BBW, BHM, BBTeen Romance, ~SWG – two high school students travel the road to mutual self discovery.
[Author’s note: I wrote 'Jeff' as an attempt at a BBTeen type romance. It didn't come out quite as I'd intended, but that is typical for me. Once I develop the characters, they seem to grow in directions that occasionally surprise me.]
Chapter 1 – Getting Acquainted
I first met Jeff on the first week of summer before attending a new Catholic High School.
It was around 2:00 and both my parents were gone. I was relishing the few hours that I had been promised I would have the house to myself. I changed into shorts, tank-top, and sandals, and served myself a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and chocolate chips on it. I then sat down to eat in the dining room, where I could see if either of my parents were coming home early.
There was a reason for my caution. I knew I'd get a lecture if I got caught eating ice cream, because both my parents were worried about my weight. I was 5'5", and wore a size 14, basically the same as my Mom. I was a pretty solidly built kid, and in not bad shape, so while I had been the fattest girl in my class for the previous two years I wasn't so worried about my weight that I was going to deny myself ice cream on a hot day.
Anyway, as I sat there a bunch of boys of roughly my own age road their bikes onto our crescent. Since we had moved there only a week before, and I didn't know any local kids yet I paid attention to them. After a few seconds I realized that four of the boys were picking on one other.
The object of their harassment was fat, and as he leaned over the handlebars of his ten-speed, trying to get away from them his belly hung down and filled out his T-shirt like an over filled water balloon. The other four, all thin, were weaving around him, calling him names, threatening to push him, and so on. Finally, right in front of our house the fat boy swerved to avoid hitting one of the other kids, struck the curb, and tumbled off his bike onto our lawn.
I ran outside in time to see the other kids take off at high speed, haw-hawing at their victory. I made it down to the street just as their victim was slowly picking himself up. I paused for a second to consider what to say, and to examine him. He was wearing a red T-shirt and faded blue jeans, had short brown hair, and fair skin that was red and sweaty with exertion.
His mouth was open with his heavy breathing, showing white, even teeth and emphasizing a double chin. His T-shirt was also damp with sweat and clung to his body, showing off rolls and a belly that hung over his jeans in front and around both sides. His left elbow was muddy and bloody from his fall, and the left knee of his jeans was dirty too.
"Are you OK?" I finally queried.
He jumped, apparently not having noticed my approach.
"I'm fine." He muttered as he turned to look at me, then "uh, that is, yeah, I'm OK." And he blushed even redder than he already was.
"Your elbow looks like it's bleeding."
He looked at it, and dabbed at the few traces of blood. "It's just scraped, it'll be OK, I've survived worse."
"What were those kids after you for?"
"No reason. Because they're jerks."
He paused. "Look, don't tell anyone, OK?"
"OK. Besides, who would I tell? I don't even know who you are."
"Good point. Who are you? I've never seen you around before."
"I'm Nancy Price." I stuck out my hand "I’ll be attending at Holy Cross, and we just moved in here last week."
He took my hand in his slightly grass stained one. It was a tad damp, and slightly soft but firm. "I'm Jeff Keller. You're still in high school? You act like a college girl. “
No other compliment could have reached me so thoroughly. "Thanks."
Pause. I noticed that he had wonderful deep brown eyes, and that he was still holding my hand. "Why don't you come into our house and I can wash off your elbow, and maybe put a band-aid on it."
He dropped my hand, and I could see him about to say no. I didn't hide my disappointment, and suddenly he said "OK, thanks."
I not only washed off his elbow, but swabbed it with rubbing alcohol, then rubbed a cream on it that my Mum always uses on my cuts. By then the blood had stopped, so I didn't get to put a bandage on it after all. His skin was soft, and surprisingly warm to touch in my parent’s dim and cool house.
We talked as I worked, and it turned out that he had a paper route, and that the four boys I had seen chasing him often bugged him on his route, but this time had ambushed him on his way to get his papers. Somehow he managed to make daily tormenting sound like no big deal, and he made me laugh several times telling while telling his story.
