Fat Girl ✔️

My Heart

"I know, Mom. I'm sorry. It was a mistake."

"Go in there and take that poor girl to the telephone booth. Now."

I opened my eyes slowly, revealing the same small dark room that had held me captive for the night. A small sliver of light peeked in front the crack between the door and the wall, and I watched two moving shadows argue from the light cast on the floor. Gone was the fresh cool air, now replaced by the stale scent of a dusty attic.

The door creaked open, and Ben stepped inside.

"I'm so sorry, Ellie."

"It's okay."

"I tried to grab you, but my hand, it slipped, and I-"

"It's okay. really."

Ben took a breath. "When you hit the ground, for a second I thought... I thought you were dead. I'm so sorry."

"Ben, it's okay. Apology accepted. Honestly, my legs were already in pretty bad shape. How much worse could it have gotten?"

Ben scratched the back of his neck. I raised my eyebrows. Lifting the covers, I revealed a propped up leg, sloppily wrapped in gauze.

"It's only your left leg, really."

I dropped the blanket back down, slowly nodding. "Okay."

"I can take you to the phone booth now, if you want."

"I'd like that."

***

"Wait, who was in the backseat again? Sydney? I thought I saw two people in the car when you came up by the garden."

"No, no, the one in the backseat was Bella. She's shy, but so great once you get to know her."

"Sounds like you've got great friends." Ben rested his hand on the steering wheel as we made our way down the large rural road.

"Yeah," I said, smiling. "Really great." I looked out the window to avoid eye contact. "So, is this your first year of college?"

"Yeah. It's not bad, though. It's pretty close, so I don't have to live on campus. I figure when I graduate I'll end up back here anyways. What about you?"

"Oh, I'm applying out of state. I think I might want to get as far away from here as possible."

Ben pulled up to the telephone booth, parking on the side of the road. He stepped out of the car, walking out on the other side to lift me out of the passenger seat. My heart skipped a beat as he wrapped his arms around me.

"I'll wait for you in the car. Take as much times as you need." He left me propped up against the booth, and made his way back to the car.

I turned to the phone, hesitating. But before I knew it, I was dialing in the number I knew by heart.

"...Hello?"

"Sydney."

"El? Is that you? Oh my god, are you okay? My parents heard from your Mom that you got into a car accident... What happened?"

I turned back towards the car, where Ben waited. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I did. Look, I can explain another time with all the details. Are you in town?"

"No. We left yesterday for Lake Tahoe. It's Fall Break, remember?"

"Right. No, of course."

"Why?"

"Mom and Jackie are in New York. Sorry, I just thought... never mind. It's fine."