Over the Fence

Chapter 4

(Jason's POV)

I ended up running five miles instead of going straight back to Aubrey's. She could be as upset as she wanted about how long I was gone. I needed to get rid of some frustration.

That had been the first time I had asked someone out since high school over ten years ago, and I was rejected. Royally rejected. Embarassed didn't even begin to describe it. There had been girls I had liked, but I couldn't ever bring myself to ask them out.  I never thought someone could like me when I was over 300 pounds. I was huge. Even now, smack dab in the middle range of weight I'm supposed to be, I was still self conscious about my body.

But I felt so comfortable with Corinna. There was something she put out in the air around her that drew me in. I didn't have to look at her to know when she smiled. It was just a feeling. Grabbing her hand was so natural to me that I hadn't even noticed I had done it. I thought someone would feel sparks when they were attracted. I just felt cool and calm. Like every stress had been lifted from my shoulders the closer she was to me. The only way I could really explain it to myself was that it just felt so right. Obviously she thought it felt extremely wrong. But why didn't she pull her hand away? And why did she blush when I pulled her closer? It was like I had her and then all of a sudden she forced me away. I've never been this confused.

I had just taken off my sweaty shirt and tossed it across the room when the bedroom door flew open. "You should have told me you were back." Aunt Aubrey had her arms crossed over her chest.

I searched for my shirt to try and cover up. "Sorry, I just needed a minute to cool down. I was going to take a shower and then check in on you."

"I could have been killed in the time you were gone and you wouln't have known because you needed a shower." Aubrey scanned over my naked upper body and looked at me in disgust. "Cover up. No one would want to see that." Shaking her head, she left the room.

"I wish I was lucky enough to find you dead." I mumbled to myself as soon as I couldn't hear her footsteps anymore.

Standing in front of the mirror, I ran my hand across the strech marks that still hadn't dissappeared from around my belly button. They were all over. My skin had just started to get tight again, even though it had been almost two years since I hit my goal weight. Thankfully I had lost the weight before my thirties. Each year would have just made it harder for my skin to go back to normal. But the stretch marks would be there for years to remind me of the side of me I hated.

Was Aubrey right? If I didn't want to see it, why would anyone else want to? Would Corinna want to see it? Frustration took over as I tried to push her back out of my head. It was no use. She was stuck in there. Whether I liked myself or not, I needed to try again with her. I was going to psych myself up and knock on her door tomorrow. She turned me down once. But there was someone out there who was going to like me the way I was and I had a feeling she was at least somewhat interested. There was no way something that felt that right was wrong. The frustration I felt turned to determination.

After my shower I did go check in on Aunt Aubrey. I had offered to make her lunch, but the only thing I found in her fridge was microwave dinners and leftover boxes from various restaraunts. When I had announced I would need to make a trip to the store, she grabbed her purse and mumbled something about me not going alone because she didn't want to only eat rabbit food. I made her a turkey salad when we returned home just to piss her off. Of course, I served it with a friendly smile. I wasn't going to be her friend but there was no way I would let her prove I wasn't trying. She always looked for an excuse to be a victim.

If she didn't have to be so rude all of the time, I would have been nicer to her. There wasn't a mean bone in my body until it came to dealing with the witch. It was like her poor attitude was contagious to anyone around her. When I was little, she showered me with gifts I never asked for, but then referred to me as greedy when she would talk to my mother. I hadn't asked for the toys. When I started to refuse things from her she would tell people I apparently now felt that I was too good for her kind hearted intentions. It was a lose lose situation no matter what I did. She played the same games with my mother and the rest of my family. According to Corinna, she was the same with everyone: A bitch.