by Desiree Day
Chapter 4
Jessica sank into her chair. Chloe and part of her crew burst into the classroom right before the bell rang. By the second day of school, Jessica had learned that Chloe was the girl with the blonde streaked hair, and for no reason at all she despised Jessica. Jessica groaned, literature, which was usually her favorite subject was ruined by Chloe and her crew’s antics. They acted worse than groupies at a Lil Wayne concert.
Jessica pulled out her phone and texted Samantha. Im Sry. This was her hundredth apology. They haven’t spoken in a day. Tomorrow is The Mack’s class. I’ll talk to her then, Jessica decided. Jessica glanced at her teacher, Mrs. White.
Mrs. White who was one year away from retirement, had lost her interest in her students and the subject matter the same way one does who eats the same thing for lunch every day.
“I swear she’s sleeping,” Jessica whispered to Leslie, her only friend in the class. Mrs. White sat at her desk with the local newspaper shielding her face.
“I don’t doubt it. Why don’t you pull the paper down?” she said with a giggle. They were supposed to be reading Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet instead the students were texting each other and whispering.
“With my luck, she’ll have a heart attack and die,” Jessica joked. At least Leslie made the class somewhat bearable.
The paper rustled and Mrs. White folded it neatly and faced the class. “Jessica and Leslie, please come up.”
The texting and whispering stopped as every eye turned in their direction.
“What?” Jessica squeaked.
“Please come to the front of the class, and bring your book. I want you and Leslie to read from the play.”
“What?” Leslie croaked.
“Come on,” Mrs. White encouraged. “There’s only fifteen minutes left in the class.”
“But—”
Jessica and Leslie turned terror-stricken eyes on each other. They each knew what the other was thinking. Two fat girls in front of the class, not only would it make them both look bigger than they actually were, but they would forever be moving targets.
“No buts young ladies. You two have the loveliest voices and I want the class to hear them.” Jessica heard a snort from the back of the room and she would bet her mother’s Mercedes that it was Chloe. “Oh and Chloe, why don’t you join them.”
This time Jessica’s and Leslie’s eyes got as big as their desk. A Zero was joining them. They would look like giants standing next to her.
“No prob!” Chloe answered then uncurled from the chair and sauntered up to the front of the class. Low whistles followed her progress.
“Ladies?” Mrs. White called to Jessica and Leslie.
They grabbed their books and lumbered through the aisle to the front of the class, giggles and guffaws trailed them. They stood as far away from Chloe without it seeming weird.
“Stand closer together,” Mrs. White encouraged. And Chloe scrunched her face like she had stepped into a pile of dog poop, the whole room erupted into laughter. “Okay I want you three to read the prologue. Split it into three. Chloe you read first, then Jessica then Leslie.”
Chloe winked at the class before reading her portion. The guys whose eyes were only moments ago rounded with lust were now glazed over with boredom. Her voice was as flat as an IHOP pancake. Jessica picked up where Chloe left off and all the passion that Chloe lacked burst from Jessica’s voice. Applause filled the room. Chloe shot her a hate-filled look and flushed with excitement and surprise Jessica smiled at her. Leslie finished the rest and was met with a lukewarm response.
“Wonderful ladies, just wonderful!” Mrs. White praised.
In a daze, Jessica happily stumbled back to her desk.
“You were awesome,” Leslie whispered to Jessica.
“I was okay,” Jessica replied, modestly.
“You were great,” Leslie insisted. “I don’t know how you did it. I thought I was going to poop right there in front of everybody. Can you picture that?”
“You did fine,” Jessica said to her friend. Jessica beamed the last ten minutes of class.
“See ya!” Leslie told Jessica as they merged into the sea of students clogging the corridor.
“Bye,” she answered then floated to her next class.
“So you think you’re better than me?” Chloe hissed. She had come out of nowhere, blindsiding Jessica. Tamia stood next to her.
“No, I never said that,” Jessica stuttered, suddenly afraid. She didn’t know why Chloe was so mad at her.
