seat of the truck’s cab while engaging in a long kiss with Jerry. While somewhat aroused, she was finding it tedious and was continually thinking about lunch period Thursday. But thinking about the girl’s locker room was making her headache with dueling images playing in her memory until she realized that Jerry had stopped kissing back.

Opening her eyes, Alexia saw his upset face. Jerry then asked, “What I don’t interest you now?”

Rolling her eyes, Alexia turned away and looked out of the windshield. “No, I keep on tasting that awful sandwich you ate early tonight. I can’t believe you can eat that stuff.”

Alexia heard Jerry huff as he turned the truck’s ignition. The radio started up midway through a song before her boyfriend turned it off. Jerry backed up, changed gears, and slammed down on the gas. Alexia quickly put her seat belt on, as she glared at Jerry as the truck bounced along the dirt road. Turning her attention back straight ahead, she leaned her head back against the headrest and tried to clear her mind.

After about 10 minutes, Jerry turned onto pavement then headed for her home. Thinking about all things she had planned for the weekend, Alexia had to add making it up to Jerry for ruining their make-out session. In addition she also had to find time to check out Scott’s group because Mr. Hicks’ room was closed for lunch earlier in the day.

Suddenly Jerry tapped the brakes as a fox darted out in front of the truck to the other side of the road. Letting the truck slow down and changing gears to compensate, Jerry kept his eyes on the road. After a few miles, he turned onto another street then pressed the gas as they started uphill. The fox had broken Alexia’s concentration, allowing her to focus up at the constellations in the clear night sky.

The names of the formations quickly came to Alexia from memory learning them thanks to her dad deciding to spend some quality father-daughter time when she was younger. She was sad that they had stopped because they were really good times and were the memories and feeling keeping her from being a total narcissistic sociopath. Alexia started noticing that it was becoming harder for her to see the stars as they encountered the lights of her neighbors’ homes diluting the clarity of the sky and she let the memories go.

Out of the corner of her eye Alexia noticed Jerry shifting gears before turning into her driveway. After making a circle in front of her house, Jerry stopped the truck for Alexia to unbuckled and get out. Heading for the side entrance, Alexia heard Jerry speed off. The day had been pretty nice for January, but thanks to the biting wind it had only taken half an hour after sundown for the temperature to plummet. Alexia brought up the hood of her coat she turned into the wind while going around the front of the garage.

Walking quickly along the side of her house, Alexia took out her keys and unlocked the door. She slid in then closed the door, locked it, and punched in the security code for the alarm. Alexia took a few steps, opened another door, slid through, and closed it before walking quickly towards the guest house. Once inside, Alexia locked the door, and flipped on the nearest light switch.

Shedding her numerous layers, Alexia considered how and when she would make up for tonight with Jerry. Thinking over her schedule, it would either have to be tomorrow afternoon or Sunday evening. But the later was out of the question because she needed to ensure her homework had been finish. She preferred to avoid ‘afternoon delights’ as they lowered her energy level, especially with things planned that night but it was necessary to make up with Jerry.

With the Valentines’ Day Banquet coming up soon, Alexia knew that her relationship with Jerry was nearing its end. They were together only because of their positions in the social hierarchy. But Alexia had to admit that Jerry did have some advantages, his family was rich and he was athletically gifted. However Alexia mentally countered that her family was well off and Jerry’s younger brother Philip was going to be a way better quarterback than Jerry had ever been. And the thought of being known as Mrs. Jeremiah Cabot for any amount of her life was totally unacceptable to Alexia.

Walking up the stairs, Alexia turned her thoughts to her reconnaissance of Scott’s group or lack thereof. It seemed they knew someone was eavesdropping or trying to see what they were up to and decided to split up. Alexia admitted that it was a wise strategy; however it wouldn’t stop her from figuring out what they were up to or getting a look at that notebook.

Scott shifted on the bench and stretched his arms up and back. Next to him, Todd was turned in the direction of a delectably chubby group of college co-eds eating a nearby table in the food court. Scott had glanced over at them, but none had auburn hair or an outstanding backside. He had to admit they were cute, but they weren’t as a beautiful as Anna Marie. Scott turned his eyes the floor as he continued to sit there waiting for Bert.

After a few minutes, Bert walked out of the hallway from the restroom area not looking particularly happy. He shook his head as Scott and Todd stood up before saying, “Half the stalls were out of order and there was a ten minute wait in line.”

