Fat

“Hey,” he said.

Glancing behind her, she glared. “What the hell?” She whispered each word, looking around to make sure no one was watching.

“What are you looking for?”

“Why did you follow me?”

“I wanted to talk to you, and can I say you walk really fast?”

She frowned. “You’re in the library.”

“Yeah, I know what one looks like. I come here as well. I even know Denise.”

“I’m sort of, erm, yeah, you’re confusing me right now.”

They were both whispering.

“I was just going to make sure you were coming to Bruce’s tonight?”

“Yes, I said I was going to be there. I’m not going to back down now. I told you that.” She grabbed her bag and rummaged around in the chaos to grab the diary she had started. “I’ve even been doing what you asked. It’s all going to be in there.”

“Make sure to put down that you threw half of it in the trash as well. It has got to be as accurate as you can make it.”

She nodded. “I will do, boss.”

Turning back to the shelves, she started scanning the books. All the time she was aware of Noah not leaving.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“All day Sunday I couldn’t get Kurt to shut up about your friend.”

“She’s a great girl.”

“Yep, and I’ve got a feeling he’s seeing that.”

She chuckled. “Yeah, I’m sure Kurt is going to go chasing after my friend.”

“Why not?”

“Last year he was calling her metal mouth and chubbers. Now he wants to get to know her. Kim’s not going to forgive him easily.” She may have seen her friend being happy by the attention, but she’d never allow herself to fall for him.

“That’s their problem, not ours.”

“We don’t have a problem, Noah.” She turned to smile at him.

He pursed his lips, glancing up and down at her. She wore a baggy shirt and loose jeans. They were her comfortable jeans, and sneakers. Her brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

“What are you staring at?”

“Have you ever thought about wearing clothes that actually fit you?”

“That’s really weird right now.” She looked down at herself. “I’m fine the way I am.”

“You’re right. I’ll catch you later.”

As quickly as he invaded her life, he was gone, leaving her completely confused. “I will never understand that guy.”

By the time Kim came to her, Elsa was already making notes from the chemistry book she found.

“You took your time.”

“Don’t laugh, okay?”

“I’m not laughing. I’m curious is all.”

“Let me grab my book, and we’ll talk.” Kim rushed off to grab whichever book she needed.

Writing down her notes, Elsa jumped as Kim threw her book onto the table. “Okay, so last Friday, Mrs. Donald gave us all a new assignment. She picked who we partnered up with, and I ended up with Kurt. Obviously, he’s not letting me live it down, and now he’s everywhere. At the weekend, he even came around to my place just so we could study.”

“Do you like him?”

“Not really. He’s a bully. Mean. Kind of cute, but I don’t want mean and cute. I don’t want any guy ruining my chances of getting into a good college.”

“I know what you mean.”

“Do you think I’m being mean?”

“No, not at all.” She smiled at her friend. “I think it’s kind of sweet. Let’s hope the cheerleading squad doesn’t start attacking us.”

Kim nodded. “That’s the last thing I want to deal with right now.”

“Does Kurt have a girlfriend?”

“I don’t know. He didn’t say that he did, and I didn’t exactly ask. The last thing I want is for him to get the wrong impression.”

Elsa stared down at her chemistry book and kept herself busy. She couldn’t help but wonder what it would be like if her friend did date Kurt. He was one of the hottest guys in school, and everyone expected him to date one of the cheerleaders.

Something was happening to her head, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. Guys like Kurt and Noah never dated girls like them.

****

“Are you ready to work your butt off?” Noah asked as Elsa climbed out of her car.

“I’m ready. I had to lie to my parents and tell them I was going to the library, but I got here.” She held up her key card as well. “Are you ready to work my butt off?” She frowned. “Scrap that. It sounded completely wrong.”

“It sounded dirty to me.”

They entered Bruce’s gym to find a new guy on the front. Noah didn’t recognize him, and they both scanned their cards, heading toward the changing rooms.

“I’ll meet you out in the main corridor.”

“Sure.”

He watched her disappear into her changing room, and wondered what was wrong with her. They didn’t know each other all that well, but from what he did know, Elsa was usually a bubbly person, apart from her bitchiness to him on Saturday, which he could understand.

Entering the male changing room, the scent of sweat met his senses. He changed quickly and waited out in the hall for Elsa to appear. She was tying her hair back as she left the room.