All that week, Ren repeated her routine-waking up "late" so she missed breakfast, eating a tiny lunch, and making excuse after excuse to miss dinner at home. Since she had such a busy schedule to begin with, missing dinner was not a problem at first--she just had to claim that she had a late meeting with her class officers, or that she was doing an article on the school play and had to attend that night's rehearsal. By Friday, however, concern had begun to form in her mother's mind. Before going to bed, Mrs. Stevens knocked on her daughter's door.

"Come in," Ren called abstractedly. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, cutting out pictures from a magazine for her advertisement for the junior class bake sale. Her mother opened the door noiselessly, smiled kindly at her daughter, and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Hi, sweetheart," her mother said.

"Hi, Mom," Ren said, setting down her scissors. "What's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you, honey," Mrs. Stevens began. "I've noticed you haven't been home for dinner much lately, and that you've been in an especial hurry to get out the door in the mornings these days."

Oh, crap, Ren thought, she knows about my diet. I know she's going to give me the "you're beautiful just the way you are" speech. I hadn't prepared for this yet...

"I'm wondering if you don't have too much on your plate right now, sweetie," her mother continued. "You're always hurrying to some after- school meeting, and whenever you aren't doing homework you're working with members of one of your clubs. I understand you want to get into a good college, but you don't need to sacrifice so much to have extra references on your applications."

Ren breathed a silent sigh of relief. So she thinks I'm spreading myself too thin, Ren thought, not catching the irony in her wording. Well, if I can keep up that guise, everything will be fine. "Don't worry, Mom, my academics aren't falling behind," she reassured her mother. "And I really enjoy doing all these activities; I love my schedule."

"It isn't your academics or your happiness I'm worried about, I'm worried about you burning out," said Mrs. Stevens. "At least try to come home for dinner three times during the school week, okay? And we all miss you at the dinner table!"

"Okay, I'll do the best I can, Mom," Ren replied, her heart beginning to sink. She kissed her mother's cheek and after the door swung shut, she flopped backwards onto her bed. Her mom didn't suspect her diet, but she did want her to come home for dinner. The thought was making her feel sick before she even had to sit at the table. To alleviate her stress, Ren lay down on the floor, crossed her arms over her chest, and began to do sit- ups. As she counted, she felt her stress float away. None of the pressure mattered anymore. All that mattered now was that she got skinny, that she lost more weight. Already she had gotten rid of three pounds of globby fat. Ren loved the way she didn't have to think about college or stress on this diet. All that mattered were the numbers-calories, minutes of exercise, and pounds. It made life so much simpler. When she could no longer pull her body upright to meet her knees, Ren crawled beneath the covers, exhausted, and went to sleep.