All Chapters of Too Big to Fit.: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Tyler By the time I stepped into the hallway, people were already talking about Michael’s party. “For your next wine bath, Cindy!” was when I walked in, after Sydney’s shriek echoed down the corridor. Red rushed to her cheeks as the laughter rolled through the hallway. Still, she’d stopped Maeve from giving them a piece of her mind. “God, that’s brutal.” Micheal muttered behind me, trying to shield his laughter. But all I could feel was anger. And that familiar sting in my chest that told me this was somehow my fault. Sydney still had her hair styled the same way she wore it at the cinema, and that soft highlight on her face that’d flashed through my mind—the same one that had kept me awake half the night. I knew everyone had noticed it too because girls in class had already been gossiping about it. And even with her upside down smile as she tried to stop Maeve, I could still single her out in the hallway. Then the bell rang. Her eyes flew up, catching mine instantly.

SydneyThe next morning I woke up with heavy eyes, giving myself a quiet pep talk.I had to stop listening to conversations that made my chest ache. But how could I do that when there was an entire school—and a basketball team captain that seemed to hate the sight of me?Luckily, when I got to school, the whispers had died down a little. Though eyes still stuck to my skin as I walked down the hallway toward my locker.Then my eyes landed on him.Tyler.He was standing with Micheal and some guys, one hand shoved into his pocket, the simple shirt he wore clinging to his broad chest on purpose. His black hair brushed away from his forehead like he’d taken time to style it.He laughed at something Aaron said, and my stupid heart stuttered.I looked away quickly, muttering silent prayers that none of them had seen me staring. Otherwise I’d probably confirm the laughter was about me.So punching my code as quickly as I could, I opened it and took out my chemistry textbook. But as I shut my

Tyler The rest of the classes went exactly how you’d expect them to go—kids pretending to be interested in subjects when they clearly wanted to be anywhere else but stuck in a room where strange “words of knowledge” were being forced into their heads. But me? My mind was doing a full see-saw, bouncing from Sydney, who was a couple rows from me, and the meeting waiting for me in coach’s office. Every few seconds I had to stop myself from turning to look at her. At the same time, I kept wondering what Coach wanted to see me about. And as expected, I could barely focus on what was being taught. But before I could snap out of it all, the bell rang. Chairs scraped across the floor, and everyone rushed for the door like diplomas were being handed out in the hallway. But I stayed glued to my seat, my hand tapping impatiently on the table, stalling like that might somehow make Coach forget he wanted to see me. Even though a part of me had an idea what it was about. Halfwa

SydneyThe next morning was a little too uneventful for a weekend—a day without school. The house was even quiet. No chatter from the kitchen, no Micheal, no Tyler, no Brooklyn…Wait, no Brooklyn?I slipped out of bed slowly, grabbing my phone as I walked out of the room, threading carefully towards her room.I turned the handle, but it wouldn’t budge.Every door in the house could only be locked from the outside, so that meant Brooklyn hadn’t come back home.Great.Hopefully, Mom wasn’t going to be around so I didn’t have to lie to anybody.I smoothed the long, baggy shirt I wore and walked slowly towards the step, just in case there was a jump scare and Tyler Sinclair was silently sitting in our kitchen.Instead, the smell of pancakes hit me as I reached the top of the staircase.Not Brooklyn’s underdone ones or the ones the chef hurriedly put together when we had to go to school.This one was familiar—the kind I’d gotten used to during the first three weeks after I moved to Lakevi

Sydney The weekend came and passed in just two minutes, and the next thing I knew, I was pulling the blanket off my mirror to take a peek at my hair, while getting ready for school. Yay. The talk with Mom had done something different in my chest. But like always, that feeling stopped right outside the main doors of Lakeview High. The moment I walked in, the stares followed like they were never tired of wondering how many pounds I weighed. Or when next something bad would happen to me. Or the next thing Tyler Sinclair would say about me, because I could already feel something in my guts. But today I planned to stay out of everyone’s way and ignore the excitement buzzing through the school about Brooklyn’s birthday. The same birthday she’d said I probably wouldn’t want to attend. And honestly, she was right. I’d already decided to stay in my room. Because pretending I didn’t care that people were watching me was easier than showing up somewhere I clearly wasn’t wanted