Breathe

eight

[ nora ]

"All I'm saying is, you can't replace actual good food with fake healthy stuff. It's just not right."

I walk down the hallway with Spencer and Georgia, listening to their eccentric conversations and occasionally shake my head.

"Says the skinny one." Georgia gives Spencer a good glare after her comment.

"Body type doesn't matter, Georgie. You know that." Spencer begins to twirl the ends of her hair.

"But health does. I think it's wrong that people are replacing healthy food with junk."

Spencer rolls her eyes and laughs as she pulls out a jumbo size bag of potato chips.

Stuffing a bunch in her mouth, she mumbles, "Junk is just so good, though."

Georgia playfully punches her in the arm, giving her a light-hearted smile.

If there's anything I've learned about the two of them, it's that they disagree on a lot of things. Somehow, though, they don't mind each other's opinions and instead they find ways to embrace them.

"Nora, I need to ask you something."

Suddenly, Spencer stops and gets in front of me, biting her lip like she's unsure she should ask.

"You see, I wasn't going to say anything at first. I mean, I know how much of a loud mouth I am." She grins before getting serious again. "However, I just can't ignore the fact that you have two large bruises on your face. Is there anything going on we should know about?"

My cheeks redden and Georgia gasps.

"Spencer! You can't just ask people that!" Georgia gently grabs my arm. "Sorry about that, dear. She's just nosy."

"Well, I said I wasn't gonna say anything! But then she showed up with another one." Spencer pleads. "Look, Nora, I'm genuinely concerned."

"I just-" I gulp and nervously wring my hands. "I fell down my stairs, that's all."

"Twice?" Spencer lifts an eyebrow.

"I'm very clumsy." I give them an awkward smile, trying to hide the worry on my face.

I think Georgia notices, but she comes to my rescue.

"Oh, that's nothing! One time I tripped down my stairs and I swear I did two forward rolls after that. I landed in our dog's water bowl." She gives me a polite glance. "I still have the bruise on my hip."

We all start laughing, and I mentally thank her for changing the subject.

Spencer doesn't seem to notice and happily starts ranting about some other random subject. I think I catch a phrase or two about Pluto somewhere.

Sometimes I feel like Pluto. The poor planet always seemed insignificant to people. To them, it was different in the wrong way and they couldn't change it so they denied it of what it was.

I wish people would just accept things for what they are. They believe in differences, but only if they are a nice or beautiful kind of different.

It's sad, really.

"Nora, you okay?"

I shake out of my thoughts as Spencer nudges me. Georgia gives me a slight smile and a questioning look.

"Yeah, sorry. I just got lost in my head." I smile back at them.

They nod and walk into the cafeteria, and I follow behind their footsteps.