Tamia pulled on Chloe’s arm. “Come on,” she said.
“Leave me alone,” Chloe said while shaking off Tamia’s grip. “I need to talk to this pig. How dare she try to upstage me!” Chloe began circling Jessica. “Look at her! So what if she has a nice voice, that’s all she has going for her, she’s not pretty, hell, she doesn’t even have nice clothes.”
I will not cry, I will not cry, Jessica silently chanted to herself as a circle of students began to form around them.
She fingered Jessica’s skirt. “Where did cha get them from? Kmart? Or maybe the Salvation Army? I bet it was the Salvation Army, somebody said they saw your mother rummaging through the drop off box. That’s probably the only place you can get clothes that’ll fit you,” she taunted as tears began to slip from Jessica’s eyes. Jessica turned to Tamia, who averted her gaze. Seeing her friend’s betrayal made her cry harder. “And—”
“Leave her alone!” There was a break in the crowd and Samantha appeared at her side. “You leave her alone asshole or I’m going to whoop your skinny butt so bad that your going to wish you had our extra cushion.” Samantha squeezed Jessica’s shoulder. “Are you okay?” she murmured, Jessica nodded as she swiped away the tears.
“Who’s this? Your girlfriend?” Chloe sneered. “So you have a big strong girlfriend to take up for you?” The crowd tittered with laughter.
“She’s not my girlfriend,” Samantha said as she marched up to Chloe and she immediately shrunk back. Samantha towered over her, she had an extra eighty pounds on her. Samantha saw the fear and smiled to herself. “But she is my friend and if you keep messing with her, you’re going to be sorry.” She grabbed Jessica’s hand. “Come on.” She pushed her way out of the group and they walked down the hall. Jessica wanted to run but Samantha strolled forcing Jessica to match her steps. “Never let them see your fear. Remember that chubby chicks rule—”
“And the rest is gravy,” Jessica finished softly, she shot her friend a grateful smile.
They ended up in a rarely used girls’ restroom. Because it was in the basement, people always forgot that it was there. “I didn’t do anything to her!” Jessica said as soon as they got into the bathroom.
“I know you didn’t,” Samantha said, reassuring her friend. “Tell me what happened.” It took Jessica less than a minute to tell Samantha what happened. “She’s jealous,” Samantha concluded.
“Jealous? Of me?” Jessica asked incredulous. “Why would she be jealous of me, she gorgeous, popular, all the boys like her and she’s a Zero.”
“Because you took the light off her. She’s so used to being in the spotlight that when it’s taken away from her she takes it personal.”
“But I didn’t ask for it. I was just being myself.”
“And that’s what pisses her off the most. You didn’t have to do anything, it came natural to you, where she probably has to work at it. You didn’t think she was born with those sky blue colored eyelids do you.” Jessica giggled, Samantha always made her feel better.
“So you’re not mad at me anymore?”
“I saved your ass didn’t I?”
“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean anything. You could’ve felt sorry for me.”
“I did,” she said with a dry chuckle. “You hurt my feelings ya know?”
“I know, I’m sorry.”
“We shouldn’t limit ourselves. If I waited for some tall football player type boy to look my way, I might be waiting forever. But Se
an was interested. And listen girl, I’m not settling. Sean is a good guy. And the main thing is that he likes me for me. And that makes me feel so good.”
“I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”
Samantha smacked her teeth. “Girl, pluuuleeze, you’d better keep speaking your mind and if I don’t like it then I let you know, but be yourself. Otherwise I’ll cut you loose, I don’t like fakes.”
Jessica eyed her skeptically. “And you won’t get mad?”
Jessica laughed, this time it was a full belly one. “Of course, I’m going to get mad if I don’t like it, but I’ll try to respect your honesty. Deal?”
“Deal.”
“Chloe’s going to pay for what she did to you,” Samantha said changing the subject.
“Oh no! What are you going to do?”
“Check this out Jessica, do you want to be a punk and get beat up on for the rest of your school days or do you want us to handle this situation?”
