小说Lab partners- rain, rain(6)

“Did you know I used to be fat?” she asked nonchalantly.
I raised my eyebrows without meaning to. “Pardon me?” I asked, voicing my surprise.
“I used to be fat,” she said again. “The fattest girl in school. They used to call me Miss Piggy. They called me lots of things, actually. Fatso, oinkers, big bitch . . . so many things.”
I looked toward the door, feeling suddenly uncomfortable with the direction this conversation appeared to be heading in. Confrontation wasn’t something I was particularly good at handling, and as Mrs. Reed watched me with her sharp, analytical gaze, I shrank into my seat.

“Why are you telling me this?” I asked stiffly, wishing I was anywhere else.
“Do you know what I did?” she asked.
“No.”
“I stopped eating,” she said plainly. Staring down at my hands folded atop the desk, I couldn’t bring myself to look at Mrs. Reed.
“Unfortunately,” she continued, “it’s something that stayed with me long after I left high school. It was extremely destructive to my health, but even after being hospitalized on several occasions, I couldn’t bring myself to stop. Even now, I still struggle with it. It’s something I will carry with me for the rest of my life.” She pushed off her desk and walked around a little. “I wish I had the courage to speak up about what was happening to me when it happened. But I didn’t, because the world was different when I was a kid, and it was hard to admit.”