Stuffed by Eric Walters Page A

those after watching the film?” Julia questioned.
    â€œWhy not?” Trevor asked.
    â€œDid you fall asleep during the movie?” Julia demanded.
    â€œJulia,” Mrs. Fletcher cautioned.
    â€œBut Mrs. Fletcher, that’s the very worst thing on the whole menu!” Julia protested. “Each one has over twelve hundred calories and more fat than anybody should eat in an entire day! That guy gained thirty-seven pounds because of that burger!”
    â€œIt wasn’t just the burgers,” Trevor said. “And besides, it’s not like I’m going to eat there every day.”
    â€œTrevor has a point,” Mrs. Fletcher said. “Now, this documentary focused on just one fast-food chain, but what about the others?”
    â€œThey’re all the same,” Julia said.
    â€œAre they?” Mrs. Fletcher asked.
    â€œSure they are. They all serve fried, fatty, sugary foods.”
    â€œYes they do, but don’t most chains offer healthy alternatives?” Mrs. Fletcher questioned.
    â€œWell…”
    â€œCan’t you get salads and fruit platters and yogurt, mineral water and juices at most of the other places?”
    â€œI guess so,” Julia said.
    â€œSo at most fast-food restaurants it is possible to eat healthier, if not healthy.”
    â€œBut not at Frankie’s,” Oswald said. “They don’t have any of those things. It’s like they’re proud of being unhealthy.”
    â€œTheir commercials do brag about offering the biggest servings of fries, the largest soft drinks and the most gigantic burgers,” another person added.
    â€œIan,” Mrs. Fletcher said, and I startled in my seat. “What do you think about all of this?”
    â€œMe?”
    â€œYou. You’ve been very quiet through this whole discussion.”
    â€œMaybe I’ve learned that it’s sometimes better to keep your mouth shut,” I said.
    â€œSometimes it
is
better. But not in
my
class. And it’s good to have you back in class,” she said.
    â€œIt’s nice to be back.”
    This was my first morning in class after a two-day suspension—I still couldn’t believe that I’d been suspended!
    Disrespectful conduct
is what it said on the papers. What that meant is that I had an argument with my law teacher, Mr. Phillips. I’d made the terrible mistake of pointing out to him that he had no idea what he was talking about, that he was an idiot.
    The jerk thought that because he was a law teacher he knew about the law. Both my parents were lawyers. My older sister and both my older brothers were lawyers. In myhouse we talked about the law. My parents had hoped I’d be a lawyer too. I wasn’t sure what I was going to be, but I was pretty sure what I wasn’t going to be—I wasn’t going to be a lawyer, and I wasn’t going to be a law teacher.
    In the end, even after I was suspended, the school agreed that I’d been right and Phillips had been wrong. Unfortunately, both my school and my parents agreed that I probably shouldn’t have sworn at him and told him he was an idiot—even if he was. My father had said that if I hadn’t sworn at him they would have fought the suspension.
    â€œSo, Ian, what did you think about
Stuffed
?” Mrs. Fletcher asked.
    â€œI liked it. I mean, it made some good points. There were things he explained that I hadn’t known. I’m not going to be eating at Frankie’s…as often.”
    â€œAs often?” Julia demanded. “Don’t you mean ever again?”
    â€œEver again is a long time. Besides, I like the triple bacon cheeseburger melt too.”
    Julia shot me a disgusted look.
    â€œI will never eat at a Frankie’s again,” Julia pronounced. “Never, not ever.”
    â€œHow many people feel like Julia?” Mrs. Fletcher asked.
    This time only five hands shot into the air. I noticed that Oswald’s hand