chapter 1

“Hazel?! Is that really you?!” exclaimed a high-pitched voice coming from behind. Hazel froze in her tracks- she immediately recognized the voice. It was one of the mean girls from her old high school, and of course she would run into her in the mall of all places. Hazel turned around slowly with a grimace on her face. She was caught red-handed with a milkshake in one hand and shopping bag from a plus-sized clothing store in the other.

“Hi, Denise,” she whimpered as she turned around, her cheeks turning a bit rosy beneath her dark tan skin. She had hoped she would never see anybody from her past ever again, though living in the same town all her life, it was inevitable.

“I almost didn’t recognize you, girl! You’re so... you know...” Denise teased with a mean grin. “Hey, Dustin! Guess who I found!”

Hazel’s heart dropped into her stomach as Denise called her high school ex-boyfriend over. As Dustin wandered over with his face in his phone, he looked up and realized who Denise was talking about. He slowly put his phone away in his pocket and gawked at Hazel.

It was true. Hazel had gained a good 100 pounds or so since high school. It was something of a miracle that Denise had recognized her; Perhaps it was Hazel’s very specific and recognizable beauty mark and indigenous genes that gave her away.

Dustin said nothing as Denise went full-throttle on passive aggressive weight-related insults.

“Look at you! What happened since high school?” Denise put down her shopping bags and strolled up to Hazel, poking at her hanging belly which was tucked away neatly into her jeans. “Are you sure you’ve been eating enough?” she snorted at her own joke and continued poking and prodding Hazel through her cable sweater until finally Dustin had had enough.

“Denise, stop. You’ve made your point. Now go wait in the car,” he ordered sternly.

Denise gave him a shocked look, as though to question how he dare talk to her like that. Dustin gave an even more severe look, causing her to pick up her bags and skitter away.

He sighed and put one hand on his hip while running his fingers through his hair.

“I’m sorry about Denise. I really thought she’d grow up by now. We are in our mid 20s after all,” he said. Hazel could detect a hint of regret in his voice and giggled inwardly. Denise really hadn’t changed at all!

“Um, it’s alright. Anyway, how are you?” Hazel asked somewhat awkwardly. The last time they spoke was not on great terms.

“I’m doing fine. I’m still with Denise, as you can see...” He shrugged and gave a pained laugh. “What’s going on with you, though? Last I heard from you, you mentioned something about your weight... is everything okay?”

“Oh, er, I actually have PCOS. Also, I’m, um, on medication for some mental health stuff...”

“Oh, jeez, I’m sorry. It’s really none of my business!”

“No, it’s okay!” Hazel brushed a lock of stray hair behind her ear and smiled up at Dustin. He looked more rugged at 26 than he did at 18, with sandy blonde hair. He was still tall, much taller than her, and had put on a good amount of muscle. In fact, he looked pretty handsome now, she thought.

“Well, it was nice seeing you. I’m actually meeting up with a friend now, so...” Hazel trailed off, wanting to leave this incredibly uncomfortable situation while simultaneously trying not to be rude.

“Hey, take my card. I’d like to keep in contact if you don’t mind. I’ve um... well, I still think about you,” He said as he pulled his business card out of his wallet and handed it to her before leaving. Hazel stood in the food court stunned; she assumed he expected her to think this was romantic, but she ended up making a stink-face at the whole situation.

~

“What the fuck? He still thinks about me? Bitch, ewww!” she complained over her milkshake to her best friend Illana.

Illana cackled from across the plastic food court table. “He gave you his business card? What does he expect you to do with that?”

“Like what the fuck? Who falls in love with the idea of a girl and expects her to still be the same person years later?” Hazel responded. “I’m legit super weirded out right now. Like, Denise trying to humiliate me? I get that. That makes sense. But Dustin trying to flirt with me, while also already being in a relationship, and also not having seen or spoken to me in 8 years? This is just too much!”

Illana munched on two french fries and rolled her eyes. “I don’t know what is up with you and having bad luck with men. Your last relationship was a fucking dumpster fire; Remember how fatphobic he was?”

Hazel groaned. “I know! I don’t know what I’m gonna do!” She folded her arms on the table and laid her chin on top, sulking. “I keep attracting guys like that. It’s like there’s a target on my back for weirdos or something...”

“Babe, no. You just have some bad luck. We’ll get you back on track! Now show me what you got at Tidal Wave!”

~
Look forward to more soon!