Fan Fiction |
by Jenny Tran
1995 – Hong Kong High School
Neil sat on one of the many lunch benches of the school’s rest area as he looked around. It was the first day of school and everyone looked glad to be back maybe because for the seniors, which included himself, means it was the last year they had to endure anymore homework or tests. His eyes searched around for his best friend Kathy, but she was no where in sight. He wanted to show her his new haircut. Curious to see her reaction since they have not seen each other the whole summer.
Kathy and Neil have been best friends as long as he could remember, their families were had a good relationship and their parents were best friends as well. In a way they were almost forced to get along. At first Neil was a bit intimidated by Kathy who did not look friendly when he met her years ago. She was chubbier than most girls and she was going through a boy hater phase. Of course they were only five then but he could tell she did not like him at first. He made quite an attempt to get on her good side. It wasn’t until they had their first food contest did Kathy open up. From then on, she confided every problem she had in him, he soon became her own special shrink.
Neil was busy reminiscing about the old times when a pair of heavy hands fell over his eyes. “Guess who?” the voice was sweet as sugar.
He gave a short grin but decided to humor her “Hmm…..let me see…” he reached up his hand and covered it over her fingers “Stubby little fingers…soft skin…Is it…Shelly?”
Kathy quickly pulled her hands away “Shelly?” she retorted.
He began to laugh and she knew then that he was teasing her “I gotcha!” he pointed at her humorously. She rolled her eyes and began unwrapping her burger, a sure sign not to disturb her. He let the laughter fade away as he changed the subject “So, what did you do this summer? Did you miss me?”
“Yeah, I missed your dorky glasses.” She snickered before taking a huge bite. She pointed the bitten burger at him “You want some?” she mumbled.
He wrinkled his nose “No…I thought you hated my glasses?” he got contact lenses over the summer and a new hair cut that seemed to win him honors to be in the popularity group. Kathy saw him talking to the jocks and cheerleaders earlier but decided not to intervene.
She swallowed the bite before talking “I do…but they gave you definition. And plus this is a huge change for me, you’ve been wearing glasses since the beginning of time.”
Neil laughed “You make me sound so ancient! We’re just barely graduating high school.” His eyes wandered to a table with a group of girls that were glancing at him with smiles. He waved back with a friendly smile.
“Don’t be flirting with other girls when you’re talking to me.” Kathy joked.
“Aww…that’s so sweet, you’re jealous. Don’t worry, I only have eyes for you.” He reassured with his head bobbing up and down.
She rolled her eyes sarcastically “Your eyes cannot fit all of me. I think I gained more weight during the summer.” She said casually.
Neil frowned “You did? I didn’t notice.”
“More like 15 pounds.” She concluded with a sigh “Maybe I have this obese gene in my family that I didn’t know about. It doesn’t matter what I eat, I just keep gaining weight. But it’s always been that way since I could remember.” She was comfortable talking about her weight with him but no one else.
He leaned his face on his hand as he listened intently “Maybe you can do some kind of activity? Take up soccer.”
“I have asthma.” She said shortly.
Neil was more thoughtful “How about tennis?”
“I have bad aim.”
He began to see a pattern to her excuse “Take up swimming.”
She gave him an exasperated look “Me in a swimsuit?”
Neil laughed “You’re right, it’ll never work.”
Kathy waved her hand carelessly “Who cares, weight is just a number. I don’t want to control my normal habits to look stick thin like those models or actors that we see nowadays.”
He clapped his hands proudly “Yes, you’ve always marched to the beat of your own drum. I’ve always admired you for that.”
She laughed “You do?” Neil nodded with a grin.
**************
After the first day of school, the two walked home together like they’ve been doing for the past ten years. “How was your classes?” she asked randomly.
“Boring…” he snorted. The two stopped by the park where they normally hang around to talk. They both got on a swing and swayed back and forth.
“Same here.” She said with a short sigh as she lifted her legs up to move the swing higher. Her butt was hanging out at the end and she didn’t notice until they heard a rude comment behind them.
“Hey, tell your girlfriend to get off the swings before she breaks it!!” a guy with a nick name of Big Chuck snickered.
