STORY OF THE CHUBBY

STORY OF THE CHUBBY 17

Chris, Cathy, Caleb, Conner...how

‘Fred, Chris was actually right about having a friend who’s a girl,’ Sofia said, winking at me.

Friend...only friends, Cecelia. He doesn’t want anything else.

Fred was a tall, lean man in his late forties maybe, a receding hairline and a warm smile that reached his warm brown eyes.

‘She’s a pretty one, too,’ he said, standing up from the couch, and shaking my hand with a firm handshake. ‘How are you, dear? I’m Fred.’

‘Cecelia,’ I said, giving him a genuine smile. He looked like a really pleasant person.

‘I know! Now come along. Sofia made dinner for you,’ he said, putting an arm on my shoulder and steered me to the dining area.

Suddenly two identical little boys with the same hair colour as Sofia’s, one in a red shirt and the other with a yellow one, came bursting into the room. One appeared to be chasing down the other one. The twins.

‘Mum! Connor’s being mean again!’

‘I’m not!’

‘Are too!’

‘Kids! We have a guest now I expect you to behave yourselves,’ Sofia said in a firm voice.

The two boys shuffled their feet and looked apologetically at me, ‘Hi.’ They said at the same time.

I cleared my throat and smiled, ‘Hi. And who is who?’

The one in the red shirt spoke up, ‘I’m Caleb and he’s Connor. I have a missing tooth, see?’ He said, pointing to his missing front tooth.

I laughed and bent down to his level, ‘What if it grows back? How will I know then?’

Caleb looked thoughtful but it was Connor who spoke up, a mischievous glint in his eye, ‘We can’t tell you that! You’ll just have to find out yourself!’ Caleb nodded at that and then they ran off to sit at the dining table which was already set.

 Chris stood at the table and smiled at us and motioned to the table and said in a very professional voice, ‘Dinner is served.’

‘Well you only set the table, I cooked,’ Sofia said, rolling her eyes which made me laugh.

‘Hey I helped!’ I turned to see a girl about 13 years old walk in. She must be Cathy. She will be quite the popular one if she wasn’t right now. She had dark hair like Chris and Fred but had the same striking blue eyes as Sofia’s.

‘Hey Cecelia! Did your sister love the poster?’

I shot a look at Chris who just shrugged.

‘Yea. She loved it,’ I said, hoping no one would ask about my sister, just yet.

‘Cool,’ she said, beaming.

‘So shall we all get to dinner already?’ Fred said, jokingly. ‘I could eat a whole house right now.’

We laughed and settled down for dinner.

‘Oh no, Cecelia. Don’t touch that. You’re the guest so Cathy, Caleb and Connor, clear the table,’ Sofia said, when I’d started to take my plate to the kitchen.

‘But Mum...’ Caleb and Connor started at the same time. During dinner I noticed they said a lot of things at the same time and I wondered how amazing yet creepy it was.

‘If you’re not clearing the table then you’ll have to go to bed early,’ she said, smiling at them sweetly. That seemed to shut them up and they obediently cleared the table.

‘That was wonderful, Sofia,’ I said, politely.

‘You haven’t eaten anything yet, kid,’ Fred said, his eyes twinkling. ‘You should taste her lasagne! Oh my God!’ He said, dramatically putting a hand on his chest.

‘Or her desserts!’ Chris added, laughing beside me.

‘Well,’ Sofia said, looking a bit flustered. ‘It’s alright.’

‘Alright? I’m offended on behalf of the lasagne,’ Fred said, laughing. I laughed too, because of Fred’s laughter which was really contagious and because of Sofia’s expression. She looked more flustered but smiled lovingly at Fred.

‘Thank you,’ she said, turning to Chris, ‘Both of you.’

‘You want a tour of the house,’ Chris whispered next to me. I nodded and he stood up, ‘I’m gonna show her around.’ They both nodded and Chris pulled me up and led me upstairs.

I tried to keep my heart still as my head screamed, ‘Oh my God! He’s holding my hand!’

We entered a room, I guess it was his room and he closed it behind him. It was pretty organised, just a few clothes strewn in a corner. The walls were this really light grey colour and his beddings matched the walls except for his blue pillows that seemed to be the brightest thing. He had a desk by the window and the closet was across the room form his bed. There was a door that maybe led to the bathroom.

 I guess I looked a bit panicked because he laughed, ‘Relax, Cecelia. I just want to talk. Okay?’ He sat at the edge of his bed and patted next to him.

I nodded mutedly and sat next to him. So was he going to explain what he told me before we got in? Was he going to tell me he was joking? Because as far as I know, he could pass off as Fred and Sofia’s kid. He did share some similarities with Fred actually.

‘So I guess you know now, huh,’ he said, laughing nervously. He turned to look at me, ‘It’s not that I didn’t want to tell you...It’s that I did. And that scared me a little. Because I trust you a lot within such a short time.’

I sat there, a bit shocked actually. He trusted me a lot. Wow.

‘It took me almost two years to tell Leroy, you know,’ he said with a smile. Then he stood up and looked out of the window.

‘Basically, what happened is that my Mum died when I was around 6...my Dad fled and left me in an orphanage because he couldn’t handle it,’ he said the last part with bitterness. He turned and looked at me, smiling a little. ‘Then Sofia and Fred took me in and...That’s the story of my life. Here I am. I just recently found my grandmother thanks to Fred.’

‘I’m sorry,’ I said, in a sotto voce. What was I supposed to say?

He shook his head, ‘I got over it. Shit happens, right?’

I stood up and walked to where he stood then hugged him. He seemed taken aback by this action but hugged me back. ‘I shouldn’t have snooped around.’

‘Naah. It’s okay. I was just...scared. I don’t know why,’ he said, placing his head on mine.

We stood there for a while, just hugging. To him I bet it was for comfort...to me... To me it was for my own selfish reasons. In my mind I was the only girl right now who knew him a little better than the rest. I just let myself think I was the only one right now...who he liked. The others were just for distraction. Don’t judge me.

‘You know why I like hugging you?’ He asked, softly.

‘Why?’

‘You remind me of my mum. She was cuddly like you. And when I hugged her, I felt safe,’ he said.

My breath caught and my heart beat a tad bit faster. He didn’t exactly say it but he implied it. Chris Edwards, the boy I liked, felt safe in my arms. I smiled and discreetly inhaled his scent.