Way Too Big✔️

28. way too big: [ I jumped to a conclusion, way too fast.]

28.// Way too big; [ I jumped into conclusion, way too fast.]

I dashed out of mom's car, ignoring her when she called out, "we're still going to talk about what happened in school yesterday. Don't think I'm letting you off easily..."

I didn't hear the rest, I was late. Very late for gym practice. I woke up by seven and I was supposed to be at the gym by seven. Disorganized is one word to describe me.

Prepping myself for whatever scolding I'll get from our gym instructor, whose name I still don't know, by the way, I was surprised to see that the receptionist wasn't there.
Okay.
Mr. Jim's office was slightly ajar too.

What's going on?
Walking briskly with the gym bag slung over my shoulder, I opened the door to find everyone gathered together.
When I say everyone, I mean Mr. Jim, the receptionist, the gym instructor, every kid, and every adult in this gym.

Dropping my bag, I walked towards them scanned the room for Chris. There was no sight of him.
Now up close, a teenage girl walked- ran, I mean- on the treadmill. She was sweating profusely. Her fair complexion wasn't even helping matters, as she burned red. Her eyes were bloodshot, red with emotions that only appeared to be anger and frustration.
She ran on the treadmill with so much determination and vigor.

Mr. Jim spoke up, "Ruby, you have to stop."
She paid him no heed and kept running.

Taking up a difficult task of squeezing myself through the crowd until I was standing close to Mr. Jim.

"Ruby, please stop. You'll fall sick." One kid spoke up, her eyes glistened with tears.

"How long has she been here?" Mr. Jim asked the receptionist.

She answered immediately, "Since 5 o'clock."

Gasps echoed in the hall.
"She's been exercising for four hours now?"
"Unbelievable."
"Why's she doing this to herself?"

Mr. Jim let out a defeated sigh, "you have to stop or I'm gonna call your parents."

Like she had been triggered, she started crying but did not stop running.

Everyone turned to look at Mr. Jim.
He looked around with confused eyes and raised his hands in exhaustion, "what?" He asked no one in particular.

Returning my gaze to Ruby, I couldn't take it anymore. She was weak and worn out but she kept running and crying. I couldn't take it anymore.

Pushing through the crowd, I found the socket by the wall and unplugged the treadmill. All eyes turned to me.
Ruby glared daggers at me, "How dare you?" She said through gritted teeth as the treadmill slowly stopped.

Both eyebrows when up intuitively as I crossed my arms, "Did you seriously just ask that question? You're going to get yourself killed. Who gives a fuck if we're fat? And you've been here exercising for four long hours, do you want to get yourself killed?" I fired back.

There's absolute silence in the room.
Everyone's staring at me like I've lost my mind.

"Doesn't change the fact that I'm still going to die!" She shot back, getting off the treadmill and walking towards me.

I snapped, " Of course, we're all gonna die. But that doesn't mean you should kill yourself. Do you have any idea that even this treadmill, being an electrical appliance, can easily catch on fire? it's already hot because of the high speed and everyone is practically begging you to stop and you're just here running because you're trying to lose a few pounds. What the hell is wrong with you?" I spat.

"Naomi, calm down..." Mr. Jim placed a hand on my shoulder which I shrugged off immediately.

I faced him, "No, don't tell me to calm down. What's this insanity with everyone trying to lose weight? First, it's my mom forcing me to exercise every morning, forcing me to walk to school while my siblings go in a car. Giving me a stupid diet plan and forcing me to eat trash. As if that's not enough, Samantha also took pills she bought from God knows where because she was trying to lose belly fat. Almost causing her, her life."

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding and turned to face Ruby squarely, "Will we die if we're fat?"

"Yes, " she gulped and the tears just kept dropping. "Yes! We will die sooner than we know it." She wiped away her tears angrily, "My mom died this morning. She..." The tears choked her. "She died of heart disease, she was also diabetic."

My eyes widened in shock as I felt life drawn out of me. I uncrossed my arm and my shoulders deflated. My heart picked up a pace.

Ruby took one step closer to me, " you wanna know what contributed to it? You wanna know the major factor?" She took another step closer. "She was fat! Not just fat, overweight! Not just overweight, obese! And I'm not going to end up like that!" She deadpanned and stormed out on all of us. Everyone was too stunned to do anything. Except for Mr. Jim who ran to catch up with her.

I felt moisture on my cheeks, I didn't even know I had been crying.
How could I just jump to a conclusion like that?
Her mom died this morning and she came here with the determination to not let the same thing that killed her mother, kill her.

No wonder she instantly began crying when Mr. Jim said he'll call her parent.
Were we all going to die of one heart-related disease too?
Was I going to die of diabetes?
I suddenly thought of how much I consumed sweets and anything that contained a high amount of sugar.
Fear gripped me and goosebumps formed on my arms.
I felt faint. Just before I fell to the ground, someone enveloped me in a hug.
It was Chris.