Author's note: BIG thanks to everyone who R+R! I'm glad you liked the first chapter.
[] mean a character is thinking something.
* means emphasis on a word(s).
Quest for Perfection
| Chapter Two: Control |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lizzie," I heard dad's deep voice say from nearby, "Come on, get up. Gotta go to school."
I opened my eyes a slit and saw dad hovering over me.
"Ugh," I groaned, "I don't wanna!"
"Yeah, well you gotta," dad said, trying to mock me in a whiney voice.
I sat up and growled, "Fine! I'm up."
Dad smiled and planted a light kiss on my forehead, then left my room.
I sighed deeply and rubbed my eyes. It was going to be a long day, I just *knew* it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cold water flowing in a rapid, vertical stream out of the faucet and numbed my fingertips was just enough to wake me up. I was standing in the bathroom, wincing. My eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the light. I grabbed my toothbrush, slapped some minty paste on the bristles and began brushing away; back and forth and in circular motions. I stared at my reflection in the mirror as I brushed. [Have I lost any weight yet?] I asked myself in my head. The mirror certainly didn't tell me anything. Then again, I could only see my face and shoulders. I turned my gaze toward the scale next to the bathtub. I spit the paste into the sink, rinsed my mouth out and walked over to the scale. I took a deep breath and then hopped on.
"Oh God," I said, squeezing my eyes shut, "I hope I lost weight!"
I stood there for a few moments with my eyes sealed shut. Then, I decided to open them and see if I lost any weight.
"Whoa," I said, looking down at the numbers on the scale, "One hundred and ten!"
I squealed with delight; just a week earlier, I had weighed one hundred and fifteen. I had lost five pounds... and it only took several days! I stepped off the scale, holding my head high with pride. I felt so in control and those feelings of control also made me feel powerful. As I was strutting out of the bathroom, I thought about how I had decided to lose just five pounds when I first began the diet. Well, I had lost those five pounds, but I wanted to lose *more*. I thought, * If five pounds makes me feel this good, imagine what ten will do! * So, I decided to continue dieting.
"I *will* be thin," I assured myself aloud.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Morning," I said, walking into the kitchen, where mom was cooking breakfast and dad was sitting at the table.
"Hey Lizzie, good morning," mom greeted me with one of her warm smiles.
"Yes, it is," I said with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. [And why is it a good morning, Lizzie? Because you lost weight, that's why!]
"What took you so long to get ready?" mom asked, putting a plate of scrambled eggs in front of dad.
"Well," I replied, "I was having trouble with my belt. I had to keep adjusting it to different holes to make it fit so that it would hold my jeans up. It's on the last hole right now, but my jeans are still falling down a little."
Mom exchanged glances with dad and then they both looked at me at the same time.
"Why are you two looking at me like that?" I said with a laugh.
"Lizzie," mom said with a hint of worry in her voice, "I don't think you need to diet anymore. I can see that you've lost weight and I don't think it would be wise for you to lose anymore."
I rolled my eyes, "Mom, I'm *fine*! Besides, I thought you respected my choice to go on a diet."
Dad jumped in to aid mom's argument, "Your mother's right, Liz. You shouldn't lose anymore weight."
I stomped my foot like a child throwing a tantrum. *Why* were they doing this to me? *Why* did they have to stick their noses into my life? All I want is to be thin, that's all. Why can't they just understand that? They want me to be happy, don't they? Well, in order to be happy, I have to be thin.
"Whatever," I said, grabbing my jacket off the back of the chair, "I'm going to school."
With that, I stormed wordlessly out of the house, slamming the door behind me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Lizzie," Gordo and Miranda waved from across the crowded school hallway.
"Hi," I waved back, closing my locker and walking over to them.
"You seem like you're in a bad mood," my other best friend, David Gordon said. Miranda and I call him Gordo... doesn't that sound iso/i much better than David?
I sighed, "You're very observant, Gordo."
Gordo shrugged sheepishly, "I know, I know."
"So, what's wrong?" Miranda asked.
"Parents," I said, shaking my head.
"Right," Miranda nodded understandingly, "Don't they just bug the heck outta you?"
"Mine sure do," Gordo said.
"Mine too," I responded with a frown.
"So Lizzie," Miranda began, "I guess the diet's going well. I see you've lost weight."
I smiled, thrilled that she noticed my weight loss. "Yep, it's going great!"
Gordo threw his head back then looked right at me, "Come on, Lizzie! You don't need to go on a diet. I don't understand why girls go on diets. Why do you guys obsess over stupid things, like looks and weight?"
"They're *not* stupid," I replied defensively, "They're important to us! We *try* to look good, unlike boys."
Gordo rolled his eyes, "Lizzie, when are you going to realize that looks aren't everything?"
"You know what? Let's just drop the subject, okay?" Miranda said, playing peacemaker.
"Fine," I said, throwing my hands in the air.
Just then, the bell rang.
"Come on," Miranda said, grabbing my wrist, "We don't wanna be late for Math!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter three coming soon!
