FD:Did he hurt you?
LC:Never touched me. He got pissed at me, though, for giving him a hard time about the weight loss, saying fat was beautiful and there was nothing wrong with it. He said, “You sound like those idiot women on your Twitter feed. Stop trying to use body positivity to make excuses for your poor life choices.”
FD:Harsh.
LC:I’ve had worse, but coming from Emmett? If Mando ever found out—
FD:You don’t really believe that, though, do you? That there’s nothing wrong with being fat?
LC:What are you trying to say, dude?
FD:I mean, from a health perspective—
LC:Being Latina isn’t so good for my health. It increases my risk of pretty much everything—heart disease, cancer, stroke, diabetes. Which I’ve got. Would you say there’s something wrong with having brown skin?
FD:That’s not a choice.
LC:If being thin was just a choice, don’t you think most people would choose it and not have people like you judging them all the time? That’s why drugs like Obexity exist, right? ’Cause it’s not that fucking simple.
FD:Obexity is a medical treatment. To help people improve their health—
LC:Health, health. I’m going to write a children’s book calledThe Boy Who Cried Health. Like any of you give a shit. You talk about health because it’s more acceptable than admitting you hate fat people. Fat women especially.
FD:I don’t—
LC:At the end of the day, Emmett was being a hypocrite. That’s what riled me most. Like yeah, his body changed, but he hadn’t really. He still ate more in one sitting than most people eat in a day. He still hated his body even when he was being an asshole about mine. No matter how much weight he lost, he still wouldn’t take his shirt off at the beach.
FD:Why’s that, do you think?
LC:Because fat isn’t something you wear, like a piece of clothing. When you live with it long enough, when it’s a part of who you are, that shit goes all the way down.
CHAPTER 31
The text came the following morning, and Emmett assumed by its tone of concerned coddling that his mother had heard about the fight at the restaurant.Is everything okay? If there’s anything you want to talk about I’m always here. Call me soon. Love you.
He ignored it, mostly because things were busy at the store—some woman was having a meltdown over a flatpack cabinet she’d spent three hours building before realizing it was missing a piece—then he had to dash home to shower. He had plans to meet Aaron for a movie, some French horror thing about a student with a taste for human flesh. They skipped popcorn, and halfway into the movie he was starving despite the stomach-turning violence on-screen. It was slightly discomfiting, how much his mouth watered while watching it.
When the movie was over, he saw he had another text from Mom.Do you have time to talk tonight? I know you’re so busy. Miss you.He filed a mental note to call her later.
As they dined at an Indian place by the theater, Aaron shared that his new education manager had resigned. “Oh my god,” Emmett said, spooning chutney over his pakora. “She justquit? No notice?”
“She did us a favor. I’ve had my eye on someone great to replace her.”
Emmett’s eyes flicked up. “Who?”
“Don’t play dumb. I already talked to my boss, the one you met at the interview. She’s all for it.”
“Does she know we’re—?”
“Who cares? As long as we keep things professional at work, no one needs to know. You’re right for the job, and I need someone I can trust. You’d really be helping me out.”
“I don’t know.”
“Think of it as a stepping stone. It’s what you want, isn’t it, to get back into education?”
“Yeah, but…”
Aaron dropped his gaze, spearing a fritter with his fork. “All right, forget it. I thought you’d be happy, but if you want to deal with asshole customers at Target for the rest of your life—”
