Big Girl (2010) Read Online Free PDF Page B

her that she was scared out of her mind and felt like a freak. She wondered if Connie had too at fourteen. She looked extremely relaxed and comfortable with who she was now, but she was also sitting with a freshman, which made Victoria wonder if she had any friends. And if she did, where were they? She looked taller than almost every boy in the room.
    "I reached my full height at twelve," she said conversationally. "My brother is six-six and plays for UCLA on a basketball scholarship. Do you play any sports?"
    "Some volleyball, not much." She had always been more academic than athletic.
    "We have some great teams here. Maybe you want to try out for basketball too. We have a lot of girls your height," she added, and Victoria almost said, "But not my weight." She was fiercely aware of how everyone looked, and looking at them on the way in, she felt twice their size. She felt less out of place with this girl, who at least did not look anorexic or dress as though she were going on a date. She seemed friendly and nice. "It takes a while to get the hang of high school," Connie reassured her. "I felt really strange the first day I got here. All the boys I saw were half my size. And the girls were a lot prettier than I was. But there's something for everyone here, jocks, fashionistas, beauty queens, there's a gay/lesbian club, you'll figure it all out after a while and make friends." Victoria was suddenly glad that Connie had sat down with her. She felt like she at least had one new friend. Connie had finished both her sandwiches by then, and Victoria was embarrassed to realize that she was so nervous, all she had eaten were the chips and the cookies. She decided to eat the yogurt and save the rest. "Where do you live?" Connie asked with interest.
    "L.A."
    "I drive in from Orange County every day. I live with my dad. My mom died last year."
    "I'm sorry," Victoria said, immediately sympathetic. Connie stood to her full height, and Victoria felt like a dwarf next to her. She handed Victoria a piece of paper with her phone number on it, and Victoria thanked her and slipped it into her pocket.
    "Call me if I can help with anything. The first few days are always tough. It'll get better after that. And don't forget to try out for the team." Victoria couldn't see herself doing it, but she was grateful for the friendly reception from this girl, who had gone out of her way to make her feel at ease. Victoria no longer believed that it was an accident that she had sat down at her table. As they chatted, a good-looking boy walked by and smiled at Connie.
    "Hey, Connie," he said, whizzing by with his books in his hand, "signing up recruits for the team?"
    "You bet." She laughed at him. "He's captain of the swimming team," she said when he was gone. "You might like that too. Check it out."
    "I'd probably drown," Victoria said, looking sheepish. "I'm not a great swimmer."
    "You don't have to be at first. You learn. That's what coaches are for. I swam for the team freshman year, but I don't like to get up that early. Practice is at six A.M. , sometimes five before a meet."
    "I think I'll pass," Victoria said with a grin, but she liked knowing she had options. This was a whole new world. And everyone looked like they liked it here, and had found their own niche. She just hoped that she'd find hers, whatever it was. Connie told her that there were sign-up sheets on the main bulletin board outside the cafeteria, for all the clubs. She pointed it out on their way out, and Victoria stopped to look. A chess club, a poker club, a film club, foreign language clubs, a Gothic club, a horror movie club, a literary club, a Latin club, a romance-novel book club, an archaeology club, a ski club, a tennis club, a travel club. There were dozens of clubs listed. The two that interested Victoria most were film and Latin. But she was too shy to put her name on either list. She had taken Latin in middle school the year before and liked it. And she thought the film club