BFF: Best Fat Friend.

It seems that most fat kids can't have enough with just being fat. Almost always the child has to have big geeky glasses, or nasty teeth. Or both. This was the case in my childhood obesity.

I was the token fat kid with giant glasses that were perpetually dirty and a face only a mother could love. Seriously. Talk about an ugly duckling. Not only was I fat and dorky, I was hairy too. Thank you, Mexican genes. I wasn't made fun of too much though, I was what my brother calls "Cugly" or "Uglute", which means I was so ugly it was kind of cute.

I never really felt ridiculed in elementary school (not at the ripe age of 7 at least), mostly because I hung around with a much smaller boy that looked like a toddler. We were the bestest friends EVER. We would do everything together. He was my only real friend back in the day. Anyway, as I was saying, they didn't really ridicule me per se, but us. They made fun of us being such good friends. Adults found it hilarious that such a fat, hairy girl would become friends with a kid her same age that looked like he escaped a nearby day care.

Both our parents would joke around that we would one day marry each other because we were always together! We would play with my Barbie's and his Ninja Turtles without a care in the world. To us, there was nothing funny about our friendship. We became friends the day we met. I was four and he was three (He's a couple of months younger) and even though there was a slight age difference we would tell everyone that we were born the same day together. We were such good friends in fact, that after I was done eating my lunch, he would give me his. No questions asked.

That was love, man.

We stuck together all the way through High School, even. If anyone made fun of my dear friend, I, the fat kid, would stand up for him and defended him with tooth and nail. No one messed with my buddy. He was the only real friend I had back in elementary and no one was going to tease him in my presence.

I don't talk to him as much, which kind of sucks, but what can you do? People grow up and we move on.

Either way, every fat kid needs their side kick, and Hector, you were mine. This is for you, for sticking with me through all those tough times at lunch where I'd eat your food and those days we'd play with your ninja turtles and talk about how the Green Ranger was better than the Red Ranger.

You were the best friend a fat kid could have.