Big is Beautiful Read Free Page A

stay at school any longer than I was forced to in the first place? And I was afraid people would find out and have more to tease me about? Gracious, Big! Fat and stupid. Wonderful combination. Your mom must be proud.
    Ms. Bennett hadn't moved or flinched or even twitched. She sat perfectly still, waiting my reply. Well, she wouldn't like it. "And I don't think I need it."
    "You don't… think you need it."
    Oh, I was sure I needed it but not at school, and definitely not during daylight hours. Maybe at home late at night when everyone else in the neighborhood had gone to bed. Maybe by a private tutor named Pierre who only spoke French and wouldn't tell anyone about me. "No, I think I'm doing fine."
    Her brow rose higher than I thought humanly possible. Deep lines formed on her otherwise smooth forehead. "You've failed the last three quizzes and are barely… barely passing the semester, and I mean that by the slimmest of margins."
    "Barely is better than not." I laughed nervously. From the way her head tilted down and her eyes drew together, I figured it was the wrong thing to say.
    "You're pretty close to not. Face it, you need extra help. I have your tutor all lined up."
    Of course you do.
    "You may not believe this now, but geometry is important."
    "Yeah, Big. Don't you know that?" Rodney Jacobs, sophomore slacker, slapped the hand of the guy beside of him like he'd come up with the funniest joke ever. He, of course, didn't understand geometry any more than I did, but he had people to cheat off of. I had no such friends. My bestie, Jillian, a freshman, hadn't gotten to geometry yet.
    "Mr. Jacobs, call her that again and you'll find yourself in detention. Do you understand?" Ms. Bennett was a lady of small stature, but when she got ticked off, grown guys had been known to crumble. Rodney wasn't smart enough to crumble.
    "I got it, Ms. Bennett." He winked, ran his hands though his greasy black hair, and nodded at her. "It's just…. It's geometry. How stupid can you be not to get it? It's shapes for crying out loud. If Big would spend more time studying and less time eating, she'd be a lot better off."
    Ms. Bennett only smiled. "Rodney, since you have all of this free time to spend thinking of ways to mock people, I'll give you twenty extra problems to do for homework. Get that superior brain of yours working."
    He sat up straighter in his chair. "You can't do that. I have baseball practice till seven."
    "Twenty-five."
    "Ms. Bennett, you can make me."
    "Fifty." She glared like she was daring him to speak again. "I'd take the hint, Mr. Jacobs."
    Rodney sank back in his seat; this time others were snickering at him. It was a strange feeling to see someone else on the receiving end of the laughter. His olive skin turned an angry shade of red, and he glared at me.
    Ms. Bennett leaned closer to my ear, not taking her eyes off of Rodney. I leaned closer as well so whatever she had to say wasn't broadcast to the entire class. "Don't let him get to you, Brittany. You are a beautiful, sweet girl. Don't forget that."
    Wanting to get to my seat as soon as possible at the back of the room, I nodded but didn't believe her. Mainly I agreed in order to get to her leave me alone. Adults were like that. If you agreed with them, even half-heartedly, they dropped it.
    She nodded back, solidifying my theory. "I'll see you after school then."
    "After school."
    When I made it to my desk, I sank down into it. The bell rang and the class finally focused on Ms. Bennett who stood at the board explaining the Pythagorean Theorem. I couldn't say it, much less do it.
    I opened my book to the page she instructed. As I looked over the words and symbols, it just looked like Chinese with some space language thrown in for good measure. It made no sense. At all.
    The truly, embarrassingly sad part was that I tried to do my classwork on my own. I tried to find the right answer without having to ask for help. At the end of the period, Ms. Bennett checked my