Big is Beautiful Read Online Free PDF

so didn't want to get into it. What did it matter?
    "Who?" he asked again, clearly not giving up.
    "Kendra."
    He shook his head. "Don't listen to anything Kendra has to say. She only thinks she has good taste." Matt reached up and fixed the collar of my coat. I'd never had a guy that close to me, and again, I had to remember to breathe. "Don't listen to her. Ever."
    "But she speaks so loud."
    He laughed and backed up out of my personal space. I felt like I could take a big breath again. "That she does." He leaned against the desk he'd been sitting at and crossed his arms over his chest. "When Ms. Bennett asked me if I knew you, I didn't elaborate. Kendra used to talk about you all the time when we dated."
    That couldn't be good. "I bet she did. Only I bet she never called me Brittany."
    "How could you guess?"
    "I know Kendra." Too well.
    "I got tired of hearing it so I…" He trailed off and looked at the floor.
    I what? I what!
    "Anyway, it's not right to make fun of another person, especially about their weight." His voice had enough passion in it to make me question why. Why would he care about bigger people being mocked?
    I shrugged. "It's the way of the world. Can't change it."
    "Who says?" His smile made me smile. We sure were getting friendly for people who had just met.
    The hand on the clock neared five after four, and I knew my mom would be hunting me down soon. I threw my pack over my shoulder and walked past him to the door. Turning around, I noticed he hadn't moved, but his face seemed hard and he stared at the floor like he was deep in thought. I could only imagine it had to do with how passionate he became about people being made fun of. From what I knew of Matt, he'd always been the popular guy, and his older sister was cheer captain before graduating and passing the job to Kendra. Neither had anything or any flaw to be mocked about.
    "See ya tomorrow."
    He broke his blank stare and smiled up at me. "See ya." Then he stopped me with a question I never saw coming. "Why does Kendra call you Big?"
    I turned on my heel, raised my brow, and ran my hand up and down the outline of my body. "Isn't it obvious?"
    He followed my hands and for the second time in ten minutes, checked me out. This wasn't right. "Not really."
    My head had the potential to get as big as my butt. "Ha, yeah right."
    "It isn't. You aren't that big."
    The hot air started to seep out of my bloated head. "That," such an ugly, deflating word. "Well, thanks."
    "Big-boned, maybe."
    Enough of this conversation. "Okay then. I'm gonna go."
    "Don't… ugh." He sounded flabbergasted. That made two of us. "I mean… not plump or big-boned. That was stupid. I meant… Kendra never should have said that about you, and she shouldn't have nicknamed you Big. That's all I'm trying to say, but I'm not the best with words."
    "Too bad words aren't math problems." I couldn't help but grin.
    "Very true."
    I shifted on my feet and thought about walking away. Something needed to be said first, though. "Thanks for saying that. About Kendra."
    "It's the truth."
    I nodded and turned toward the door. Then I thought why not? He might as well know. I huffed and faced him again. "It took a real act of intellect on Kendra's part to come up with my nickname."
    He raised an interested brow like he was fixing to find out who really killed Kennedy. It wasn't that big of a national secret. Once he found out my name, he'd understand why. "My birth name was Brittany Isabelle Duke. Duke is my mom's maiden name. I don't know who my biological father is. Anyway, when I was seven, she married Dan Gregory, and he adopted me."
    "So you took his last name."
    "Yes."
    "And that made you Brittany Isabelle Gregory." The light bulb went on.
    "That it did. B.I.G. A horrible set of initials for a larger girl to have."
    "Could be worse. Your name could be Allison Sarah Smith."
    I had to stop a snicker from coming out. It wasn't the most appropriate joke to laugh at. "Never thought about it that way.