Free Big is Beautiful by Kelly Martin Page B

breath and smiled at me. "Next time, you'll have to lead it."
    "I'll keep that in mind." Mentally hoping there wouldn't be a next time. Oral prayers weren't my finest skills.
    "So…" He opened his book and flipped a few pages until he got to the right one. "Ready to be a Pythagorean Theorem master?"
    "As ready as I'll ever be." I bent over to get my book out of my bag, and everything started feeling funny. My vision tunneled and started turning black rapidly. Dizziness took me over, and I grabbed the desk to keep from toppling over.
    "Hey." He fell to his knees beside me. "You okay?"
    "Fine. Fine." I wasn't fine. Nowhere near fine. This wasn't the best feeling in the world. My heart fluttered, not in a good way, and the world spun like the spinning cup ride at the fair.
    It killed me because I knew exactly what was wrong with me. I hadn't eaten since supper last night, except for the chips I threw up around three a.m. Now my body was making me pay.
    I couldn't let Matt know.
    My body trembled, and I felt so weak I didn't know if I could sit back up. My hair fell over my eyes and blocked my view of him. It was a good thing too, because I didn't want him to see me either. Green seemed a good color to describe how I felt.
    Gently, I felt my hair sliding behind my ear and I felt exposed. Through blurry vision, my eyes cut to Matt kneeling beside me on the floor. He looked so concerned for me. It didn't seem real. "You're not fine. What's wrong?"
    I couldn't make myself say anything. With my vision darkening further, his fingers put pressure under my chin and my head tilted up. With my limited sight, I couldn't see Matt's intense blue eyes staring at me. He shifted his head a few times to get a good look. "I'm getting some help."
    He got up, but I couldn't let him go. Not over a little thing like this. With a death grip on his arm, I pleaded as convincingly as I could. "No. Don't. Don't go. I'm fine. I just haven't—" Did I really have to admit this? "I've not eaten in a while. Low blood sugar's all."
    Matt stopped in his tracks and peered down at me. I felt like the lowliest ant on the hill. His gorgeous blue eyes hardened, and his jaw set in a rigid line I'd never seen on him before. He looked almost mad at me, but I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.
    Looking up at him made the world spin faster, and I felt my head tilt back and my body sliding out of my seat.
    "Whoa!" He caught me before I even hit the ground. Limp in his arms, I was totally helpless and totally out of my league. The only thing I could think about was how close he was… and how gigantic my double chin had to look.
    "Thanks." I closed my eyes to stop the world from moving.
    "Why?"
    "Because you kept me from killing myself on this floor."
    "No, why haven't you eaten anything recently?"
    Why did he care was a better question. "I don't know. Wasn't hungry I guess." Not a total and complete lie. When I thought of food, I got queasy — much like I was at the moment. Plus, I thought that maybe if I didn't eat and burned some of my built up fat stores, I would lose weight and not be 'Big' anymore. Wishful thinking and all that. My body obviously had it out for me. Acting crazy like this after only a few missed meals. I sure wouldn't last stranded in the mountains for any length of time. I'd probably resort to eating my own foot the first night.
    I hated that the room kept spinning. I hated that my eyes were playing tricks on me. I hated the way Matt was looking at me… all concerned for big ole me. Concerned and upset — but I didn't get the upset part. He didn't know me well enough to get upset over this. Plus, he was Matt Taylor. I was sure girls fainted at his feet all the time.
    "When was the last time you had anything to eat?"
    I didn't have to think that long. "I ate a sausage and biscuit for breakfast."
    "How much?"
    "Enough."
    "Brittany," he said sternly.
    "A bite, okay. I had a bite of a sausage biscuit for breakfast."
    "Lunch?"
    "Salad."
    "How