The three headed away from the food court maneuvering through the growing noon time crowd. Going up two flights of stairs to the upper level and they started walking one way down the concourse. None of them glanced at the passing store, though Todd didn’t mind turning to take in the sight of thick women. Scott kept his attention at the floor most of the time, but when he glanced over at Bert he saw his friend was uneasy.

“So Bert, how is the Rosa-Autumn situation coming along?”

Startled for a second Bert continued looking down at the floor as they walked before answering. “Not well. Yesterday I started talking with Rosa and then suddenly Autumn was there. Before I knew it Rosa was saying she’d talk to me later and I’m having a stammering, awkward conversation with Autumn. I tried to catch Rosa, but got to the parking lot just as she left. You guys are so lucky when it comes to women, I just can’t catch a break.”

Scott huffed, getting both of his friends’ attention. He looked at them before saying, “Anna Marie isn’t spending the weekend over.”

“What exactly was your fight over?” Todd questioned.

“I didn’t want to go on a double date with Whitney and her boyfriend,” Scott replied, “Anna Marie has been getting pestered by both her sister and her mother about it, but I didn’t want to do it.”

“Really?” Todd asked, “That is a stupid thing to fight about.”

Scott stopped and looked at his friend. “Thanks Todd.”

“Why didn’t you want to do it?” Bert asked.

“Brad, Whitney’s boyfriend, is a smug jerk that no one wants to spend more than five minutes with. However I could have found a way to stand him for a night.”

There was silence amongst three of them for a little while before Todd smiled. “Unbelievable.”

“What?” Scott asked.

“My best friend couldn’t go on a simple double date, got into a fight with his bottom-heavy girlfriend, and is now pining for her. Meanwhile my other friend can’t decide between the cheerleader-turned-BBW that he’s had a crush on for years or the gorgeous girl who coming onto him. These are some of the most unbelievable girl troubles I’ve ever heard of.”

“But at least we have girl troubles,” Bert replied before Scott could say the same thing.

Scott and Todd looked at the overweight nerd, who just gave them each a quick look in return. Scott started laughing while Todd grimaced. After a few minutes Todd finally admitted, “Good point.” The trio returned to silence and continued walking on the upper concourse.

Alexia watched as the three guys continued walking the opposite side of the concourse ahead of her. She hadn’t expected to see Scott, Todd, and the nerd at the mall, but the chance to observe the three of them couldn’t be passed up. For some reason Jerry hadn’t wanted to hook up and that left her bored at home, now she thought it all seemed like it was destined. As she continued to watch the three guys, Alexia couldn’t help but wonder why Scott wasn’t with Anna Marie.

Pushing the curtain aside, Anna Marie reached for the towel hanging on the wall and stepped out of the shower. She started toweling off, shifting her 289 pound body getting her front side before shifting to her backside. Within minutes the now thoroughly wet towel was hung up to dry before she grabbed a nearby smaller towel. Walking over to her bathroom counter Anna Marie started rubbing the smaller towel over and through her hair until it was too wet for use.

Running her fingers through her damp auburn hair, Anna Marie brought it into some sort of order before taking in the rest of her reflection in the mirror. She tried to find changes from what she had seen since she had written her name in the notebook, but everything looked the same as always. Turning around, Anna Marie looked over her thick shoulder as she took a few steps towards the wall so she could see a reflection of her abundant butt that protruded away from the rest of her body.

Anna Marie surveyed her most prominent feature, taking in the size of her butt cheeks and width of her hips along with a speckle of dimples on them. Since her fights with Scott, she had been taking a more critical look at herself wondering if she noticed something different now that she wasn’t in a ‘perfect’ relationship. However, each time she just saw the same curves and skin textures. Letting out a big breath, Anna Marie walked through the door into her bedroom.

Walking around naked, Anna Marie alternated about thinking about what she wanted to wear and her arguments with Scott. Remembering those fights darkened her mood and she grabbed a pair of black briefs that she found in a drawer. As she pulled them over her hips there was a knock on the door. “Who is it?” Anna Marie called out a she spread the piece of fabric over her derriere.

“Whitney,” her older sister said though the door.

“I just got out of the shower. Can you give me at least five minutes?”

“No problem.”