As I walked with him back to the front door I was sorry to see him ready to leave, so greatly daring I asked "Could I walk with you while you do your papers? It would help me get to know the neighborhood. I just have to wash out the bowl my ice cream was in so my parents don't see it, and I'll be ready to go."
After the words were out of my mouth I couldn't believe I had told him about the ice cream, but somehow I guess I felt I could trust him, that he wouldn't reject me for being fat and liking ice cream, since he was fat himself. At any rate, he said "OK, it gets pretty boring day-after-day, so I won't mind the company."
We talked as we walked. It turned out he had just finished grade eleven in the local public high school, that he knew several guys who went to the local Catholic high school I would be attending, that he played the trumpet, that he could make me laugh constantly, and that he had his paper route down to a science. We finished it sooner than I would have liked, and he turned to me and said "Thanks for everything, see you around, I guess."
My heart sang.
He had said "See you around."
That meant he hoped to see me again! With a big smile I told him "Yeah, see you around."
I watched as he got back onto his bike and rode away, and realized that I was in love. It was strange at first, because he hardly looked like the sort of boy you were supposed to fall in love with. I didn't care, I wanted to see him again, even just to watch him. I found myself wishing that I had given him a hug before he left, maybe even a kiss.
I walked back to my house in a happy daze. "Jeff Keller"
I silently rolled the name off my tongue, getting used to the feel of it. "Nancy and Jeff," I liked the sound of that too.
"Nancy Keller" wouldn't be too bad either, I decided. I resolved that I would "see him around," and that sometime during the Summer or Fall I would get my hug.
When my parents got home they took my good mood to be due to the end of school for the summer, and I didn't tell them differently. Jeff was so nice I knew they would like him, but I knew that at first they wouldn't like the fact that he was fat, so I wasn't going to tell them about him until they could meet him.
That ended up not being any time soon. I saw Jeff periodically for the rest of the summer, I made sure of that, but never got to really spend private time with him again, except in my thoughts.
[Author’s note: I wrote 'Jeff' as an attempt at a BBTeen type romance. It didn't come out quite as I'd intended, but that is typical for me. Once I develop the characters, they seem to grow in directions that occasionally surprise me.]
JEFF
by Tad E (aka edx)
(An “Oldie but goodie” tale retrieved from the former
“Pound Positive Paradise” area
of the now defunct AOL Hometown site)
by Tad E (aka edx)
(An “Oldie but goodie” tale retrieved from the former
“Pound Positive Paradise” area
of the now defunct AOL Hometown site)
Chapter 1 – Getting Acquainted
I first met Jeff on the first week of summer before attending a new Catholic High School.
It was around 2:00 and both my parents were gone. I was relishing the few hours that I had been promised I would have the house to myself. I changed into shorts, tank-top, and sandals, and served myself a bowl of vanilla ice cream with chocolate sauce and chocolate chips on it. I then sat down to eat in the dining room, where I could see if either of my parents were coming home early.
There was a reason for my caution. I knew I'd get a lecture if I got caught eating ice cream, because both my parents were worried about my weight. I was 5'5", and wore a size 14, basically the same as my Mom. I was a pretty solidly built kid, and in not bad shape, so while I had been the fattest girl in my class for the previous two years I wasn't so worried about my weight that I was going to deny myself ice cream on a hot day.
Anyway, as I sat there a bunch of boys of roughly my own age road their bikes onto our crescent. Since we had moved there only a week before, and I didn't know any local kids yet I paid attention to them. After a few seconds I realized that four of the boys were picking on one other.
The object of their harassment was fat, and as he leaned over the handlebars of his ten-speed, trying to get away from them his belly hung down and filled out his T-shirt like an over filled water balloon. The other four, all thin, were weaving around him, calling him names, threatening to push him, and so on. Finally, right in front of our house the fat boy swerved to avoid hitting one of the other kids, struck the curb, and tumbled off his bike onto our lawn.
I ran outside in time to see the other kids take off at high speed, haw-hawing at their victory. I made it down to the street just as their victim was slowly picking himself up. I paused for a second to consider what to say, and to examine him. He was wearing a red T-shirt and faded blue jeans, had short brown hair, and fair skin that was red and sweaty with exertion.
