“Nicole! Time to get to work!” A very large, Hispanic woman approached her, and led her to the lunch counter.
Nicole cringed at the smell of the coleslaw and other foods that had been prepared for lunch. She readied herself by placing large spoonfuls of mashed potatoes onto the lunch trays as the other children lined up beside the cafeteria counter, anxiously awaiting their lunches as their stomach’s rumbled.
She smiled politely as the other students filed by, casting her disgusted glares or snickering at her. She ignored them as usual and craned her neck to see down to the end of the line. Her heart stopped as she noticed him ten people in line behind the lunch counter.
Robby Witherspoon. The most popular guy at Clinton and the one whose teasing seemed endless.
Her heart flip-flopped as he neared her, dreading what nickname he chose for her today.
As he stepped in front of her he smiled widely as if in a mocking greeting. She smiled back as he set his tray on the counter in front of her.
“W…would you, uh.” She stuttered, her heart racing.
“Wha…what…what was that RETARD?” He laughed out loud eliciting a shriek of laughter from all the children behind him in line.
Nicole swallowed the lump in her throat and searched Robby’s deep blue eyes for any sense of compassion towards her. She sighed, finding none. She took a deep breath to regain her composure and continued.
“Would you like some mashed potatoes with your turkey?” She asked, almost in a whisper.
“Yeah. Sure.” He yelled to the whole cafeteria.
All eyes turned to stare up at him.
“If you haven’t eaten ‘em all elephant!” He screamed, bursting into laughter along with the rest of the students who had assembled in the cafeteria.
That was it. Nicole had had it. Three months of not only Robby’s teasing, but everyone else in the student body had been quite enough and she was tired of having to go home, her eyes full of tears and her heart full of pain. She was not going to stand there and be teased just because she was slightly overweight and plain looking. It was time for her to stand up for herself. She didn’t know where it came from, but all of a sudden she felt this growing strength and anger inside of her that was yearning to release itself. For the first time in her life she decided to listen to it. Little did she know that that one decision would change her life forever.Nicole’s eyes stared like daggers at Robby and she smiled evilly, glancing up at him. He smiled back at her nervously, grabbing for his tray back from her, fearing the angry glare in her eyes. Before he could grab the tray from her, Nicole opened her mouth as a line of spit trickled slowly down her chin and into his mashed potatoes. She smiled proudly at herself, handing him back the tray of food and wiping the line of drool on her chin with her apron.
He stared at her in shock, dropping the tray down on the counter in disgust. “What the hell? Oh MY GOD!” He yelled for all to hear. “That is disgusting! No wonder you don’t got any friends!” His face scrunched up in anger and he pointed to his tray, getting the lunch lady’s attention. “Ms. Martinez! Did you see what this little twit did to my mashed potatoes?”
Ms. Martinez eyed Nicole closely, shocked to see this kind of behavior from her and secretly proud she finally decided to stand up for herself. She nodded. “Yes I did Robby.” She turned to Nicole. “Nicole, you are going to the principle’s office right now.” She winked at her silently.
Nicole stepped back and shoved off her apron, glaring up at Robby. “And you’d better be careful cuz’ next time I’ll just take that spit and aim it at your face you jerk!” Nicole yelled, pulling off her gloves and grabbing her backpack. She stomped out of the cafeteria with her head held high.A few minutes later she was sitting outside the principle’s office, hungry and bored. She sighed, picking at the frayed sleeves of her sweater and kicked her feet back and forth above the floor. She started humming as her stomach grumbled slightly, reminding her just how hungry she really was, having to skip lunch because of her little outburst in the cafeteria. Her eyes shifted from the floor to across the room as she heard a short cough. She was met with soft, hazel eyes, dirty blonde hair and a shy smile. She smiled up at the boy sitting across from her, noticing him for the first time.
He smiled back at her, taking a small bite of the sack lunch that sat in front of him.