Anna Marie glanced around her room and started grabbing articles of clothing. First was a front-clasping bra quickly followed by a pair of black jeans that hugged her hips and butt snugly, but giving her thighs room. Next Anna Marie grabbed a roomy dark green turtleneck and struggled to get her arms and head through the holes before pulling it over her chest and belly. As she opened her sock drawer there was a knock, “Are you ready?”

“You didn’t have to be so literal,” Anna Marie stated under her breath then raised it. “Door’s unlocked.”

Anna Marie watched out of the corner of her eye as the door cautiously crept open then saw her sister slip in before closing it behind her. Whitney stood there in her workout clothes, figure forming to her hourglass shape. Her sister’s long brunette hair was pulled back into a ponytail to reveal her whole face with a slight smile on her lips. After grabbing a pair of socks from a drawer, Anna Marie turned towards her sister and for a moment the two looked at one another.

“So what’s up?”

Whitney’s eyes glanced around the room before looking in Anna Marie’s direction. “Well I was just wondering what was going on. Usually you’re over at Scott’s house, but Friday afternoon there you were coming home surprising everyone. I was just concerned that something might be going on.”

Sitting down on the end of her bed, Anna Marie motioned for Whitney to take a seat wherever she wanted. As Whitney rolled the chair away from the desk, Anna Marie raised her foot up and started putting on her socks. “Scott and I just had a disagreement. I didn’t think it would be a good idea to spend the weekend together and get into another,” she gave a slight pause, “Disagreement.”

Whitney settled into the chair now opposite the end of the bed. “Is he pressuring you into having sex?”

“What? No!” Anna Marie glared as she covered her other foot with a sock.

“Anna Marie, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to. Scott might not be as good as everyone thought.”

Anna Marie kept her face neutral as she looked at her older sister. “Sex isn’t the issue, we’ve already have it numerous times since we started going out in September.” She looked around the floor to find some footwear was located then noticed the silence in the room.

Anna Marie looked up to see Whitney’s gaping mouth and wide eyes and did a double take. Her older sister started shaking her head. “I always wondered if you might have low self-esteem issues and were putting up a brave front, but actually giving out sex to get a boyfriend.”

Anna Marie rolled her eyes and looked away not wanting to show the frustration and mild contempt she felt towards her sister. As Whitney start talking about Scott taking advantage of her she cut in, “It wasn’t like that Whitney.”

Her older sister turned towards her.

“It’s hard to explain exactly,” she started thinking as fast as she could, “It wasn’t alcohol or drug induced, one minute we were talking and the next we in compromising positions. I might have accidentally tripped over something or we both turned into one another, either way we found ourselves lying next to one another with our hands touching each other in sexually subtle locations.” Anna Marie extended one hand out palm up and fingers extended like cupping something, while grabbing a breast with the other and looked at Whitney to make sure she got it.

“Then hormones took over as touch and feel went into a kiss, then stripping off clothes. Then suddenly we both realized a condom was needed and if his wallet hadn’t been close at hand, we might have come to our senses instead it was ‘I got one here’ and ‘Let’s go find someplace more comfortable.’” Anna Marie had circled around her bed, pretending to search for something and glanced at her stunned sister.

“We got into his bed. Half an hour later it was over. It was the first time for both of us and we obviously knew the most important aspect, but we wanted it to be good and so we tried things we though constituted the correct foreplay and what not. Afterwards once our hormones died down we realized everything had changed and we had to figure what came next. Obviously you know our decision.”

Anna Marie looked at Whitney while grabbing her sketchpad and moved back towards the end of her bed, proud that she was able to describe her first sexual experience without mentioning the notebook fattening her up to near immobility. Sitting down, she looked at Whitney who seemed to be taking it all in. Her older sister finally said, “Well it’s not the most romantic.”

“You’re questioning the romance of my first time?” Anna Marie asked incredulously, “You’re first time was in the back of a hay-filled flatbed truck with Kyle when you were a camp counselor one summer.”

“How do you know about that?”

“You’re diary,” Anna Marie replied without hesitation, “Remember almost five years ago, I was an annoyance to your existence and did not mind making your life a living hell. I regularly read at your diary whenever I could sneak into your room. Of course you wrote in all this figurative language, which looking back and considering how old you were at the time, it turns out the way you wrote it is the most embarrassing part.”

For several minutes Whitney looked at Anna Marie in silence then turned towards the window and muttered something under her breath.

