SEPTEMBER
As Tracy looked in her mirror, she knew that she wasn't ever going to be tall and willowy like Penny or thin but curvy like Amber. She was always going to be short and always overweight. It didn't matter to her what her parents told her or what Penny said. She knew what she was and that Link wasn't going to stick around forever if she didn't make some changes. As she dressed for school, the first day of her junior year, she decided that she was no longer going to be the fat girl. She was going to get down to a size eight by Christmas and give up all sweets and fried foods and dance for two hours everyday after the show was over. And, she would actually participate in gym class.
Tracy heard Link beep his horn outside and grabbed her things and went out to meet him.
They had had a fantastic summer together. They spent everyday together, dancing, going to amusement parks and movies, hanging out at Maybelle's with Seaweed and Penny and Lil' Inez. Link took every opportunity he had to kiss her and each time was as wonderful as the first. But they never went any farther than kissing. She tried to urge him on, placing his hands where she wanted them but he always moved them back to where they had been, on her arms or neck. She realized that as intrigued as he was by her mouth, he was disgusted by her body.
She jumped in the car, not even noticing that she hadn't eaten breakfast. "Hey, Link!" she greeted him, shutting the door behind her.
"Hey, Darlin'," he said, leaning over to kiss her cheek.
'Yup,' Tracy thought, 'something's got to be done about this.'