Weathered Love

ATTENTION

"Oh my gawd, he's just so awesome," Hannah gushed. It was two days after Valentine's Day and Hannah couldn't stop fawning over Grayson. "He's so sweet, like, he'll bring me somewhere super-nice and won't care what item I order off the menu, but I have to watch my figure, you know?" she rambled. "You know how he can get about fat girls."

That got my attention. I had been actively tuning Hannah out since the ugly truth of her dating Grayson, just to hurt me, had come to light. But this tidbit was news to me. "Enlighten me," I encouraged.

"Well, like how he broke up with his one ex because she got too fat. Don't worry, he wasn't talking about you," she stated in response to what I assume was a clouded expression forming on my face. "So I just need to be careful, ya know? Gotta keep my man happy."

"Yeah," I murmured, resuming my reading. Except I couldn't concentrate on the words anymore. Hannah's statement was eating away at me, and I just had to know. "I'm heading out," I stated, leaving the room and taking my book bag with me. At least I could study afterwards, although I wasn't sure if I'd have the mental capacity to study once I completed the task I had set out to do.

I burst through the door to Ivan and Grayson's room, only caring about my mission at that point. "We need to talk," I stated to Grayson, glaring at him.

"What's up?" he offered, seeming to be oblivious.

"Did you really break it off with me because you met someone else, or was I just getting too fat for you?" I got straight to the point. Grayson looked shocked, so it took him a minute to regain his voice.

"What gave you that crazy idea?" he pressed.

"Don't play dumb, I know you broke up with at least one ex because she was too fat for you, I just want to know if I also fall into that category," I interrogated. I saw Grayson look to Ivan for help. "Don't look at him, he can't help you. Give me a straight answer. Did I get too fat for you?" I pressed.

"N-no," he stammered, unconvincingly. I huffed, trying to calm myself down. Maybe it wasn't the complete reason, but he definitely had lost some attraction to me as I tried to get back to a healthy body.

"Ivy, let's go out," Ivan offered. I nodded, not trusting myself to open my mouth at that point. Ivan and I left the room and walked across campus. "Renzo invited me over to hang out. Let's go," Ivan offered. I nodded, still seething. Of course Grayson lost interest because of my weight. Of course he only wanted to be with me because he was looking for someone to sleep with. Of course I didn't actually mean anything to him.

"Guys suck," I muttered under my breath.

"I take personal offense to that," Ivan joked.

"Unicorns don't count," I pointed out, to which Ivan gave me a confused looked. "Oh, Ella and I have decided you're not real, therefore you're a unicorn," I filled him in. Ivan responded with the sweetest smile, further confirming our theory that he couldn't be real.

We arrived at Lorenzo's place. He was sitting on his porch, smoking. "Hey guys!" he greeted. He was in good spirits for someone who'd been broken up with for the umpteenth time by the same girl just days earlier. He extended his hand with the pack of cigarettes in it to Ivan. Ivan gave me a sideways glance and was about to reject the offer when I took one.

"Since when do you smoke?" Ivan asked, looking baffled.

"Since when do you?" I returned the question. Ivan avoided my gaze, knowing I'd seen his hesitation, then reached for a cigarette as well. We both sat down and lit up.

"You know these things are killing us," Lorenzo stated.

"Why bother offering them then?" I asked.