“What was that?”

Whitney turned and said, “It would be embarrassing if not for the fact that I later realized poor Kyle had come up short.”

Anna Marie’s mouth was agape as her older sister shifted in the chair and looked away. Whitney finally stated, “Turns out I’m still a virgin.”

“You’re…”

Before Anna Marie could finish her bedroom door swung open as Brad swaggered, “There you,” he was cut short as Whitney leaped up out of the chair

“What the hell are you doing?!” she shouted obliterating the smug expression off his face. As he gaped for words Whitney walked around the bed and started hustling him out the door while proclaiming, “How dare you come into my little sister’s room without knocking?! She might not have been dressed yet or naked. I’ve met your mother and I know…” the conversation trailed off out of earshot as Anna Marie looked at the doorway.

Her dad popped his head in and asked what was going on. A brief not very detailed explanation gave him a smile just before he left Anna Marie’s line of sight. A moment later she heard a door slam so hard that it vibrated throughout the house. Getting off the end of her bed, Anna Marie grabbed her chair and put her sketchpad down on the desk.

Staring at the blank page, Anna Marie had several images running through her mind. But for some reason they were all of men who looked similar to Scott. Just as she was about to throw down her pencil Whitney stalked back in and closed the door, just short of slamming it. “Thinking that was in invitation to waltz in here.” Anna Marie raised an eyebrow.

Whitney looked somewhat apologetic for the door. She walked over to the end of bed and sat down looking at Anna Marie. “My plans for tonight just got cancelled. You want to go out for some girl time around town?” Anna Marie didn’t reply then Whitney added, “We can discuss how infuriating men are while having a good time.”

Anna Marie turned part way to her sketchpad and flipped it closed then turned back. “Sure. I can’t think of anything to draw anyway.”

The hum throughout the mall during late morning and early afternoon Sunday had been soft, but as Tonya reentered the mall after a trip to her car for the second time she noticed it had increased. Stopping at pretzel vendor she bought one of the large, soft, salt-covered pastries. With pretzel in hand she slowly made her way aimlessly along the concourse, her eyes gazing at the tiled floor and avoiding the looks of other shoppers.

Tonya started calculating how much money she had spent on her new wardrobe, then pulled her shirt down over her exposed lower belly with her free hand. Her mother had dropped hints about getting new clothes and tried to make it seem like Tonya’s own idea. Tonya had felt embarrassed that morning when she had asked her mom for money, only to find her mom’s credit card in hand with no spending limit. But it was nothing compared to facing another day at school with ill-fitting versions of her previously stylish clothes.

Tonya turned her thoughts to which store she would go to next. The first two stores she gone to had been the large retailers that she avoided when she had been thin, believing their clothes were bland and meant for mothers and women who had let themselves go. The only place she had not already been to was the plus-size clothing store, which she had irrelevantly called the ‘sow palace’ in her thinner days. Tonya cringed as she remembered how all the jayvee cheerleaders had laughed at the nickname.

As if on cue Tonya heard familiar laughter, instinctively she turned to see where it was coming from then saw the cadre of cheerleaders. Isabel was in the center of the group walking towards her on the other side of the concourse. Just as her former friend looked in her direction, Tonya turned to take a bite of her soft pretzel only find an empty wrapper in her hand. Quickly closing her mouth, Tonya threw the wrapper into a nearby trash bin.

Glancing over her shoulder while brushing her shaggy blond hair with one hand, Tonya was happy to see the cheerleaders keep on going. She turned back to the trash bin wondering about what had happened to her pretzel. Suddenly her mobile started beeping and after wiping her hand on her pant leg, Tonya pulled it out. There was a calendar announcement of a prominent social gathering she had been invited to attend by Alexia’s mother back when she had been a cheerleader.

Tonya deleted the calendar entry with one hand and pulled her shirt down over the exposed bit of her belly. She started rubbing her stomach and realized by the aroma in the air she was next to the food court. Considering the rip-off that the soft pretzel had been, Tonya started thinking about would stop the gnawing in her stomach. With a sigh she resolved to go to the plus-size store afterwards.

