Baby Fat

three

Sometimes, people can forget about the shitty reality. Right now, is not one of those sometimes for Bradley.

The school cafeteria is truly scaring for Bradley in high school life. From where he sits to what he eats. There's always the constant judging, people watching him, whispering about him, acting as if he doesn't understand what's happening. Unfortunately, some people aren't lucky enough to be oblivious to that kind of stuff.

"Bradley," Hannah pulls Bradley out of his mind. She flips her red hair over her shoulders and looks at him concerned. "You good?"

"Perfect," he assures her. She nods before continuing to rant angrily about her no-good-ex-boyfriend. He's the gum people can't get off the bottom of their shoe.

"And I was like, what the f*ck do you think you're doing f*cking with my man like that. Of course the little slut—"

He cuts in, "No need to slut shame. C'mon now." Hannah only rolls her eyes and chops loudly on her salad. It's painful to watch and listen to.

"Okay," she drags out the a and y, "the little hoe attempts to slap me. I took that bitch to the ground."

He nods his head, acknowledging her story. He eats his cheeseburger quickly, avoiding the stares from peers. They eat in a comfortable silence, just the two of them. Hannah and Bradley sit in the way back of the cafeteria in the far left corner of the lunch line. They are outsiders.

Bradley knows Hannah should be in the popular crowd. She moved to Michigan from New Orleans a few months ago. Her bright green eyes and slim body enthralled the jocks—Corrie's crew. However, when she rejected them one by one they casted her to the Land of Losers which had one resident but is now occupied by two.

"Hola, losers," Jordan—a jock—greets them. He gives the two a fake smile. Bradley is about to say something snappy but Corrie and a few others gather around Jordan before Bradley gets the chance to.

"Hi," Corrie acknowledges Jordon before taking a seat next to Bradley. Bradley opens his mouth to say something but two of Corrie's other friends sit down too. Corrie smirks up at Jordon. "You going to join us or are you going to stand there  looking like a dipshit?"

Jordon, being the follower he is, sits down the fastest Bradley's ever seen someone put their ass in a chair. Jordon's an obedient dog, and Corrie seems to be his master.

"Glad to see all of my friends in one place," Corrie breaks the stone cold ice. No one says anything after that. They all just eat their food in silence even while people around the peculiar group whisper in confusion.

Bradley can hear them occasionally, the snicker: "Why is Corrie sitting with them?" Bradley as well is personally unaware of why the company was needed and he can't say it's too joyous. If anything it's awkward. He'd like to say that his school is not clique-y, however he tries to limit his lies. The school is divided, popular and not popular. It's a simple system, people stay where they are and don't stray.

"So, Hannah," one of the nameless jocks starts out. He's thrown away his food and he's just watching the rest of us.

Bradley takes in his features. He has thick brown hair pulled back into a gelled quiff—quite impressively, he has to say—and he's got brown eyes. He looks like a puppy dog, lost and confused. He doesn't know why he's sitting with his owners but he's extremely grateful that he is. Too bad he doesn't know his name.

"So, Matt," Hannah mocks. She tosses her red hair over her shoulder, and rests her chin on the back of her hand. She smirks a bit, too. He doesn't do anything, just gawks at her. Hopeless. High school is hopeless.

"Any how," Corrie pulls everyone's attention away from Hannah and Matt's sexual tension. They all turn to look at him. He runs a hand through his hair, looking nervous. "I was wondering if you all wanted to you know, hang out."

Everyone just stares at him, confused by his proposal. They're from two different cliques and they don't mix. It's just what it is. It's always been like that and Corrie's trying to change it.

"Why?" Jordan blurts. He smiles sheepishly afterwards, flashing his pearly white teeth. When Bradley turns to look at Corrie again, Corrie just smiles. He smiles in satisfaction.

"Yeah, why?" Matt reiterates what Jordan says. Hopeless, Bradley sighs, hopeless. Corrie just shrugs his shoulders while taking a bite of his sandwich.

Corrie swallows and then says, "Why not, is the real question,"

Hannah looks at Bradley with wide eyes, silently asking what the fuck to do. He also shrugs his shoulders.

"Well," Hannah starts off. She's got Matt looking at her like she's the queen of everything. "What would you like to do?" She directs her question of Corrie but Matt chimes in.

"My friend's having this party." He looks around at all of them, waiting for someone to give a confirmation. Hannah starts to slowly nod her head while Bradly begins to slowly shake his head no. Parties are overrated.

Everything in high school is overrated. In the end, after high school is over, it won't matter what parties you've gone to, who you slept with, and who you didn't. After all, time will be spent and you only have so much so why waste it on such materialistic things?

"I'm in," Jordan agrees. Corrie nods his head too and Bradley sighs heavily.

"You coming, Bradley?" Corrie asks me. Bradley shoots his eyes at Hannah and she just nods her head, encouraging him to say yes.

"Of course, I have no where better to be."

•••

Bradley finds it funny that people think things as minuscule such as likes on Instagram matter. Although, he'd be a hypocrite to say they don't. Stuff like that does matter because deep down those likes stand represent people who like you and accept you. Deep down, everyone is looking for acceptance...even if they don't admit it.

So, after saying that, Bradley can accurately tell you that Jordan and him are similar. They both strive for likes, and retweets, and all these things that will never matter. It's not like one day when you have grandchildren you'll say, "Oh, this one time my Instagram post got 200 likes". In fact, most of them won't even remember what the post was.

They just live in a world where how many people like you is justified by how many likes you've gotten.

"Bradley?" Corrie pulls him away from his thoughts. They've arrived at the overcrowded house. Cars fill the streets and cups litter the lawn. It's one of those stereotypical high school parties.

"I'm ready."

"As ready as you'll ever be for a fat boy at a popular people party," his self-consciousness adds but he chooses to ignore it.

Hannah and Bradley step out on either side of the car, and then slam the doors shut. Corrie gets out of the passenger seat and Matt from the drivers side. They all walk together to the house, Matt and Hannah leading the way. He's so obvious about his feelings. Unfortunately, Bradley's not sure if Hannah reciprocates those feelings.

The music is remarkably loud, and the house shudders when the beat drops. Bradley is afraid to go in there. Matt opens the door for Hannah and holds it open for the rest of us.

"Jordan should be here soon," he assures Corrie when Corrie asks.

Corrie looks at Bradley and smirks. "You ready for the time of your life?"

He doesn't think he'll ever be ready.

__________

☒ - unedited