Nicole’s stomach growled louder as she inconspicuously eyed the boy’s lunch. She smiled once again and returned her attention to her frayed sweater and fidgeting legs.
The boy coughed once more to gain her attention and motioned to the empty chair next to him.
“You wanna share my lunch with me?” He asked quietly.
Nicole nodded, taking the seat next to him and eyed him suspiciously.
He had to be a new kid. His kindness towards her immediately gave that away and his accent was slightly different. He was from Mississippi, there was no doubt about that, but he definitely was not from Clinton.
The boy handed her half of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and she took it, almost devouring it in less than five seconds.
The boy laughed lightly. “Wow, I guess you’re hungry. Want some more?”
Nicole nodded, taking the apple he handed her and munching slowly on it.
“I’m James.” The boy blurted out, as Nicole finished the apple and tossed it into the wastebasket in the corner of the small waiting area. “This is my first day. My mom’s in there getting my class schedule. What’s your name?”
“My name’s Nicole.” She said quietly. “But, if I were you and I wanted to get anywhere in this school I’d stay away from me. You’d definitely be labeled a loser if you hung out with me.”
“Why is that Nicole?”
Nicole rolled her eyes as if the answer was obvious and motioned up and down her body. “Take a good look James, that’s why.”
James listened to her command and looked her over. Her large, stocky body was hunched over as she set her hands on her elbows, resting them on her jean-covered knees. Her long, dusty, brown hair spilled over her shoulders and fell to her over-proportioned hips. Her freckle filled face was nothing special, in fact plain was the word that came to mind, but his attention was suddenly focused on her eyes. The dark, grayish blue orbs held all her emotion and feelings. They begged for acceptance from him. They screamed to be noticed and notice them he did. They were absolutely captivating, but the only part of her that was.
James nodded as he finished looking at her. “Looks done. Now what?”
Nicole eyed him curiously. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m fat. I don’t have any friends ‘cause of it and unless you wanna be teased for the rest of your time here, I’d recommend just stopping this conversation. No offense.”
James looked into her eyes once more and saw a deep sadness, but not one that begged for pity, one that begged for understanding and companionship. One that he couldn’t turn away.
“Offense taken.” He grumbled. “You just insulted me Nicole. You think I’d actually care what you look like? The kids in this school might care, but I don’t. I never judge anyone by first glance. I hate people who judge other people when they don’t even know anything about them. It’s irritating.” He stopped, taking the last bite of his sandwich and tossed the plastic bag into the trash.
Nicole stared at him in shock. Was he for real? “So, James…When did y’all get here? To Clinton I mean? What grade are you in?”
“Last week. I’m in seventh. What about you?” He mumbled.
“Eighth. I can’t wait to get out of here. But at least this is the first time I ended up here in this office.” She looked around as if she had never seen the office before.
“What’ya doin’ in here anyway?”
Nicole giggled lightly, smiling, a genuine smile for the first time in a long while. “I spit on some kid’s mashed potatoes, that’s all.”
James broke into hysterics. “Why…Why’d you do that?” He stuttered through his laughter.
“He called me an elephant.” Nicole laughed along.
James nodded. “Good for you, then he deserved it.” He stopped laughing and smiled comfortingly at her, taking her hand in his, shaking it lightly. “Nicole, it’s nice to meet you. I hope we become good friends.”
Nicole’s spirit’s rose and her heart beat faster. “I hope so too James. But can I ask you somethin’?”
“Sure.”
“Do I gotta call ya James? I don’t really like that name. I think Jam-es sounds so more romantic, don’tchya think?”
James smiled as the principle walked out, waving her hand to usher Nicole into her office.
Nicole stood up and headed for the small partition, separating the waiting area from the administrative offices and turned around to face James.
He shrugged. “I guess if you want to, but only if we’re friends. I don’t let just ANYONE give me nicknames.”
Nicole smiled and waved behind her. “See ya later Jam-es.”
