Love Me On Thin Ice

Lily's Pov I have come to realize that being plus-size at Eastwood High is an extraordinary thing. Not because of the weight itself, I actually like my body most days. But the problem is everybody else seems to have an opinion about it. Eastwood High has a very specific idea of what a girl should look like, and unfortunately I missed the memo. The girls look at me like I'm some sort of motivational quote, while the boys look at me like a dare gone wrong. And the teachers? they pretend not to notice any of it. People think bullying always comes with insults and laughter. But sometimes it disguised as kindness. "You're so confident, Lily." "I would rather stay home if I looked like you" "At least you have a pretty face."...sucks!.....like the rest of my body was an unfortunate accident. Some would even stare at my lunch tray a little too long. They would ask their friends if the cafeteria is running out of food whenever I walk by. And after years of it, I'd learn how to pretend it doesn't bother me anymore. But if I'm being honest? It still does. I slam my locker shut, adjust my backpack strap. It's Friday afternoon, which means I have my freedom, at least for two days "Lily!" A familiar voice came flowing through the air. Only one person in the world says my name like she's announcing the arrival of a celebrity. Emma. A second later she crashes into me, almost knocking me off balance. I stumbled backward, tightened my grip on my backpack. "Miss me?" She asks, wiggling her eyebrows. "No" "You're a liar." She narrowed her eyes "Maybe." Emma gasps dramatically, placing her hand over her chest. "I'm wounded."she said "You'll survive." "It hurts, I don't think I will." "You literally say that every week." "Yeah, because you keep hurting my feelings” A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. Emma immediately points at me. “ There! You laughed, proof that you missed me.” I tugged my head back in disagreement. "What now?" I ask. She hooks her arm through mine and starts dragging me down the hallway. She looked into my eyes, as mine met hers, they immediately lit up. Uh-oh, that look never leads anywhere good. "You'll never believe what happened." She asked with excitement I groan. "No" Emma stops walking and stares at me. "You don't even know what I'm talking about?." "Because it's always gossip." I answered "Huh!, it's important gossip this time, trust me" "Hmmm....there's no such thing with you". She gasps loudly enough for three students nearby to look over. One of them snorts but Emma ignores him. "You take that back." She said to me, "And if I don't?" "You're rude." "And you are dramatic" Emma opens her mouth, probably preparing a speech about whatever she's gonna say. "It's Jaxon Ryder." Of course it is….I rolled my eyes so hard I'm pretty sure my ancestors felt it. I swear that boy could sneeze and the entire school would hold a press conference about it. I bet it, he doesn't know there's someone called Lily, how would he even know about me afterall?. "What's special about him anyways? Everyone just sees him as a god" I said, tipping my head back dramatically "Exactly!" Emma's eyes sparkle in excitement "Hmm...that wasn't a compliment." “Oh, come on. He's so handsome, he's captain of the hockey team, and—” “And what?” Emma places a hand over her heart. “And I'd gladly risk academic suspension to date that guy, instead of the ugly brat, he's into!” her tone changed into anger. Ugly brat?....Chloe; Jaxon's girlfriend was nothing near that, she had the perfect blonde hair, slimthick body. The kind of girl who could wear a sack bag and somehow start a fashion trend. Emma continues "And the funniest part, Jaxon and Chloe are fighting again!." "Of course they've been fighting since freshman year." "No, this one's different." "You said that last month." "Yh, because last month was different". A laugh escaped my throat, while she kept smiling at me. "Wait, I'm I funny? She asked, waiting for a compliment. Before I could answer, two boys walked past us. One of them deliberately bumps his shoulder against mine. Not enough to hurt but enough to make a point. He glances over his shoulder and smirks ."Sorry." His friends laughs "Careful man, she might crush you." Heat crawled up my neck, even though Emma was good at making me forget how I looked like. She would tell me I'm curvy, not fat, at least that lie was soothing, but some sort of monster would remind me how I really looked like. Emma's teeth clenched onto each other. "The f**k!? Are you blind? The two boys didn't even bother answering, they kept walking, still laughing. Emma takes a step forward but I immediately grab her wrist before she could chase after them. "Leave it." "Lily?.." "Let it go" my voice came lower than I intended. She looked at me for a long moment before reluctantly backing down. The truth is, I stopped expecting kindness from people a long time ago. One bad comment won't ruin your day and luckily, I have better things to focus on, like being a sports doctor, not exchanging words with them. As usual, Emma disappears toward cheer practice, since she's a cheer leader on the hockey team. But after making me promise to text her later, which I have no intentions of, cause we could end up using a whole day on a single gist. Instead, I head towards the ice arena. The moment I stepped inside, I felt relaxed. I love this place, the smell of ice, the distant shouts from practice, everything about it. One day I'll work in places like this professionally, not as a volunteer. The thought alone made me smile. I spent the next hour helping organize equipment and medical files before escaping to my favourite spot beneath the area. It's quiet down here, almost nobody comes around. I sat my ass down on the old bench and pulled out my anatomy textbook. For the next thirty minutes, life was perfect. No drama, no gossip, no one checking if my stomach folded when I sat. But until voices drift down the hallway, at first I ignore them, people walk through here sometimes. But then I recognized one of the voices; a female, sharp and angry.......Chloe Bennett. My eyes immediately lift from the page in surprise. Another voice answers her; male, deep and annoyingly familiar. It was Jaxon Ryder. "Are you serious right now?" Chloe snaps "I'm serious." Jaxon's voice sounds tired, not angry. The kind that comes from having the same argument too many times. The conversation continues…. I tried focusing on my textbook, I really do, but my ears have decided to betray me. I was only reading a sentence more than ten times. "You've been avoiding me for weeks" "I'm done Chloe" Jaxon answered “What?” Chloe laughs nervously. “Stop joking.” “I'm not joking, Chloe” Silence follows. Then Chloe speaks again. "Is there someone else?" "No" "Then why are you doing this?" Chloe said A sigh escapes him. "Because I don't love you anymore, I can't keep forcing myself into this relationship, when I don't want it" My eyes widened….damn!!. Maybe Emma was right after all. After seconds of eavesdropping, I noticed the sounds of heels walking more like running back the hallway. Only what I could hear were heavy punches on the wall mixed with growls. I was about to step out to take a glimpse, when my elbow bumps into an empty soda can sitting beside me. Geez! The can tumbles to the floor, giving out a loud noise and rolling to the direction where the sounds came from. My heart stops, the sounds stop too. Then silence, I could hear myself swallow my saliva. The next thing was footsteps, they were slow and calculated. On hearing this, my stomach drops immediately.....No! No! No!, not now! I kept staring at the hallway as the footsteps grew louder. I looked up just as a tall figure appeared around the corner. Blue eyes immediately found mine. And bang! It was the hockey captain.