STORY OF THE CHUBBY

STORY OF THE CHUBBY 14

‘Cecelia? Is that you?’

I groaned as I entered the house. Sammy said she’d be here in half an hour since she wanted to stop by the grocery store and get food and other things we might need.

‘Yea Mum,’ I replied getting into the kitchen where she was cooking.

‘How was your day?’ She asked, brightly. I tried not to look surprised but failed miserably. ‘What?’ She asked looking surprised too.

‘W-what…Nothing...Umm...It was great, I guess.’

She nodded with a smile then went back to check the pot, ‘Is your friend still coming?’

‘Yea. She’ll be here,’ I said, shifting uncomfortably on my feet. I mean come on; we haven’t had a ‘normal’ conversation since ever so this is still foreign territory for me.

‘Okay. I made dinner and took out a few movies that you might be interested in,’ she said wringing her hands with her apron. Glad to know I wasn’t the only one uncomfortable.

‘Thanks,’ I poked my thumb behind me, ‘I’ll be upstairs.’

She nodded again and I did my best not to run up the steps. Clearly none of us wanted to address the elephant in the room and for now I was okay with it. I hated confrontations and this one was something I wasn’t looking forward to.

‘Alex...Hi!’ I greeted my sister who was sitting by her window, ear buds in her ears.

‘Is she ‘ere yet?’ she asked looking behind me.

‘No. She stopped to get some ice cream and snacks. You nervous?’

‘Not so much,’ she shrugged. ‘So far you frien’s been ama’zn... ‘

I nodded and smiled. Yea. There was no reason to be nervous. Sammy had a good kind heart and this would go perfectly.

‘So...’ she started with a mischievous smile playing on her lips. ‘You like Chwis, huh?’

I almost chocked on my own spit, ‘What?’

She laughed, removing an ear bud from her right ear, ‘Don’ try to d’ny it!’

I played with my fingers and sighed. Couldn’t this get past her at least? ‘Even if I did, I don’t stand a chance!’

She put her hand over mine, ‘You gotta ‘ave a lil’ more faith in you’self!’

I was going to say something but the doorbell rang downstairs. ‘That must be her. I’ll go get her.’

Saved by the bell, I thought as I hurried downstairs. It was harder talking about my ‘little’ crush and I was too much of a coward to even talk about it. It made my insecurities more real.

‘I brought the goods!’ She said holding the plastic bags up, as soon as I opened the door.

‘Sweet,’ I said smiling brightly, suddenly excited. I had never really had a sleepover and at 18 (what took me so long, right?) ‘Leave them in the kitchen first.’

My mum was coming down the stairs, ready for work. ‘You must be Cecelia’s friend,’ she said, smiling warmly at her and extending a hand towards her.

‘Sammy. Nice to meet you, Mrs Hastings,’ Sammy said, with a bright smile.

‘Well, Sammy, I’m glad you’re here. You girls have fun then,’ She said, smiling at both of us. I nodded and dragged Sammy up the stairs.

‘You know, now that I think about it, you’ve never told me anything about your family,’ Sammy said as we near Alex’s door.

‘Well,’ I simply said before standing to stop before Alex’s door. ‘I also have a sister...so I’d like you to meet her...’