Light conversation, the light tapping of glasses either together or being returned to trays and the soft music of a quartet playing chamber music in the background made the gathering somewhat tolerable for Henrietta Nelson. Though looking around the room at the other attendees and noticing the small talk, the glances they gave around the room, and the body language she could see the politics raging. Henrietta also knew a little of all three of those were directed towards her. Unconsciously she shifted her bulk from one foot to the other, feeling her thighs rub against one another underneath her billowing dress.

Henrietta surveyed the room for her husband and saw him talking with Graham Wu, his wife, and a young woman who was obviously their daughter. Placing her empty glass on a passing tray, Henrietta felt anger for an instant before burying it under the thought of taking a seat, but the closest available didn’t look comfortable for her 346 pound frame. Maneuvering her way around several people and objects, Henrietta tried not to think about how her body moved. She had hoped by now she had gotten used to it, however it did not help that she had gained nearly 30 pounds since she had woken up a sow and reviled her own weakness.

Glancing at Tim again, she saw he was still talking with the Wu’s, and anger flooded Henrietta’s thoughts again but with nothing to stop it. She was here at this function because he had argued that it was time to stop hiding after her resignation and laying low so he could keep his practice up. Of course a byproduct of her hiding had been her gaining more weight which made her again revile her weakness. To stop her growing headache Henrietta turned her attention to someone else. She focused on the Wu’s daughter, if her memory served it started with an S as in Stacy, Stephanie, or Sadie.

The young woman was fairly attractive in Henrietta’s opinion, though she didn’t want to express it, and that attractiveness went along with being one of the smartest students in the high school. Unlike some others in the room, Henrietta didn’t care about race when it came to young women with brains along with looks. That reminded her of Alexia Rogers, who she had seen earlier. Looking around briefly she didn’t noticed the cheerleading captain and returned her attention to the Wu’s daughter.

Henrietta grabbed a glass as a tray passed and frowned as the young Wu woman was joined by a fat, young Hispanic woman. The new arrival dwarfed the poor Wu girl not only in height but in sheer size. Henrietta then realized who it was, the large Garcia girl. She was struck by pity at the sight making her shake her head. Marisol, the poor girl’s mother, looked amazing for her age after having four children and the girl’s younger sister was a pretty cheerleader. The girl obviously had a medical issue similar to that of the Sager sisters, the thought made Henrietta feel for those poor parents that in trying to help their two daughters had unknowingly caused them to grow fatter. “Just a shame,” she said in hushed voice.

“A shame that you threw away your public career and nearly ruined your husband’s practice because you decided to hate on yourself?” a lyrical voice replied.

Henrietta knew she would see the attractive black woman when she turned her head. The woman was eye-to-eye with her, a handsome and still young looking in a stylish pantsuit with a superior air about her. For a moment Henrietta didn’t want to acknowledge the disruption, but she decided to be civil. Before she could speak, the other woman dismissively said, “Excusing me, I have actual business to attend to.”

The woman walk towards the Wus and Henrietta started searching for her husband. Taking a few steps, she felt her body shift in many directions while she swiveled her head around looking for Tim. Suddenly he was on the other side of her as his arm wrapped around her expansive waist as much as it could. “Well, the babysitter can’t spend all afternoon with the kids. I’m ready if you are.”

Suppressing what she really wanted the say Henrietta nodded and followed him through the crowd towards the door. She felt eyes on her, whether to watch her leave in humiliation or just to watch her bulk move in the awful dress she was wearing, Henrietta didn’t care. But she was starting to feel famished.

Sarah watched Mrs. Nelson waddle towards the door along with her husband. She couldn’t believe her mother hadn’t noticed the sideway looks towards the former school board member while they talked with Dr. Nelson. Sarah hadn’t seen the woman since her conversation with Todd in December. She also hadn’t noticed all the pounds Mrs. Nelson had added back then either, but that could have happened during the holidays. But Mrs. Nelson awful haircut had almost made Sarah physically cringe.

“Sarah,” her mother said, drawing her attention, “There’s someone I want you to meet.”

Sarah turned to see her mother standing next to a near middle-age black woman in an overly stylish pantsuit. She smiled as her mother made the introductions. “Amy, this is my daughter Sarah. Sarah, this is Amy Decker she’s a free-lance lawyer and she said that she would be happy to let you intern with her during Spring Break.”

