Chapter 2
I watch Megan’s dark hair spill down her back. She flips it all to one side to reveal the jutting bones in her neck.
Envy fills me. She’s flawless. She can almost fit into a zero, all the boys drool over her and she is – or was – friends with everyone.
“What’s for lunch today, Chloe?” She winks. The friends that she didn’t lose before going to the facility are draped around her neck like jewellery.
“It’s not like you’re doing any better,” I retort, “You’re not a size zero yet.”
She throws her head back with laughter, “I’m mere inches away, honey.”
I roll my eyes and stomp down the hallway. She’s always been better than me at everything – she’s had better grades, more friends, and she’s thinner.
I slip into the cafeteria, discretely, so I’m not noticed. I stand in the food line behind a girl whose hips are spilling out of her skin-tight jeans. Gross.
I grab a dingy orange tray and put a bottle of water, a fruit cup and a small garden salad on it. I shrug and pay for it, fearful of not knowing the calorie-count.
I’ll just eat some of the salad, and drink the water. Water doesn’t have any calories.
I navigate through the filling room and find Megan instantly – she’s surrounded by her friends, laughing wildly at something one of them said.
I plunk my tray near them. As I sit, I stare at my tray. Will I really eat all this?
I spear a tomato and pop it into my mouth. Water explodes on my tongue and I force it down my throat.
I push the container to the side and twist the cap on my water before chugging the entire bottle.
“Thirsty, are we?” Megan looks at me.
“Water doesn’t have any calories,” I say, “And who knows how many were in that salad!”
“True… that’s why I only had some fruit.” Megan replies before putting the invisible force-field back up between us.
I turn away and throw my garbage into the disposal before peeling out of the room, not looking back at my sister once.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I look into the skinny mirror, at the girl on the other side. Fat boils under her skin, her cheeks are puffy and she has stringy, blond hair. Not a pretty picture.
I blink and the image changes.
The girls hair is gently waved and pale blond. Her body is slim, like a ballerina princess. Her cheekbones are so thin that if she wanted to, she could ram her face into the mirror and shatter every bone.
They all say it’s in my head. Everyone except Megan, that is. Instead of telling me that I’m losing too much weight, and that the dieting is dangerous, Megan tells me that I’m fat, and I need to diet… if I want to be skinnier than her.
Megan is what keeps me perched on the scales.
As if she’d been summoned, she dances into the room. “Hey, how much do you weigh now?”
“None of you’re business, Megan,” I snap, looking at the floor.
“Yes it is. I’ll be skinnier than you, Chloe,” She glares at me, “And you can’t handle the truth.”
She’s been saying stuff like this for years – in school, she got better grades, outside of school, she got all the guys.
I whirl around, to face her. “Shut up. Shut your mouth. I will be skinnier than you… just you wait and see.”
She raises an eyebrow. “Yep, when cows fly…”
“Oh, you fly?” I retort, jokingly.
“Love you too, sis…” She mutters, sinking into herself.
“What? Megan – I’m sorry…” I say, but before I can reach out to her, she’s already halfway down the hall.
My heart drops. She took that so literally… She usually just brushes our arguments off.
I gulp, suddenly scared for my sister.
Because it has a lot of potential, and I hate to see potential wasted.