Amelia Jones stared at her reflection in the mirror and groaned. No matter what diet fad she tried she never saw the results she wanted. There always seemed to be that one stubborn area of fat that could never be erased. To Amelia Jones, there couldn't be anything more annoying than that. She glanced at the magazines placed out on the counter. The models displayed were so perfect. From their gorgeous hair to their slim waists; they were flawless. Amelia wanted to be like them. She was tired of looking at her ugly body every single day. A month ago, she finally decided to change her lifestyle. Instead of lounging around playing video games, she dedicated her time to cardio exercise. She even substituted her most beloved food, hotdogs, for a bleak salad. Amelia dearly missed the mouthwatering flavors of her favorite foods, but managed to reluctantly avoided them for an entire month. With a sigh, Amelia put her shirt back on and continued to get ready for the school day.

You can do this Amelia, she encouraged herself, just a little more and you'll get the results you want!

Abruptly, pounding against the other side of the door interrupted Amelia's morning routine.

"Amelia, can you please hurry up in there? I have to get ready also, you know!" The voice was soft-spoken, but Amelia could hear the irritation oozing from her sister's words.

"I know, I know! Just give me a minute to brush my hair," Amelia yelled in reply as she hurriedly picked up her brush and began stroking away at her short hair.

Madeline Jones huffed at her older sister's classic response. "Okay, but you better not make me late like last time! That wasn't funny."

Amelia immediately began cracking up at the memory. A few weeks ago, she had taken so much time getting ready in the bathroom, her younger sister didn't never had the chance. Amelia had driven to school, leaving Madeline behind. An hour or so after school had begun, Madeline rushed into the classroom covered in dirt and mud. She claimed as she was running to school a truck had passed by and splattered mud all over her. To make it even more hilarious, she had her shirt on backwards.

"Yeah, of course," Amelia giggled, "not funny at all."

"Amelia!" Said elder sister stopped laughing. She knew better than to push her little sister too far. Madeline didn't anger easily, but when she finally did snap you'd better watch out. Amelia knew from for too many personal experiences.

Amelia put down her hair brush and looked over her figure one last time before opening the bathroom door. "Alright," she said with her trademark grin, "your turn my impatient sister!"

Madeline sighed in relief. "Finally...I thought you were going to take forever and try to make me late again," she said as she hurried into the bathroom and picked up her toothbrush.

"Do you really think I would do that?" Amelia asked in mock offence. Deep down it did sound tempting, but after last time she had promised herself to never do it again. Afterall, she did love Madeline. Like all siblings, they had a classic love/hate relationship.

"Yes." Madeline began to squeeze toothpaste onto the brush and added, "I honestly think you would."

Amelia smirked at her sister's remark. "Maybe I will tomorrow." She picked up her heavy book bag and threw it over her shoulder effortlessly.

Madeline rolled her eyes and began to brush her teeth. "If you do I'll sick Alice on you. Remember how she scolded you last time?"

Amelia froze at the mention of her fussy best friend. Of course she remembered Alice's hour long chiding. How could she forget? She loved Alice, but man, that girl adored giving lectures. Amelia chuckled nervously. "No need for that! I was just joking with you, Madie." With that, she ran into the hallway and yelled, "See you at breakfast, that is if you're not too late!"

"Amelia, you better not eat everything!" Madeline hollered back, worried that breakfast would be gone before she could even get to it.

Amelia rushed downstairs to an empty kitchen. Their parents had busy schedules, so neither of them were home. Both had left early that morning. Nevertheless, they had taken the time to prepare pancakes, which were now sitting on top of the warm stove. Amelia approached them, mouth-watering, before stopping. She sighed.

"Oh yeah...I'm on a diet." Amelia forced herself to step away from the delicious treat. It had been a solid month since Amelia had eaten anything appetizing, so this was painfully tempting. Her stomach growled loudly, begging to be filled with nourishment.

"Yeah, yeah, I know...You're hungry. Gimme a minute." Amelia searched through the pantry and found the same old protein bar she had eaten every morning since beginning her diet. She wanted to gag just looking at it. Amelia took a deep breath and forced herself to open the bar and take a bite. Her taste buds were filled with the familiar, tasteless flavor she had come to know. It made her want to cry.

Madeline rushed downstairs a few minutes after Amelia. She immediately spotted the pancakes and was surprised to see they had not been touched. She glanced at her sister, who was slowly nibbling on a protein bar. Madeline gawked. "I thought for sure there would be hardly anything left. Why are you eating THAT?"

"You know why." Amelia mumbled.

Madeline blinked and then remembered. "Oh yeah, that dumb diet of yours. I can't believe you're still going on with that."

"I've done it for a month straight," she grumbled. "I'm hardly seeing any results..."

Madeline shook her head. "Duh, because you're already skinny. You don't need to lose any weight!"

Amelia felt the anger start to boil inside her. She hated when anyone said, "already skinny." Maybe to them, but not to herself. She wanted to acquire the model body. The perfect body. Her body now definitely wasn't that. To avoid being ticked off any further, Amelia grabbed her book bag, threw away the half eaten protein bar, and stormed out the front door.

Amelia flinched as her body left the warmth of her home and made contact with the cold breeze. She quickly got into her car and blasted the heat. Her body might have needed heating up, but not on the inside. Nothing could get her blood broiling more than the topic of her physique. Why didn't Madeline understand that? Oh yeah, because she didn't care. When it came to the topic of dieting and exercising, Madeline remained indifferent. She never fretted over eating too much or gaining some weight. Amelia envied her carefree sister more than she liked to admit.

After ten minutes of waiting in the car, Madeline finally came out and locked the door. She climbed into the passenger seat and rubbed her belly. "Pancakes are delicious. You should have eaten some with me."

Amelia refused to reply and began to back out of the driveway. She secretly wished that Madeline was old enough to drive herself. Amelia, who was currently seventeen, had received her licences over a year ago. Since then, she had been given the lovely task of driving her fifteen year old little sister to school. Whenever the two sisters would fight or have even the slightest disagreement, the ride to school and back was always awkward. And today was one of those days.

Madeline frowned at her sister's silence. "Amelia, seriously. I think you have a real problem. How many times do mom, dad, and I have to tell you you're fine the way you are?"

Amelia scowled and turned up the radio which drowned out her sister's concerned remarks all the way to school.

Once they arrived at their destination, Amelia and Madeline parted ways with no exchange of words. The bell was about to ring any minute, making both girls rush to their classes.

Amelia sat down in her designated seat. She really wasn't in the mood for learning. Amelia supported her head in her hand as she droned out the teacher's math lesson. Suddenly, her phone began to vibrate in her coat pocket. Amelia made sure the teacher had not heard before stealthily removing it and checking to see who had texted her. Of course, it was Alice Kirkland. Amelia turned around in her seat to see her best friend a few desks behind her. Alice was tapping her foot impatiently while giving a questioning look. Amelia turned her attention back to the text message which read:

Why did you arrive so late? This is the second time in the past two weeks. One more time and you may get detention. Jeez, you worry me to no end.

Amelia tried to bite back her smile. Leave it to Alice to make it all better.