Everyone thinks they know Tejasswi Prakash, but no one's taken the time to look past her weight to get to know who she really is. Following her mom's death, she's been picking up the pieces in the privacy of her home, dealing with her heartbroken fa...
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Karan's POV:
In the ocean of people, I see this very large girl coming toward me, and it's her —Tejasswi Prakash. A group of girls elbows each other, and even though they're whispering, I can hear them say something about Fat Girl Rodeo. They stare at Tejasswi, and that's the moment it hits me, square in the face. This is what I've done to her—painted a giant red target on her back. As they're gawking, she stops in front of me and hands me a note. "Here." This sends the girls into a giggling fit, and I can already hear the gossip mill churning.
Teja's POV:
After school, I walk down a flight of stairs off the main hall to the creepy basement, which is where the old basketball court is, the one they used years ago before they built a million-dollar sports complex that seats ten thousand people. Karan Kundrra leans back on the bleachers, legs stretched in front of him, elbows propped on the riser behind him, chatting with a smiling girl with long brown hair, and a boy with a smooth, shaved head. They're hanging on Jack his every word, and he looks up, sees me, and keeps right on talking.
Or maybe he doesn't see me. Although I am the largest girl in here.
I sit apart from them, on the front row. This gym can fit probably six hundred, and there's something about it that feels sad and neglected, which, of course, it is. With every laugh coming from the group above me, I feel more and more invisible. Two other kids wander in, but I don't know their names. The girl sits next to me, about a foot away, and the boy takes a seat one row up. The girl leans over and goes, "I'm Mahi."
"Tejasswi."
"Is this the Conversation Circle?"
But right then Mr. Levine moseys in. "Hello, hello. Thank you all for being here today." He stops in front of the bleachers, hands on hips. He's wearing an orange bow tie and matching orange sneakers, and except for the gray hair, he looks like he could be one of us.
He says, "Let's get this out of the way. I'm not going to talk to you about the importance of tolerance, equality, and realizing that we're all in this togetherbecause I don't think you're stupid and completely lacking moral fiber. I think you're smart individuals who did really stupid things. Who wants to start?"
We all sit there. Even Karan Kundrra goes silent. Mr. Levine keeps on. "How about 'Why are you here?' The real reason, not 'Principal Wasserman made me do this.' "
I'm waiting for someone to say something. When no one does, I say, "I'm here because of him." And point at Karan.
Mr. Levine shakes his head. "Actually, you're here because you vandalized school property, and because you punched him."
One of the guys goes, "Nice."
Karan says, "Shut up."
"Gentlemen. And I use that term loosely." Mr. Levine says to me, "You could have walked away."
