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Still, et intoas I walked the halls, and I could hear their whispers too:

“Did you hear about the sandwich?”

“I heard she had mayonnaise smeared all over her face”

“I heard she bawled her eyes out like a little baby after”

“You know, that’s what happens when you let yourself go And she’s only eighteen!”

When you get fat, is what they meant to say They mean to say that this situation is all ht I want to scream because that’s not how it is at all! Everyone in enes of a plu will ever make me thin Why can’t they see that?

Slowly, I drive ho a little more My nose is pink and my eyes swollen, but when I pull into the driveway, I try to clean myself up some I don’t want my parents to see my tear-stained cheeks because they’ll be worried, and that’s the last thing I want

When I open the front door, Gertie and Willia for me

“Hey Mom, hey Dad,” I say tentatively “This is unexpected”

They look like a reflection of myself twenty-five years fros But Gertie and Williaet in the way of enjoying life Plus, they look like parents, which is very reassuring While Morey, Dad’s beard has already turned an ale They look like Mr and Mrs Claus, come to think of it

“Hi Tills,” says my mom She looks atrab an apple from the kitchen counter I just know they’ve already heard about o hide under my covers and slip away into Anna and the French Kiss, but that hardly seems likely I try to run up the stairs unnoticed

“Hey Tilly-Billy, can you come on in here for just a moment? Your father and I want to have a little chat with you,” my mom calls Damn Anna and the French Kiss will have to wait

I slump into the chair across the table froht up and forward, tapping his fingertips together uneasily That’s not the worst of it though His face is red, and he looks like he wishes he could be somewhere else