Author's Note: Thank you all so so much for the continued support! I can't tell you how much knowing people are liking this story is appreciated.

I feel like I had something else to say, but I can't remember (:P)... so in that case, here you are. Mercedes' Jones most shameful lie...

MERCEDES

"Thanks. But I'm not hungry."

Sometimes, I really, truly, hate myself for telling Quinn that. Sure, she knew it wasn't true, but it made me seem weak. And if there is one thing I fear, it's being weak. In a town like Lima, being one of the few black kids makes you strong from a very young age. I'm still ashamed that I allowed that strength I built up to be shattered, just for a chance to be popular.

Thankfully, Quinn saved me from myself (and Sue), and she helped me to start to build my inner strength back up. That girl is truly amazing, even if she can't see it. For all she's been through, for all the mistakes she's made, she's made herself stronger. And there's nothing I admire more than that in a person.

You're probably thinking I've gone crazy. Since when does William McKinley High School's most fabulous black woman sing the praises of Quinn Fabray, knocked-up, cheer leading bitch? Well, I've got a newsflash for y'all: she might be an extremely stereotypical cheerleader (on appearance), and she may have been stupid enough to let Puck get her pregnant, but girl's no bitch, however much she may have acted like one in the past. Quinn really is a good person when you bother to get around all the defenses she's built up.

I know bringing me a granola bar hardly makes her seem like the kindest person in the world, but it's more what she said to me that day I fainted that made a difference. She made me believe in myself again. She reminded me that the world is not comprised of Sues. And she told me I was beautiful. No one, besides my parents, has ever told me I am beautiful. While I certainly would have preferred it coming out of a guy's mouth (preferably tall, dark, and handsome. If that description fits you, drop me a line), it was still so, so nice of Quinn to say. I don't even want to think where I would be right now if she hadn't said it. Would I be puking my guts out to try and lose yet another ten pounds? In the hospital from a toxic amount of Sue's Master Cleanse? That may seem extreme, but both were entirely real possibilities given the direction I was headed while I was on the Cheerios.

I'm just glad I can be comfortable in my own skin again. Not that I ever shouldn't have been. Being an overweight black woman is not the worst possibility in high school. Sure, Santana might say it is, but everyone knows the bitch just hates me for my voice. And that whole Puck thing. But anyways. I can be hungry now without feeling like a failure. I don't have to work for something that is unrealistic. To some girls, that might sound like an entirely even exchange: their happiness for a nice body and popularity, but really, it's not. No one should be able to convince you otherwise.

Not that I regret my time as a Cheerio. It was really fun, besides the whole weight issues. But in the end, a ditzy, stupid, tiny-ass cheerleader is not who I am. I am an intelligent, fashionable, and most importantly, proud black woman. Now that I can see that clearly, I'm not giving it up again. I am who I am, and nobody, especially some lonely, delusional old white lady is going to change that.

As the immortal Dr. Seuss once said…

"Be who you are and say what you feel: because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

And that, ladies and gentleman, is what I tell myself whenever I have a craving for some sweet sugar.

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