Ava XOX by Carol Weston Page B

scarf has nothing to with a head band . But I could see Zara’s point.
    Then again, what did Zara expect me to say? “I care about Kelli because I care about Chuck, and Chuck and Kelli care about each other.” Not a chance! And anyway, Zara may have halfway figured this all out.
    The other reason why I’ve been obsessing extra is that I saw this on Kelli’s notebook:
    C
    H
    U
    C
    K E L L I
    Maybe I’m a K-O-O-K, but I don’t like that Chuck and Kelli have the letter K in common. He and I don’t have any letters in common. Let alone limbo. Or sports.
    AVA, MISUNDERSTOOD

2/23
3:30 P.M.
    DEAR DIARY,
    Usually when we sit down for an assembly, all you hear is everyone talking. Well, today, while we were finding our seats, Mr. Ramirez put on a catchy song called “Respect.” When he turned it off, he told us that the singer was Aretha Franklin and asked us to spell out the word. So we did: “R.E.S.P.E.C.T.”
    â€œI can’t hear you,” he said, which was funny because as a librarian, he’s usually shushing us.
    â€œR.E.S.P.E.C.T.,” we repeated.
    â€œAnd what’s that spell?”
    â€œRespect!” we shouted.
    â€œI can’t hear you!” he said.
    â€œRESPECT!” we shouted even more loudly.
    â€œI still can’t hear you!” he said, cupping his ear.
    â€œ RESPECT! ” we yelled at the top of our lungs.
    â€œThat’s right. And from now on, I want you to be more respectful of your classmates, yourselves, and other people’s work. Is that clear?”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œIs it?”
    â€œ YES! ”
    No one snickered, and by now Mr. Ramirez sounded so serious, it made me wonder if he had ever been disrespected.
    Next Principal Gupta stepped up and introduced the two speakers.
    The first was a therapist in a suit and bow tie. He talked about b ullying and b ystanders and b oundaries, b ut he was b oring. Also, one of his pants’ legs was twisted into his sock, which was distracting.
    The second was a young nurse practi tioner whose advice was more practi cal and who had lots of twisty braids wrapped around her head.
    â€œYour parents used to take care of you,” she began. “Now you’re learning to take care of yourselves.” She said that chips and cookies have “empty” or “useless” calories, and we should eat real food and read labels and buy products with ingredients our “grandparents would recognize.” She said little treats are fine, but if you get in the habit of “double desserts” and “emotional eating,” you’ll “jeopardize” your “long-term health” because obesity is linked to diabetes and heart and liver troubles.
    â€œI’m not blaming or shaming,” she said, “just sharing vital info. When it comes to weight, there’s no magic pill, no one-size-fits-all advice.” She said that kids have different body types and grow at different rates, and that some have “an easier relationship” with food than others, but we should all cut back on meat and sugar. She also said what Dad had said: that it doesn’t help that food that is good for you costs more than food that is bad for you.
    Soon it was time for questions, but I kept my head down, because the last thing I wanted was for more people to look at me.
    A girl asked about anorexia, and the nurse practitioner said it is a serious disease, because if you don’t eat enough, you can literally starve to death. She said bulimia is “life-threatening” too, because if you barf up your food, it can mess up your whole system, “even the back of your teeth.” (She didn’t say “barf”; she said “purge.”) A sixth grader asked about skipping lunch, and she said, “It’s better to have a glass of milk and a piece of whole wheat bread than nothing at all.
    â€œListen,” she said, looking out at us.