[] mean a character is thinking something.
* means emphasis on a word(s).
Quest for Perfection
| Chapter Two: Control |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Lizzie," I heard dad's deep voice say from nearby, "Come on, get up. Gotta go to school."
I opened my eyes a slit and saw dad hovering over me.
"Ugh," I groaned, "I don't wanna!"
"Yeah, well you gotta," dad said, trying to mock me in a whiney voice.
I sat up and growled, "Fine! I'm up."
Dad smiled and planted a light kiss on my forehead, then left my room.
I sighed deeply and rubbed my eyes. It was going to be a long day, I just *knew* it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The cold water flowing in a rapid, vertical stream out of the faucet and numbed my fingertips was just enough to wake me up. I was standing in the bathroom, wincing. My eyes hadn't yet adjusted to the light. I grabbed my toothbrush, slapped some minty paste on the bristles and began brushing away; back and forth and in circular motions. I stared at my reflection in the mirror as I brushed. [Have I lost any weight yet?] I asked myself in my head. The mirror certainly didn't tell me anything. Then again, I could only see my face and shoulders. I turned my gaze toward the scale next to the bathtub. I spit the paste into the sink, rinsed my mouth out and walked over to the scale. I took a deep breath and then hopped on.
"Oh God," I said, squeezing my eyes shut, "I hope I lost weight!"
I stood there for a few moments with my eyes sealed shut. Then, I decided to open them and see if I lost any weight.
"Whoa," I said, looking down at the numbers on the scale, "One hundred and ten!"
I squealed with delight; just a week earlier, I had weighed one hundred and fifteen. I had lost five pounds... and it only took several days! I stepped off the scale, holding my head high with pride. I felt so in control and those feelings of control also made me feel powerful. As I was strutting out of the bathroom, I thought about how I had decided to lose just five pounds when I first began the diet. Well, I had lost those five pounds, but I wanted to lose *more*. I thought, * If five pounds makes me feel this good, imagine what ten will do! * So, I decided to continue dieting.
"I *will* be thin," I assured myself aloud.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Morning," I said, walking into the kitchen, where mom was cooking breakfast and dad was sitting at the table.
"Hey Lizzie, good morning," mom greeted me with one of her warm smiles.
"Yes, it is," I said with a grin that stretched from ear to ear. [And why is it a good morning, Lizzie? Because you lost weight, that's why!]
"What took you so long to get ready?" mom asked, putting a plate of scrambled eggs in front of dad.
"Well," I replied, "I was having trouble with my belt. I had to keep adjusting it to different holes to make it fit so that it would hold my jeans up. It's on the last hole right now, but my jeans are still falling down a little."
Mom exchanged glances with dad and then they both looked at me at the same time.
"Why are you two looking at me like that?" I said with a laugh.
"Lizzie," mom said with a hint of worry in her voice, "I don't think you need to diet anymore. I can see that you've lost weight and I don't think it would be wise for you to lose anymore."
I rolled my eyes, "Mom, I'm *fine*! Besides, I thought you respected my choice to go on a diet."
Dad jumped in to aid mom's argument, "Your mother's right, Liz. You shouldn't lose anymore weight."
I stomped my foot like a child throwing a tantrum. *Why* were they doing this to me? *Why* did they have to stick their noses into my life? All I want is to be thin, that's all. Why can't they just understand that? They want me to be happy, don't they? Well, in order to be happy, I have to be thin.
"Whatever," I said, grabbing my jacket off the back of the chair, "I'm going to school."
With that, I stormed wordlessly out of the house, slamming the door behind me.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey Lizzie," Gordo and Miranda waved from across the crowded school hallway.
"Hi," I waved back, closing my locker and walking over to them.
"You seem like you're in a bad mood," my other best friend, David Gordon said. Miranda and I call him Gordo... doesn't that sound iso/i much better than David?
I sighed, "You're very observant, Gordo."
Gordo shrugged sheepishly, "I know, I know."
"So, what's wrong?" Miranda asked.
"Parents," I said, shaking my head.
"Right," Miranda nodded understandingly, "Don't they just bug the heck outta you?"
"Mine sure do," Gordo said.
"Mine too," I responded with a frown.
"So Lizzie," Miranda began, "I guess the diet's going well. I see you've lost weight."
I smiled, thrilled that she noticed my weight loss. "Yep, it's going great!"
Gordo threw his head back then looked right at me, "Come on, Lizzie! You don't need to go on a diet. I don't understand why girls go on diets. Why do you guys obsess over stupid things, like looks and weight?"
"They're *not* stupid," I replied defensively, "They're important to us! We *try* to look good, unlike boys."
Gordo rolled his eyes, "Lizzie, when are you going to realize that looks aren't everything?"
"You know what? Let's just drop the subject, okay?" Miranda said, playing peacemaker.
"Fine," I said, throwing my hands in the air.
Just then, the bell rang.
"Come on," Miranda said, grabbing my wrist, "We don't wanna be late for Math!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter three coming soon!