Changing Places with Yourself

Chapter 5

He got mad even though neither of us had a tray to drop in our hands.    “Watch out, fat ass.” He exclaimed.

“Oh, that's original.” I came back with.

“Excuse me, did you just talk back to me, b***h?” he demanded.

“There’s no excuse for someone as rude as you.” was my simple reply.

By now others were gathering around to hear what was going on and who was going to say what next. His eyes darken and his nose flared as he spat at me through gritted teeth.

“You need to learn your place, ugly.  No one talks back to me.” he asserted.

“Wow, that must make having a conversation difficult, but you do seem like the type of that loves the sound of his own voice.”  I declared plainly.

“b***h, you need to take your fat ugly self away from me or I'll ruin you and your parents.” he threatened.

“Well, since my parents are dead there's not much you can do to them.  And as for me, I'm so over this conversation because I really hate having a battle of wits with such a clearly unarmed opponent.  Come back and try again when you find a brain that’s actually useful.” I retaliated as I walked off.

Several students cheered at my comebacks, which made him glare at them.  I found out from Harmony that his name was Evan Novell during our 4th-period class and he was already warned by Troy and a few other football players had warned him to leave me alone and step off.

“Seems like Troy maybe getting sweet on you, Becky.”  She teased me gently.

She was a cheerleader, but it didn’t go to her head, in fact, I was actually rooting for her to become the new captain of the squad.  Harmony was creative and sweet but she did love to gossip at times.  We had 4th and 6th-periods together.

“More than likely, Harmony, Troy is grateful for me saving him from that slut Gina.” I disputed her observation as we began gathering ingredients for cooking class.

Today we were supposed to make homemade pasta from a simple recipe.  I wanted to try something so I gathered up a few herbs to finely chop up and added them to the flour mix along with a couple of powdered spices.  Our teacher complimented the flavor of her noodles asking how we added so much flavor to a simple noodle.  She was blown away when I told her what I did and she wanted the recipe that so she can make it at home.  Harmony had written it down as I played with the measurements so they just someone to photocopy enough for all her classes.  When the bell rang I hurried out to my next class because I didn’t like being in the limelight.  At the end of the day, I headed to the locker room where Principal Hansen had agreed to let me keep a permanent locker there.  That way I could just leave my suit, t-shirt and towels to dry out overnight before taking them home once a week for a thorough washing.  Also, it saves me from having to go to my book locker twice after school.  I was so glad it was the weekend, I swam laps for a bit then treaded water in the deep end for the rest of the hour, after which I showered I headed home.

My weekend was pretty much time for me to do whatever I wanted after the bills were paid and my homework was done.  Since I had a bunch of yarn I vegged out in front of the TV and caught up on my favorite Court shows that I set the DVR to tape during the week while knitting or crocheting baby blankets, scarves, couch throw blankets or making other craft projects.  The reason I did this was to keep my hands busy while I watched TV, that way I didn’t just sit there and eat out of boredom.  Chef Annie came on Sundays and we went shopping before making my dinners for the week along with the meal plan for breakfast and lunch.  I would only eat at the kitchen table, I made a rule to myself that no food was allowed in the sewing room or living room to keep me from doing what’s called “mindless eating” it’s when you eat even though you’re not really hungry but it’s something to do with your hands.  When she left I went back to binge-watching ID Network shows love those real-life crime shows.  Joe Kenda rocks!!  This became my pattern for the next month, school stuff during the week, sleep, school, etc. and on the weekends pay bills, prepare meals menu with chef, crochet or knit and binge watch TV.

After only a month, I noticed my clothes were getting looser and since I weighed myself weekly I knew I’d lost about 15 pounds already.  Also my legs, butt, and gut we're starting to firm up a bit.  I began using the weight machines in the training room and could now do the circuit and about 30 minutes before heading to the pool to finish my workout.  Principal Hansen called me into the office on the first Monday in October.  You see Evan had begun harassing me at lunchtime and even though I didn’t say anything to the school I guess others did because his parents were there when I was led by the secretary.  I sat next to his mother and Mr. Hansen began explaining what was going on.

“Miss David, the Novells wanted to meet with you about an important matter concerning Evan.” he indicated.

“I haven't laid a hand on him, no matter how hard he tries to get me to slap him.”  I interrupted.

“Sweetie, feel free to slap away when he deserves it.” His mom informed me with a chuckle.

“Although your hand my tire out quickly if you do it.” His father completed her sentence.

Although while Evan was sitting there glaring at me with unabashed hatred.

“I'm Judy and James is my husband over there.” She pointed him out to me.

