"Flatty"

Chapter 11

This is the first time that I get to talk to Jez this week. We haven't communicated by Padlet at all and he was "occupied" during all his lunch hours... until today that is.

"So," I start, "How was your week?"

"Good," He answers without looking at me.

An awkward silence follows.

"Oh!" I start, "I almost forgot. I have a surprise for you." I pull out a chocolate bar from under my vest and hand it to him. I hid it in my locker when Cheska ransacked my lunch today. "You seemed to like it last time."

His eyes light up as soon as he sees it "Oh thanks," He immediately unwraps it and breaks off a piece before letting it melt on his tongue. He then closes his eyes as he savors it.

"Why are you so skinny if you have chocolate?" He asks bluntly, his eyes still closed. "I thought that rich people were fat."

"'Cause no matter what I eat, I can't seem to gain weight. The doctors told me that I have a quick metabolism or something. I burn calories faster than normal people."

"Huh," He opens his eyes, "Well then why don't you just take a few CalMores?" I cringe at the word. "They should fix you right up."

Fix me? I swallow back my pride before answering, "I don't need to be fixed."

"If you say so," He half-heartedly agrees while popping another piece of chocolate into his mouth. Why is Jez like this today? Since when has he cared about my weight? Heck, he was worse than I was less than a month ago. He chews and swallows his treat before going on. "Well then maybe you could at least dye your hair. If you're dad's that rich then it shouldn't be a problem."

I'm so shocked that I'm almost afraid to ask. "Well why should I have to dye my hair?"

"Come on Tika," he says as if it were obvious, "You eat alone everyday, dress in black, look so skinny that it's sickening and have this unusual red hair." He seems sorry for me as he goes on, "It's almost as if you're trying to make people hate you. Couldn't you at least make an effort to fit in?"

This isn't my Jez. Something must have happened. I thought that he liked the fact that I'm different. I thought that he accepted me for who I am. I thought... I thought that he too wasn't society's puppet. I swallow back my tears as I ask "Is that why you don't have the time to eat with me anymore, because I don't fit in?"

He seems hurt by my accusation. "Of course not Tika. It's just that I made friends at school and I like to spend time with them too. Besides, I'm here today aren't I?" Jez then folds his chocolate bar back up and shoves it into his pockets.

I guess he's right. I mean, he's allowed to make friends. I don't own him or anything. Still, it's no excuse for suddenly being so disapproving of me... Is it? But what if he's always been discouraged by my unwillingness to conform yet was too shy to tell me until now? Maybe he's just been lying to me since the beginning, pretending to like me when in fact he can barely stand me. No, Jez wouldn't do that to me... Or would he? I don't know anymore. As he takes his hand out of his pocket, he seems to realize something.

"Guess what?" He asks with a malicious look.

"What?" I say without much conviction. I know, well, I'm hoping, that he didn't mean anything he said in a condescending way... he was probably just repeating something one of his friends said and I'm merely overreacting but at the same time I.... I don't know if I'm mad at him right now but part of me feels like I should be.

"You're not the only one who gets to give people surprises." Jez reaches into his other pocket and pulls out a container full of fresh raspberries.

My face lights up in surprise, "How did you even know I like those?" I ask while opening it up and tasting one.

He winks, "I'm a mind reading magician."

Mmmm they're good. "Yeah right," I say unconvinced while popping another one of those delicious red fruits into my mouth.

"Well, if you have to know" He starts, "The magician is willing to reveal part of his trick."

He stops there so I urge him on "Ok..."

"I simply took a well-calculated guess." He says while shrugging his shoulders, like it's suddenly no big deal, "One of my friend's friend mentioned once that a red-haired girl in his class had a habit of eating raspberries. Statistically, since there doesn't seem to be a lot of gingers around here, the chances that he was actually referring to you were very high. So I took the hint."

"Well, logic boy," I tease him, "You were right." And another one of those red fruits disappears. "Thanks," I add.

The rest of the lunch hour was great. Jez was back to his usual self: sweet, funny, smart, quirky, naive and surprising. Not only did I get my only friend back but I'm starting to doubt that I ever even lost him. He definitely didn't mean all the stuff he said earlier. It was probably no more than him repeating sentences that he heard his new friends say, just like I thought previously. He didn't realize that he was hurting me. I just overreacted. I have to learn to trust Jez a bit more.