Blinking in disbelief, Sarah remained smiling as she conversed with the middle-aged woman while her mother wandered off a little but kept an eye on them. Sarah listened to what Ms. Decker had to say and before she knew it was making plans for her Spring Break to intern with the lawyer. After shaking hands, Sarah looked around for Rosa hoping she was having a better time. Her friend was concerned about something and at this point Sarah wouldn’t have cared what it was, she just hoped it would get her away from her mother. Sarah turned around to see her mother walking someone over to her.

Rosa finished talking with the CPA couple Dr. Wu had introduced her to and looked around to find Sarah again, after both she and Dr. Wu had escaped his wife’s orbit at the expense of leaving Sarah behind. Walking a few steps Rosa saw Alexia out of the corner of her eye, but by the time she turned the cheerleading captain had disappeared into the crowd. With so many things on her mind from her future career to what was on Bert’s mind, Rosa couldn’t believe she had let out that Scott and Anna Marie had fought when talking to some stranger earlier. Rosa just hoped that Alexia had not heard.

As Tonya made her way to her locker alcove through the nearly empty hallway, she thought it the perfect way to end her day. Tonya didn’t know why she had been surprised by the emptiness of her new life, she was obviously fat and when considering her previous wardrobe an essentially friendless wannabe. When she had arrived at school, no one acknowledged her existence, though she guessed that was better than people sneering at her too tight clothes. Now that she was in baggy clothes, no one cared enough to make fun of the fat girl.

Before her fattening, Tonya had noticed guys looking her way in class and the hallway. When it happened her natural reaction was to grade the guys, she was a cheerleader and as an aspiring captain needed to have standards. Now no guys seemed were looking at her in class or the hallway that she noticed. Closing her locker with a sigh, Tonya headed out of the alcove, staring at the tiled floor as she did.

Heading for the stairwell closest to where she parked, Tonya rubbed her belly wondering what snack her mother had made. Then she bumped into Alexia. They made eye contact and for a moment Alexia seemed to examine Tonya up and down. For a brief moment Tonya thought Alexia realized she had gained weight, but then her face changed into a sneer. “Watch it blimpy! You don’t have to take up the entire hallway.” The cheerleading captain walked away with a purpose as Tonya turned and started on her way again, wishing she had something to eat.

Alexia glanced over her shoulder as the shaggy haired blond walk away, not able to shake the feeling that something had happened to Tonya. The memories were so clear that Tonya was a cheerleader or had been, but so were the memories that Antonia had always been on the thick side and always wanting to fit in. It was a maddening contradiction, but Alexia had just run into a fat Antonia and not a thin Tonya so that settled it for her. She tried to turn her thoughts back to her goal, Scott.

The gathering yesterday had been doubly successful for her, first had been the contacts she had made and then Alexia had heard about Scott and Anna Marie’s fight. With Jerry deciding to ignore her throughout the day, Alexia had decided to see if she could finally ensnare the most popular guy at Greendale as her boyfriend. She couldn’t believe her luck that everything seemed to be falling into place and maybe she could take a look at that notebook soon.

Scott was going through the stack of quizzes quickly, but his mind was not fully into it. His focus was instead on Anna Marie. Thoughts of her had been gnawing his mind almost the entire weekend and after seeing her in classes most of the day, they were unbearable. Though Scott was still mad at her, but he was mad at himself as well which was even more infuriating. He didn’t know what it was with women, but just as he figuring one thing out something else confused him. Suddenly a knock on the door broke his concentration and he looked over his shoulder.

Alexia stood at the door, an almost sinister smile on her face, as she looked at him. Scott then noticed her eyes darting down to the floor before quickly returning to him. “Sorry Alexia, I don’t do the grading for English. You’ll have to wait.”

“Oh, I’m not here about my grade,” she said taking a step into the office, “I’m here to see you.” Alexia took two quick steps to directly in front of him, then bent over to expose the top of her cleavage right in his face. He felt a hand on his left thigh before Alexia continued, “I heard about a big fight between Anna Marie and yourself, unfortunately Jerry and I had one as well. I wanted to let you know that if you needed to be consoled, I’ll be here for you and I hope you’d do the same for me. It’s only a few weeks until our last Valentine’s Day Banquet, but with our relationship troubles we might need one another for added strength in this hard time.”

Alexia’s smile and demeanor showed concern, but Scott noticed that it didn’t reach her eyes. The look of her ice blue eyes was of desire and possessiveness, in the back of his mind warning bells went off. However before Scott could reply someone else spoke first.