“I'm Becky.  Pleased to meet you both.  Though I have to ask was Evan adopted or did the Gene for politeness skipped his generation?” I quipped as I shook their hands.

James, or Jimmy as he liked to be called, full-on laughed before continuing, “Sometimes, I think it’s possible since no matter how much Judy or I try to teach him, he remains surly at all times, but that's neither here nor there. Becky, the reason we wanted to meet with you is because of how you responded to the personality questionnaire that everyone got the second day of school.  Your answers showed you to be wise beyond your years, and we'd like to have you and your parents over for dinner tonight so we can have a serious discussion with you.” He informed me. 

“I loved how you wrote the essay on the back about how standardized tests like that were useless to get to know one’s true personality.  How only spending time with that person would help to reveal their true selves to you.”  Judy added.

“Dad, really her of all people?” Evan whined.

“Yes, Evan she's the one we've chosen.” His dad asserted emphatically.

I told them that I could come for dinner and they both look sad when I explained to them that my parents were dead.  Judy reached out and hugged me close while whispering their condolences, I think her graciously and we agreed on a time for dinner.  After that Evan and I were allowed to head back to our classes while his parents stayed to speak a little bit more with our principal.  Judy heads over to exchange numbers with me and sent me a text around lunchtime with their address.  She asked if I would like anything specific for dinner and I told her that I loved thin crust extra cheese pizzas “” came back with her reply that she does too.  When I asked her the time she said 7 p.m. and I thought that’s good because it gives me time to get my exercise in then run home and shower and change.  I sent a text to my lawyer asking him to tell him about the “dinner”.  I asked if he thought I should record what they said just in case it had something to do or was relevant for him to watch later.  He revealed he would look into the family and email me his findings.  He disclosed to me it would probably be best to wear my hidden camera and record everything just because it’s better safe than sorry, which made me laugh out loud because it's such a lawyer thing to say.  I looked up for my phone to see Evan glaring at me before he started sucking face with a mean cheerleader, Brooke.  Harmony told me in 6th-period had Evan got quite upset that I wasn’t looking at him once he pulled back from playing kissy-face with Brooke, his current slut.

“So what's up with you two?  Someone saw both of you leaving the office together before 2nd-period.  Did he finally get told to stop harassing you at lunch?” she queried.

“Nah, his parents were there, though.  They wanted me to come over for dinner tonight.  It has something to do with the questionnaires we did the second day of school.” I told her.

After that, we focused our attention back to the teacher talking about hygiene and how it helps your self-esteem grow.  After school even though she had practice she followed me into the locker room so we could talk more while I changed.

“Okay, spill.” came her simple demand  

I looked around to make sure we were really alone and told her exactly what happened in the office and that I was going to have dinner there tonight.  I knew Harmony could be gossip at times but there really wasn't anything to tell other than I was going to dinner at Evan’s house at his parents’ request.  Most people would probably think it had something to do with the fact that they were going to try to make up for his constant harassment of me at lunchtime.  By now I was in my swimming suit and she c****d her head to the side and look at me strangely.  I slip my t-shirt over my head and asked her what was wrong.

“Have you lost weight since school started?” she asked.

“Only like 15 lb., not enough to make a difference.” I countered.

“Becky, you need a better suit.  That one is almost falling off it's so loose.  Saturday we're going to the mall no arguments, caprice?” she ordered.

I threw my hands up in surrender because I knew she wouldn’t give up until I said yes.  At this point, she headed out of the locker room for practice and I hit the pool.

Soon as I got home my lawyer had sent me an email with everything he had on the Novell family which was a lot.  I skimmed it once I got out of the shower while my hair was drying a bit.  Since we lived in the same neighborhood only a couple blocks apart I had time to review the key points.

1) They owned Novell industries – a multimillion-dollar company.

2) Upon graduation from school, Evan or his wife would become CEO if he wasn’t married then the entire company became his cousin’s instead.

3) Jimmy would stay on to advise whomever the new CEO is while they could get a business degree from college.

4) Evan must marry someone approved by his grandfather, which my lawyer thought was probably why I was asked to go to dinner.

5) Grandpa had final approval on the prenup to ensure no gold diggers married Evan.

When I saw the family’s net worth including the company I had to laugh at the idea of me being the gold digger in the relationship.  I decided not to drive my normal 88 Chevy Cavalier that I drove the school instead I decided to take my Ferrari 488 for the drive to their house.  The reason I drove an old car to school was I wasn't going to risk getting one of my expensive ones keyed by someone who might be mad at me, like Donovan or one of the bitches the couldn't bully anyone anymore.