Episode 1225: What's Going On

She almost immediately decided against a photo. It would probably just backfire anyway, if Shelane did see it somehow, she’d probably say it didn’t prove Tansy was the sort of humble every day person who enjoyed burgers and fries in mom and pop diners, she’d say it proved what a poser she is.

Tansy reached for the ketchup, pouring it in big gloops over her fries. She sprinkled on some extra salt, too. She’d been doing that a lot lately, indulging in extra salty and extra sugary treats. Comfort eating. And she supposed all that comfort eating was probably putting her on the road to gaining the stereotypical freshman fifteen when she didn’t have the excuse of living away from home for the first time, she still had plenty of healthy available options in her parents refrigerator and cupboards, she just didn’t choose them.

What she should do is step up her dog walking, the exercise and fresh air would have to do her more good, wouldn’t it? That, and stop feeding her feelings. Tansy didn’t really care about a few extra pounds, she just knew it wasn’t a good long-term plan for coping. As tasty as it might be in the moment, those foods ultimately left her feeling sluggish later and that wasn’t helping her academic problems, either.

She was a caught in a bad cycle, and that feels even worse when you’re self-aware enough to see it.

“Lucy?” Tansy asked before popping a fry into her mouth. “Did Xavier bring you here to talk to me about how at Christmas he thought that my tone towards work and school sounded grudging?”

“Xavier hasn’t said anything to me about you possibly having issues at school or at work.” Lucy set down her burger without taking a bite. “So you’re thinking this was a set up to force you to talk?”

Lucy turned to Xavier. “Was this a set up?”

“I thought it might help if you were here to get her talking,” Xavier admitted. “But of course, Tans is so smart that she’s seen right through it.”

Not that smart. Tansy hadn’t felt smart since before college started.

“I know your heart was in the right place, Xavier,” Lucy said, “But you shouldn’t have set either one of us up like this. You should have asked Tansy if this was a conversation she actually wanted to have with us, not try to manipulate it into happening. Don’t be mad at him, Tans, he clearly wanted to help, he just went about it the wrong way. You don’t have to talk about anything deeper than the weather tonight. No pressure.”

“Yeah, Tans, Lu is right, I only meant to help. I’m sorry if-”

“You don’t have to apologize,” Tansy said. “I’m not mad. I think I do need to talk.”

Episode 1226: Panic