“No doubt he’ll keep that in mind if the talk we’re about to have doesn’t go well,” Anna Marie said as Alexia whip around.

The two women exchanged cold expressions until Alexia took a step towards Anna Marie, “Can’t blame a girl for trying,” before turning to him and saying, “My offer still stands.” Scott saw her eyes move away from him back down to the floor, as if staring at his feet or his backpack. Alexia then snapped around and squeezed between the doorpost and Anna Marie and was out of sight.

Anna Marie had her head partially turned away from him, dividing her attention between Alexia and him. After a minute, her full attention was towards him, “Already playing the field?”

“I didn’t know that I was,” he replied and glanced at the stack of quizzes.

Anna Marie took hold of Ms. Applegate’s chair and wheeled it past him. He scooted up against the table to give her room to get past him and the bank of file cabinets. Anna Marie’s hip brushed against his shoulder making him turn in his swivel chair just as she backed up her butt squarely in his face. Scott waited as she turned the swivel chair then herself around and before sitting down.

Scott finished the last of the quizzes. “I guess we need to talk.”

Anna Marie turned in the swivel chair, but kept her face towards him. “Yeah, the only thing is. What type of talk it’s going to be?”

“We’ve been friends longer than we’ve been in a relationship. We should be honest and get everything out in the open.”

Anna Marie nodded but remained silent. A long period of building anticipation stretched out before Anna Marie cleared their throat. “Well Scott, you’re an accomplished athlete who makes great grades while not being an overall jerk. But you have a mild my way or the highway attitude because you were an only child. While admirably you don’t flaunt your popularity and supposed social status, you don’t use it to make the lives of others who aren’t so fortunate or are bullied better either. Sometimes you completely ignore people as you pass them in the hallway. While you are naturally friendly and are nice to most everyone, you are aloof to other’s problems. And as a boyfriend who showed affection towards me, but didn’t show interest in my wants and needs. Honest enough for you?”

Scott nodded and turned slightly to think. He tried to keep himself calm and process everything Anna Marie had said to a thorough response. However after a few minutes Scott decided to go another way. “Well Anna Marie, you’re the equally intelligent and talented younger sister of an overly popular and well liked older sister. With this knowledge you decided to get out of your sister’s shadow by dressing and styling yourself as a goth when in fact it was only skin deep. You’ve hidden your intellect and talents under a cloak of apathy towards the present and the future. And your attitude about relationships was never encouraging, I believe you said you figured you’d have sex sometime with someone but never saw yourself getting into a long-term relationship.”

Finishing Scott placed his hand up over his mouth to help keep his face expressionless towards Anna Marie, who was doing something similar. Another stretch of silence occurred before Anna Marie shifted on her swivel chair, “That was pretty honest.”

“Yep,” Scott replied, “I didn’t know I was a spoiled brat control freak unable to look beyond myself or those I claim as mine.”

Anna Marie shrugged, “I’m an apathetically superficial poser unable to get into a committed relationship.”

Silence filled Ms. Applegate’s office as a third time as Scott felt the tension rising. Anna Marie then asked, “So where do we go from here?”

He shrugged, “We could always act mature,” then shifting in his chair before continuing, “So when do you want to plan going on that double date with your sister and Brad.”

Anna Marie’s face went expressionless. “After the Valentine’s Day Banquet, they had a fight over the weekend and Whitney is still in a foul mood.”

Scott nodded and hoped he wouldn’t have to spend any time with Brad. “What was the argument about?”

“Whitney and I were talking in my room after I finished my shower and Brad just walked right in.”

Scott tried to keep his face neutral as he tried to figure out what she was leaving out. “And?”

“She went off on him, pushed him out of the room, backed him down the hallway, apparently the stairs as well, pushed him out of the front door, and slammed it hard enough to vibrate the house.”

“I presume because you weren’t fully dressed?” he asked.

Ms. Applegate entered the office before Anna Marie could answer and they observed that the hallway was filled with students heading from the seventh period class to eighth. Scott heard Anna Marie moving and turned to see her pushing Ms. Applegate’s swivel chair past him towards the teacher’s desk. Anna Marie grabbed her backpack then blew him a kiss before squeezing past his boss into the hallway. Scott got up and followed Anna Marie to the doorway. “Anna Marie, you didn’t answer my question.”

