“Work on me? What about that fatass over there?” Lewis pointed my way.

Those words were like blades. I wasn’t a fan of being called a fatass, but I couldn’t respond and show weakness. That’s what he’d want.

“That’s enough, Lewis.” Mr. Stephens shook his head.

“No. No, it’s not,” Lewis continued. “How much do you weigh, Adrian?”

I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to say.

“Enough to knock your dumb ass over,” Donny intervened.

“Boys. Enough!” Mr. Stephens yelled. “I have six other groups of students to do this with, and I’m not going to be here all day with your petty crap.”

He took a breath. “With that being said, do you want to go next, Adrian?”

“Sure,” I muttered, not really wanting to. But I also wanted to get it over with. I stepped closer to the scale, walking past Lewis’s stupid grin. I didn’t want to do it. I really didn’t. I put one foot forward and the other followed. Next thing I knew, both feet were planted and the numbers on the scale went from zero pounds to 280 pounds.

“Ha!” Lewis yelled from behind me. I shut my eyes. I knew there was going to be an insult, but it was overshadowed by a question. It was a question from Mr. Stephens.

“Adrian, what are you eating?” he asked in a voice of disgust.

I didn’t reply. I turned around and ran out of the weight room. I felt ashamed of myself. I shouldn’t have had to disclose my weight to a room full of people — it felt so wrong. I didn’t want everyone in the school knowing how much I weighed. Anxiety made itself at home inside of me, so I had to leave. Outside, there were other students waiting for their turn in the weight room. I walked past all of them with my head down. Two hundred and eighty pounds of fat — I felt gross.

That afternoon, during our lunch hour, I sat with Donny in the cafeteria. He had a mouthful of sandwich while talking to me.

“Yeah, man. Lewis is full of crap. Don’t pay any mind to him. He’s a loser.”

“I know,” I said while taking my lunch out of my backpack. I had an egg sandwich. It was the type of food you could smell from halfway across the cafeteria.

“I got your back. If he messes with you, then he’ll have to go through me.”

Donny always felt like he had to play the big brother role for me. He kind of was, but if it came to violence or getting in trouble, I knew he would receive a harsher punishment than me. Because he was darker than I was, people saw him as more “dangerous,” when in reality, he was a big, soft goofball. Violence wasn’t really something I planned for when dealing with Lewis.

“Thanks, Donny, but I think everything will be fine. I don’t want you to get in any trouble.”