His mouth was open with his heavy breathing, showing white, even teeth and emphasizing a double chin. His T-shirt was also damp with sweat and clung to his body, showing off rolls and a belly that hung over his jeans in front and around both sides. His left elbow was muddy and bloody from his fall, and the left knee of his jeans was dirty too.
"Are you OK?" I finally queried.
He jumped, apparently not having noticed my approach.
"I'm fine." He muttered as he turned to look at me, then "uh, that is, yeah, I'm OK." And he blushed even redder than he already was.
"Your elbow looks like it's bleeding."
He looked at it, and dabbed at the few traces of blood. "It's just scraped, it'll be OK, I've survived worse."
"What were those kids after you for?"
"No reason. Because they're jerks."
He paused. "Look, don't tell anyone, OK?"
"OK. Besides, who would I tell? I don't even know who you are."
"Good point. Who are you? I've never seen you around before."
"I'm Nancy Price." I stuck out my hand "I’ll be attending at Holy Cross, and we just moved in here last week."
He took my hand in his slightly grass stained one. It was a tad damp, and slightly soft but firm. "I'm Jeff Keller. You're still in high school? You act like a college girl. “
No other compliment could have reached me so thoroughly. "Thanks."
Pause. I noticed that he had wonderful deep brown eyes, and that he was still holding my hand. "Why don't you come into our house and I can wash off your elbow, and maybe put a band-aid on it."
He dropped my hand, and I could see him about to say no. I didn't hide my disappointment, and suddenly he said "OK, thanks."
I not only washed off his elbow, but swabbed it with rubbing alcohol, then rubbed a cream on it that my Mum always uses on my cuts. By then the blood had stopped, so I didn't get to put a bandage on it after all. His skin was soft, and surprisingly warm to touch in my parent’s dim and cool house.
We talked as I worked, and it turned out that he had a paper route, and that the four boys I had seen chasing him often bugged him on his route, but this time had ambushed him on his way to get his papers. Somehow he managed to make daily tormenting sound like no big deal, and he made me laugh several times telling while telling his story.
As I walked with him back to the front door I was sorry to see him ready to leave, so greatly daring I asked "Could I walk with you while you do your papers? It would help me get to know the neighborhood. I just have to wash out the bowl my ice cream was in so my parents don't see it, and I'll be ready to go."
After the words were out of my mouth I couldn't believe I had told him about the ice cream, but somehow I guess I felt I could trust him, that he wouldn't reject me for being fat and liking ice cream, since he was fat himself. At any rate, he said "OK, it gets pretty boring day-after-day, so I won't mind the company."
We talked as we walked. It turned out he had just finished grade eleven in the local public high school, that he knew several guys who went to the local Catholic high school I would be attending, that he played the trumpet, that he could make me laugh constantly, and that he had his paper route down to a science. We finished it sooner than I would have liked, and he turned to me and said "Thanks for everything, see you around, I guess."
My heart sang.
He had said "See you around."
That meant he hoped to see me again! With a big smile I told him "Yeah, see you around."
I watched as he got back onto his bike and rode away, and realized that I was in love. It was strange at first, because he hardly looked like the sort of boy you were supposed to fall in love with. I didn't care, I wanted to see him again, even just to watch him. I found myself wishing that I had given him a hug before he left, maybe even a kiss.
I walked back to my house in a happy daze. "Jeff Keller"
I silently rolled the name off my tongue, getting used to the feel of it. "Nancy and Jeff," I liked the sound of that too.
"Nancy Keller" wouldn't be too bad either, I decided. I resolved that I would "see him around," and that sometime during the Summer or Fall I would get my hug.
When my parents got home they took my good mood to be due to the end of school for the summer, and I didn't tell them differently. Jeff was so nice I knew they would like him, but I knew that at first they wouldn't like the fact that he was fat, so I wasn't going to tell them about him until they could meet him.
That ended up not being any time soon. I saw Jeff periodically for the rest of the summer, I made sure of that, but never got to really spend private time with him again, except in my thoughts.
