Food, Girls, and Other Things I Can't Have Read Online Free Page B

really happened. They couldn’t even see the truth. That’s what history really is. It’s people making up stories to suit themselves. Different countries, different parties, different stories.”
    “Whoa,” Eytan says. “That’s deep.”
    Ms. Hartwell nods. “How do they tell the story now, Mr. Zansky?”
    “They don’t,” I say. “They split up.”
    Everyone’s quiet for a second, and then Justin rubs his fist on his eyes. “Waaah,” he says like he’s a baby crying. The class giggles uncomfortably.
    “Screw you,” I say really loudly. I feel good about saying it. At least until Justin stands up and cracks his neck like a weightlifter. Come to think of it, Justin is a weightlifter.
    “You want to repeat that?” Justin says.
    I glance towards Ms. Hartwell, and her eyes are jumpingaround like she doesn’t know what to do. She might have ideas, but she’s never had real students to teach them to. Real students are trouble, and I can see she doesn’t know how to handle it.
    Justin stares at me, his palms out by his sides. “What’s up, bro? You got something to say to me?”
    The class is really quiet.
    I know I’m supposed to do something, say something, take him on in some way. But I can’t. I’m totally frozen. I try to meet April’s eye, but she won’t look at me now. She just stares at her desk.
    That’s when Ms. Hartwell pulls it together. “All right. That’s enough,” she says.
    Justin sits down, but he takes his time doing it, sinking slowly. Just before his ass hits the seat, he coughs and says, “Fag” under his breath. A couple guys laugh.
    “Let’s get back to work,” Ms. Hartwell says.
    “That guy is ass lint,” Eytan whispers to me. “Don’t let it faze you.”
    “It doesn’t,” I say. I want to be a guy who doesn’t give a crap. I want to be a guy who doesn’t get fazed.
    I want to be a lot of things, but I’m not.

eytan meets the new girl.
    Eytan and I walk out of class together. As soon as we’re clear, he pulls me aside.
    “Is that the April you were telling me about?” he says.
    Before I can answer, April walks out of class alone.
    “Give me two seconds,” I tell him, and I peel away. I have to do something before I chicken out again.
    “Hey,” I say to April. Not what you’d call a brilliant opening line.
    “Hey,” she says, but she doesn’t sound happy about it. It’s not like yesterday when she was teasing me. Maybe I look better with a table of éclairs behind me.
    “Remember me?” I say.
    “The big jock, right?”
    “Yeah.” I smile. She doesn’t smile, but at least she remembers. I glance over my shoulder at Eytan. He’s watching me with a curious look on his face. I don’t think he’s everseen me talking to a girl except maybe Nancy Yee. But she’s not really a girl. More of stick figure with an accent.
    “Do you go here?” I say to April.
    “Now I do,” she says. “My dad got transferred over the summer.”
    “Interesting,” I say.
    I can feel my heart beating in my chest. The last time I went to the doctor, he had to press the stethoscope into me really hard because he couldn’t hear well through my fat. But my heart’s banging away so hard right now, it feels like I don’t have any fat at all. It’s tapping right against the front of my chest. What if I die of a heart attack in front of April? What if her last memory of me is 306.4 lbs. pounds of blubber collapsing at her feet like a dead walrus?
    Eytan’s slides in next to me. “Eytan Michaeli,” he says, and extends his hand.
    “I’m April,” she says, and they shake.
    “I’ve heard a lot about you from Dr. Zansky here,” Eytan says, and he puts his arm around my shoulders. April looks at both of us like we’re maniacs. I know Eytan’s trying to help me, but he’s making it worse.
    “April’s a new student,” I tell him.
    “You fell down the rabbit hole, huh?” he says.
    “If you have questions about anything …,” I say.
    “It would be our