Kathy and Neil looked at each other as they turned around and saw a few jocks laughing at him. Neil gave a sigh as he got up ready to beat those guys up. Kathy was use to the torture of being fat and Neil always stood up for her, but she felt it was time she fought her own battles. Kathy lifted her hand as she stopped him “I’ll take care of this.” She turned to the laughing hyenas angrily “First of all you stupid jocks, I’m not his girlfriend. If you make a comment like that again, I’ll sit on you.”
Her threats were like jokes to them as the three roared with laughter “Ooh…I’m scared now. You’re going to sit on me?” one of the guys managed to stop laughing long enough to make a sarcastic comment. “Hey Neil, you should control that fat mouth of hers.” As if it was funny, the other two laughed loudly.
Neil couldn’t stand it as he got up and charged towards them threateningly “Don’t you dare talk about her like that! She’s my friend!” he glared at him with vicious eyes that Kathy seen plenty of times before. She weighed about 190 pounds, which made her seem bigger due to her short height.
She struggled to get off the swing to stop Neil from punching those guys, instead she tripped over her ankle and fell flat face on the dirt. The two clowns exploded with laughter, no longer scared at the charging Neil. He turned and saw her attempting to push herself up, he turned to the guys angrily but decided to help Kathy get up instead. “Yeah, go help her up….Oh…I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.” One of the guys mimicked Kathy’s struggle.
Neil helped her up with ease “You okay?”
She nodded embarrassingly “Let’s go home.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to beat them up for you? No one’s around, I won’t get in trouble.” He was tempting her.
Kathy laughed as she let him support her as they walked down the street to their homes, which was next to each other “That’s quite an offer but I don’t think violence is the answer.”
“But it’ll make me feel better.” Neil pointed out making her laugh louder. “Well, all I know is that if they do that again, I’ll gonna punch their lights out! I don’t care what you say, I’ll do it!” he nodded vehemently.
She rolled her eyes “You grow a little muscle and you think you can beat up everyone in the school. You can’t watch over me forever, Neil.”
It was a wake up call for Neil, he always imagined that they’d be best friends forever and live next door to each other forever. He turned to her with an odd expression “Why?”
Kathy stopped in place while turning to him with obvious eyes “Because, life goes on. You don’t expect us to be neighbors forever do you? I mean, we’re both going to get married one day…well, you at least. And move away to another city. You’ll have other people to protect.”
Neil frowned at her words “Don’t say that. We’ll always be best friends and I’ll always be there for you no matter what.”
“Why are you so nice to me?” it was a question she never bothered to ask. But it was something she pondered for the past few months.
“What’s that suppose to mean?” he asked in defense.
She smiled while shaking her head “Don’t get all testy now. I mean, why do you care so much? Is it because you’re my only friend? Or you pity me since everyone always picks on this fat little girl. I guess I always wondered.”
Neil let out a sigh as he sat down on the curb, he turned up to her and patted on the seat next to him. She smiled as she joined him “Do you remember that first day of school in Junior high?” she nodded faintly “Remember those kids calling me ‘Skinny Boy Neil’?”
A small smile crossed my face “And I told them to leave you alone.”
“Exactly” he pointed to her “You helped me…when no one wanted to stand up for me.”
“I just felt sorry for you.” She brushed it off casually.
He smiled knowing she was being modest “Whatever your reasons were, I really appreciate it. So from that day forth, I promised to myself that I would always protect you. Well, as long as I’m around no one will hurt you in any form. My thanks to you for helping me out that day.”
Kathy’s apparent smile grew larger as she turned to him “Is that why you decided to work out? I mean look at you, you’re bigger than some of the jocks on the football team.” She pointed out his muscles.
He pulled up his arm and flexed it proudly “It is isn’t it?”
She pushed herself off the curb and stood up, almost out of breath “Yeah…it’s very big, you should try out for Hong Kong’s strongest men.”
“Is there such a show?” he got up and skipped after her “I want to join.”
Kathy let out a comfortable laugh “Apparently your ego grew with your muscles!!”