Lingering Melody

“Looking good,” he responds. He doesn’t mean it in a guy way, of course. It’s just one of his greetings. It’s also a very good compliment from him, since he thinks just about everyone else is hideous- no joke. But don’t tell anyone I said that or I could get in some trouble with him. “Ready to fly?”

I nod and give a small wave to Steve who’s grinning wildly and flashing some big photos. I don’t glance at those and hide myself behind my hair, my cheeks pink. Steve is a really nice guy and I’ve known him for a while, but I haven’t been able to open up as much to him.

“Your place?” Webster asks as we climb into his car. It’s a funny old Chevy ’68 but it’s still adorable and he keeps it running good. I only have my permit still, and he’d rather I didn’t drive his car… okay, so maybe I do get reckless, but it’s not that bad… I think.

I shrug to him. “Sure.”

“Food?” He asks me hopefully.

I give him a look. “You know I already ate lunch.” He doesn’tknow, to be honest, but that’s what I told him- all I ate today was a banana for breakfast. Believe it or not, he believes me. I hate lying to him, but it’s a harmless lie. I read the time to see it’s nearing six. I had told him I ate around two. Was he going to believe me?

“And you need to gain weight,” he responds with a grin, putting the car into drive.

“That’s not true,” I argue. “If any, I could stand to lose another ten pounds. I still have belly fat.” I poke myself for emphasis.

“I can’t see anything. If any,” he joke, “you’re going transparent. After all, we just had that appointment, remember?” That last bit is very, very serious.

I glare at him. We didn’t ‘just have’ that appointment. It had to have been two weeks ago. I was working in my studio for a dance routine and done what I’ve never done in my life- fainted. Webster, being the worrywart he was over me, took me to the doctor’s the very next morning who said I needed more sleep, relaxation, and a lot more food.

But like he knew anything? I don’t think so. I stand five feet four inches, one of the shortest in my grade, but I still weigh ninety-nine pounds and I rarely eat more than two protein shakes a day. Maybe an apple. Some days, all I had was a drink of water.

He ignores the glare. This is the only thing we never agreed on. That, and getting me a new place, that is. He’s never liked the ‘dump’ I live in. He also wants a big enough place so he can live nearby. In the political sense, I divorced my guardians, my aunt and uncle, four years ago. They lived in Wisconsin. Whoopee- what’s more, they considered me their free slave. Anyways, I moved out to California. L.A., to be precise. I’ve been going to school and… in my career, I suppose, since then. [13]

He drives up to Arby’s and I bite my tongue to bite back nasty words. Webster knew me too well; this was my only weakness, the only food I couldn’t say no to. I groaned as he parked the car, meaning we were going to have to walk in. Meaning he would watch me eat it all.

“I’m not hungry,” I tried to say as we got in line. I was already getting a stare or two, too. “I usually don’t eat for another few hours, you know? It messes up my system.”

He only gave me a side-glance as he dug into his back pocket for the wallet. I remember I had given him that for Christmas five months ago. It was already looking warn and I couldn’t help but smile. I knew he held at least twenty pictures in there, too. One of his family, and nineteen of his baby niece, Leslie. He had been the one to choose the name, too, and was forever sending her little gifts. “The usual?” He was choosing to ignore my words.

I looked at the menu and tried to decide. What to do? Alter? The norm? I nodded in defeat. We reached the front desk and the lady stared at me for a minute. “H- hi,” she stuttered, still staring at me. “How- how can I help you?” Didn’t she know staring was rude?

I crossed my eyes at her, in the mood to be ridiculous. She jerked back as though shocked then stared upwards at my giant friend. Webster had to repeat the order twice before she realized she had to type it in. then we went to sit down and wait.