“I don’t know. I don’t want anybody to get hurt. What do you mean handle this situation?”
“Let me figure it out. Do you want Chloe handled or not?”
Chapter 5
“I can’t believe she lives here!” Samantha gushed. “I can’t believe she’s rich,” she said awestruck. As soon as her mom turned onto Jessica’s street and realized that the road had Jessica’s last name, she knew that her friend had money. Her suspicions were confirmed when they got to the mansion, and was stopped by a police officer, officially signed in and was waved through. It took a good two minutes to get to the house and as soon as they drove into the circular driveway, a uniformed man opened the car door, and wanted to park it until her mom told him that she was dropping Samantha off.
Matt and Samantha decided to meet at Jessica’s house to update and discuss their food journals. But their appetites were the farthest from their minds.
“It’s not my money,” Jessica said quietly.
“Sure it is,” Samantha insisted.
“No. It’s my parents.”
“But you do take advantage of it don’t you?”
Jessica thought for a second, then said, “I do…I mean how can I not, I’ve got to live.”
Matt and Samantha gazed around her bedroom, a suite really. There was none of the typical pink furniture. The mini-apartment was filled with sleek furniture, a fifty-two inch plasma TV, a small table that held an iPad, iPod, a bathroom that was bigger than Samantha’s living room and kitchen combined and a balcony large enough to hold a barbeque grill and patio set.
“Well, you’re living pretty damn good!” Samantha gushed.
“Your place is off the chain!” Matt said.
“It’s nice,” Jessica quietly acknowledged.
“So how big is this place?” Samantha asked suddenly feeling intimidated.
“There’s seven bedrooms, eight full baths and four half baths,” Jessica recited, she had described her house so many times in the past that it rolled effortlessly off her tongue. “An exercise room, library, media and recreation room.” As she talked she watched her friend’s eyes and mouth grow wider with amazement.
“Why you hanging out with the poor people? I thought rich people went to private schools? That way all the Muffies, Puffies, and Poodles can play together,” Samantha said.
Jessica laughed. “I was in private school, and I hated it. I started when I was four years old. I met the most fake, bougie, hypocritical people in my life. They all ran around like they earned all the money, but their parents really did. And Tamia wanted to go to a public school, being around those type of people made her uncomfortable.”
Matt raised an eyebrow. “What type of people?”
“Rich.”
“Isn’t she rich?” Samantha asked.
Jessica shook her head. “She’s smart. So she was able to go on a scholarship. Being around all of us constantly reminded her of what she didn’t have. And her mother used to work here as a maid, so that’s really how I met her. We grew up together, almost like sisters,” Jessica said softly.
“It’s okay, once the newness wears off, she’ll come running back to you,” Samantha said reassuring her friend.
“Were your parents pissed, when you decided to hang out with the common folk?” Matt asked.
Jessica laughed. “Yep! They tried everything to make me stay in private school, even a trip to Paris.”
“No way! I would’ve stayed,” Samantha said, she had never been out of the state of New York. “Paris, wow!”
Jessica shook her head. “No you wouldn’t’ve. You would’ve hated it just like me.”
“I don’t know…” Samantha said while surveying the room. “A girl can get used to this.”
“I’m sure your parents didn’t let you off that easy,” Matt said. “What did you promise them?”
“Ah! You’re smart. They told me that if they’ll let me go to a public high school but that I’ll have to go to an Ivy League college.”
Samantha rolled her eyes. “Oh, is that all?”
“You’ve got it so freaking easy,” Matt said, almost sneering.
Jessica narrowed her eyes and jutted her chin. “Don’t you ever ever say that to me! Ever!”
“Whoa hold up! Calm down! Don’t’ get your panties in a bunch,” Samantha soothed.
“I’m sorry,” Jessica said and squeezed Matt’s hand. “I guess I’m super sensitive, people think just because my parents have money that my life is easy. It’s not. First of all money can’t buy me a perfect body—”
“Well, technically it can,” Matt said.
“That’s true, but it can’t buy me self-esteem.”
