Big is Beautiful Read Online Free PDF Page B

So now you know."
    "Now I know. Thanks for telling me. It stinks, though." He grabbed his things and put them in his black backpack.
    "Not as much as Allison Sarah Smith." I laughed, full of myself.
    "Yeah, that would have stunk pretty badly. Want me to walk you out?"
    Did he really just ask me that? Why was he being so nice to me? Was he this nice to everybody? "Um, no, that's okay. I know my mom's probably boiling by now. I'll see you tomorrow and thank you so much for the help."
    "You're very welcome, Brittany Isabelle Gregory." He motioned for me to go ahead as he turned off the light and made sure the door was shut behind us.
    I'd made it through my first tutoring session alive and with a new friend, or at least, I thought he could be my friend. Perhaps my mom had been right after all. Geometry was handy.

 
    Chapter Four
     
    The sun had nearly gone down when I made it out of the school. Most people liked it when the days got longer but not me. Longer days meant summer was running full throttle around the corner. Summer: bikinis, shorts, non-bulky layers. Fun times for ole Brittany. Maybe I could lose a few pounds before summer. I had about four months. I could lose ten pounds by then easy. Then Kendra would have less of a reason to call me Big. It was definitely something to consider.
    Much to my surprise, Matt walked me toward my mom's car even though I told him not to. We chatted about the weather and how it might snow in a few days. Man, I hoped it did. We'd get a snow day, and I'd get a reprieve from tutoring and Kendra. I'd add it to my prayer list before I went to bed.
    As I expected, my mom had pulled through the drive in front of the building and parked outside of the small auditorium on the right side. We passed several bare oak trees on the way to her, and I kept wondering when Matt would veer off and go toward the student parking lot. He was seventeen. I knew he drove because I saw him in town with a shiny black four by four. But he kept walking with me, kept talking, kept smiling occasionally.
    There had to be something wrong with this picture.
    A dark red four-door sedan pulled in a few car lengths behind my mom. A girl I recognized instantly as Lori Taylor, Matt's sister, jumped out and leaned over the top of the car. She didn't look happy. "Hurry up, Matt! I've got things to do besides cart you around."
    Matt cut his eyes toward me and flashed one of his dimples. His cheeks were turning rosy, and I didn't think it was from the chilly breeze pushing his hair all over his head. "My ride's here."
    "I got that." What I didn't get was why his sister was driving him. Had he rode the bus this morning like I did? Was that why he was on that side of the school when Caleb had pushed me against the wall? I automatically looked down at my scraped up knuckles. Funny how I'd been so focused on geometry and Matt that I hadn't noticed them at all during tutoring.
    "Walk faster, Matt. I have to go. I'm gonna be late for work." Lori pushed the strands of chocolate brown hair streaming across her eyes. She looked like I remembered. Beautiful. If I didn't know better, I'd swear her cheekbones had gotten even more pronounced than they had been. Why couldn't I look like her?
    Matt looked from Lori to me and shifted on his feet. "My truck's in the shop, so…"
    "Oh, you don't have to explain to me."
    "It is. I'm not lying."
    "I'm not saying you are, just that you don't have to explain to me. It's not like we're friends or anything."
    The wind must have hit him hard because his little dimple disappeared. "What? You don't want to be my friend?"
    I scoffed. "Like you'd want to be mine?"
    He laughed a little, and I took it to mean I was right. "Acquaintances then?"
    "Possibly." I smirked and turned toward my mom's car. She hadn't gotten out, but I knew she was watching everything from the rearview mirror. It would be oh so fun to explain why the hunky quarterback was walking me to the car.
    "Well, girl I know…" He smiled. "Who