She just turned, smiled, and waved before shouting back, “We’ll talk some Valentine Day plans tomorrow, honey.”

Scott turned back into the office and took his seat as Ms. Applegate turned and handed him quizzes. She then asked if the rumors of his break-up with Anna Marie were exaggerated, he replied that it had only been a disagreement. Mrs. Applegate was happy to hear that, considering every class she had taught that day she had had to quieting students from gossiping about it and deflecting questions on if she had any insider information. Scott turned towards his boss and replied, “Thanks, I didn’t know my social life was of interest to everyone.”

Walking down the stairs, Alexia thought about how Anna Marie’s timing could have been worse. Alexia wasn’t going to delude herself into thinking she could have ensnared Scott with one talk, but she would have preferred not to have retreated from the big assed bitch let alone have dealt with her. There wasn’t much Alexia could have done about Scott’s backpack even it being so close. No matter how quickly she could have shoved him away and grabbed it, she would have slammed right into Anna Marie’s bulk when trying to escape. Exiting the stairwell into the parking lot, Alexia headed for the gym focusing on cheerleading practice.

Closing his locker Bert headed out into the hallway. He turned for the nearest stairwell when from behind he was grabbed by the collar and turned around. Bert found that he was face-to-face with Rosa then stumbled back in surprise. “Hey, uh Rosa,” he was able to get out, “Nothing new on the translation front when it comes to the rules, though I think I’ve figured out the vowels again.”

“It’s not that,” Rosa said, “Ever since we came back from Christmas Break, you’ve been really nervous around me and it only gets worse when you try talking to me when we’re alone. Frankly it’s been a bit annoying and a little creepy. We’re alone right now, so whatever you want to talk about get it off your chest.”

Bert nervously cleared his throat, for weeks he had been waiting for an opportunity like this. He had never though it would be Rosa initiating it, and the anxious look on her face finally forced him to stammer out, “Well, you see. Before the notebook was ever used on you and you were a cheerleader. I had a crush on you and obviously there was no chance.”

Rosa nodded and shrugged in agreement as he took a breath. “Then you were written in the notebook and my memories changed. I still had a crush on you, but you weren’t a cheerleader and I was just scared because I had never talk to a girl before. Then I learned about the notebook and all those memories were combined, you know how weird that is. But I still had a crush on you, but now you weren’t a cheerleader anymore though you used to be and frankly I was nervous because you still should be since you hold yourself like you are one.”

Rosa looked surprised at his description of her as he took a breath. “Over the last few months we’ve gotten to know one another, have hopefully become friends, and worked together on various things. I’ve wanted to ask you out or at least find out if you’re interested at all. But you seemed uninterested in dating at the moment and I realize even if you were looking to, a nerd like myself might not be what you’re looking for. Now an opportunity has come up for me to potentially go out with someone else, but I can’t bring myself to do it because in the back of my mind I somehow think I have a shot with you. Basically all this rambling is me asking you if there’s a chance of going out between us?”

As Bert relaxed, Rosa seemed stunned as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other while looking at him. Nervously Bert started shifting between looking at Rosa and the floor. Rosa shifted her weight again and cleared her throat. “Well that was a lot to take in,” she started, “Bert, I count you as a friend. However I’m not up for dating at the moment and if I was it would not be with you,” she grimaced, “I still have my bitchy cheerleader attitude when it comes to dating. But don’t waste the opportunity you spoke about, forget about me and take hold of it.”

He nodded, “I figured that was going to be your answer. Thanks for listening and being honest.”

Bert turned to leave when Rosa grabbed his shoulder making him turn back. “Thanks for telling me all of that Bert. You wouldn’t believe how great it was to know that even though I went from a slender cheerleader to a very plus-size girl, someone still had a crush on me.” She gave him quick hug then turned and disappeared around a corner.

Bert stood there for several minutes before walking towards the stairwell he needed to go down. He couldn’t believe he had actually shared all of that with Rosa or that he had been able to get through all of it without sounding like a complete fool. However Bert was feeling dual sense of freedom and sadness from Rosa’s answer. In the middle of everything he was feeling he started thinking about Autumn. Almost like magic, he saw her coming out of a teacher’s office down an intersecting hallway. Autumn saw him and waved. Bert took a quick look at the stairwell door, took a deep breath, turned, and started walking towards the beautiful girl with the big smile.