“You’re fine—” Samantha and Matt said simultaneously.
“Yeah right,” Jessica scoffed. “If I was fine, I wouldn’t be in the fat buster class. So let’s be real. And I never know if people like me for me or for my money.”
Samantha hugged her friend. “Well, you know that we like you for you.” She peered at Matt over Jessica’s shoulder. “Come over and join us.”
Matt froze, seeing the two girls hugging made him hard, and it showed. His penis felt bigger than Mt. Everest. Oh no! Not now! He anxiously dropped his notebook in his lap. “No, I’ll um, stay over here,” he said nervously.
“Come on. Show our girl some love,” Samantha insisted. “She needs it.”
He suddenly popped up. “I have to use the bathroom. Be right back.” He rushed to the bathroom, closed the door, and pressed his back against it. Lately his penis had been hardening at the merest provocation. “Go down! Go down!” he chanted. “Damn it go down!” He hobbled over to the toilet and every three minutes he flushed it. Ten agonizing minutes later his penis deflated.
As soon as he opened the door Jessica and Samantha glanced at each other then burst out laughing. Matt flushed. “Are you okay?”
“Sure why?” Matt asked as he nonchalantly sat on a couch far away from the girls. Positive that they knew why he was in the bathroom.
“The way you were flushing that toilet…” Samantha started.
“We thought you were having gastric problems,” Jessica finished with a giggle.
“Yeah.” He grinned relieved. “I guess I ate some bad chicken. No more buy one get one free specials from the gas station.”
“Hey guys?” Jessica said, her eyes serious. Samantha and Matt looked at her expectantly. “Please don’t tell anybody about this.”
“We won’t,” Samantha promised.
“Sure,” Matt agreed.
“I guess I want to be treated differently because of my weight not because of my money.”
“We won’t say anything,” Samantha vowed. “Was it like that at your other school? Were people nice to you because of your money?”
“Yeah! When I got old enough, I realized that all they cared about was my father’s connections and what he can do for them. I was just a key to their door of opportunity. Like I said a bunch of fake bougie people.”
“Sorry,” Samanth
a said.
“I’m so over it,” Jessica answered. “Let’s finish our assignment.”
Just then they heard a knock on the door.
“Come in!” Jessica called.
Nora the maid, Jessica’s former nanny and some time confidant, rolled in a cart filled with milk, chocolate chip cookies, ice cream, trail mix and other goodies.
“Time for a break!” Nora announced.
“Oh cool!” Samantha dropped her journal and darted toward the food. “I can live like this every day,” she mumbled to herself. Jessica heard but didn’t say anything.
Jessica, Samantha and Matt munched on chocolate cookies and washed it down with warm milk.
“This is so Brady Bunchish,” Samantha said as she gulped down her second glass of milk then reached for her fifth cookie. Jessica raised her eyebrows. “What? A Black girl can’t watch the Brady Bunch?”
Matt laughed. “You can watch whatever you want, I didn’t know that show still came on.”
“Well, TV Land had a marathon. A whole weekend of Marcia! Marcia! Marcia!”
“How exciting,” Jessica said around a mouthful of M & M’s. “I don’t think this is on our approved food list.”
“Kind of missed the boat on that didn’t you Jessica,” Matt said nodding to the plate in front of her. Cookies, a mound of ice cream and an apple filled it.
“Would you stop being the freaking food police,” Samantha scolded. “We have to deal with The Mac three times a week. I don’t want to hear it from you.”
“I’m only trying to help. You know we might have a weigh in later this week.”
They all groaned. “I know. I think I’ll fast the night before.”
“That might work,” Matt offered. “But you never know with The Mac. She might change her mind about the weigh in, or she might pick only students whose last name begins with an A. She could do anything.”
“To be on the safe side…” Jessica dropped what was going to be her fourth cookie back on the plate and sipped her milk instead. “At least my milk is low fat.”
“And low taste,” Samantha quipped before taking a gulp of her whole milk. “So how does this compare to your grandmother’s oatmeal cookies?” She asked Matt.