eating.”
“We’re going to the drive-in. I don’t think it’s exactly the place to bust out a salad. Anyway, I totally put pickles on the sandwiches.” I smirked, but it quickly faded with my mother’s tangible disappointment. “Please stop giving me a hard time about eating. I gained weight. I’m aware of it. I don’t need you nagging me.”
“I just want to make sure you have the best life possible.” Mom didn’t look me in the eye.
“Making me neurotic about everything I put in my mouth isn’t going to help.” My whole body shook with aggravation. “I’m doing the best I can.”
“Cam Hunter can have any woman he wants.” Did she really just say that?
My heart banged against my ribcage. “And why wouldn’t he want me?” I asked. She raised her hand to dismiss me, but I wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. “No, really. I want to know. What’s so wrong with your daughter that a celebrity wouldn’t want to date me? Would you ever say that to size six Ev?”
Mom pressed her lips together. She didn’t like being challenged. But there was no way I was going to let her get away with this. She acted like reality shows were calling about me because I was so morbidly obese I had to be forklifted out of my bedroom. Not true. My clothes fit more comfortably if they came from the plus sized shop these days, but that was all. I’m pretty sure that made me an average American woman. Not the freak my mom made me feel like every time I set foot in the kitchen.
“What I’m saying, Daisy, is that you need to have every advantage that you can.” That’s all she had.
“I’m not applying for an Ivy League school. I’m going to the movies.” I slammed my hand down on the counter a little harder than I intended. “And it’s our second date. Third, if you count the first time we met up, which wasn’t technically a date.”
“It was a job interview.” Mom dismissed that.
“Well, I guess fat girls like me have to screw our bosses to get ahead.” I enjoyed watching her face fall. “And I didn’t even get the job.”
After my run in with my mother, I was fired up in all the wrong ways. I took Sandy out for a walk to calm down. She was just as anxious to get out of the house as I was. Instead of taking her down the walkway that led to the school like I usually did, tonight we walked around the neighborhood.
I was sick of avoiding people. Ever since I’d been back in Plymouth, I’d felt like everyone had been disappointed and uncomfortable around me. I wanted my life back, whatever it was now.
Sandy pulled me along, like she always did, because clearly humans had no idea where the good smells were. I always let her take charge of our walks. I thought it was more interesting that way.
“Daisy!” Margaret, who’d lived on the street as long as I could remember, watered her flowers in front of her house. “I heard you were at the Pilgrims game with Cam Hunter.”
“Yeah.” My face flushed at the mention of Cam. “We’re going out again tonight, too.”
“Good for you.” Margaret beamed. “I loved him on The Spotlight. I voted for him every week.”
“Thanks.” Just like that, Margaret made me feel so much better. I should send her down to my house to give my mother a lesson on how to be happy for me.
My mom was gone when I got back, she must have had a party. I had to wonder how she treated the people who went to her parties. They were weight loss shakes, after all. Or was she easier on them than she was on me? After all, they were trying to change things. But so was I.
C am had all of his stuff in the doorway when I knocked. “Ready to go?” he asked, almost out the door already, holding a cooler. When Cam had asked me to meet him at his condo, I was psyched. It was right on White Horse Beach, my favorite place in town, and I’d dreamed about having one of those condos since I was a kid. Waking up, looking out the window, smelling the salt air first thing, sign me
“We’re going to the drive-in. I don’t think it’s exactly the place to bust out a salad. Anyway, I totally put pickles on the sandwiches.” I smirked, but it quickly faded with my mother’s tangible disappointment. “Please stop giving me a hard time about eating. I gained weight. I’m aware of it. I don’t need you nagging me.”
“I just want to make sure you have the best life possible.” Mom didn’t look me in the eye.
“Making me neurotic about everything I put in my mouth isn’t going to help.” My whole body shook with aggravation. “I’m doing the best I can.”
“Cam Hunter can have any woman he wants.” Did she really just say that?
My heart banged against my ribcage. “And why wouldn’t he want me?” I asked. She raised her hand to dismiss me, but I wasn’t letting her off the hook that easily. “No, really. I want to know. What’s so wrong with your daughter that a celebrity wouldn’t want to date me? Would you ever say that to size six Ev?”
Mom pressed her lips together. She didn’t like being challenged. But there was no way I was going to let her get away with this. She acted like reality shows were calling about me because I was so morbidly obese I had to be forklifted out of my bedroom. Not true. My clothes fit more comfortably if they came from the plus sized shop these days, but that was all. I’m pretty sure that made me an average American woman. Not the freak my mom made me feel like every time I set foot in the kitchen.
“What I’m saying, Daisy, is that you need to have every advantage that you can.” That’s all she had.
“I’m not applying for an Ivy League school. I’m going to the movies.” I slammed my hand down on the counter a little harder than I intended. “And it’s our second date. Third, if you count the first time we met up, which wasn’t technically a date.”
“It was a job interview.” Mom dismissed that.
“Well, I guess fat girls like me have to screw our bosses to get ahead.” I enjoyed watching her face fall. “And I didn’t even get the job.”
After my run in with my mother, I was fired up in all the wrong ways. I took Sandy out for a walk to calm down. She was just as anxious to get out of the house as I was. Instead of taking her down the walkway that led to the school like I usually did, tonight we walked around the neighborhood.
I was sick of avoiding people. Ever since I’d been back in Plymouth, I’d felt like everyone had been disappointed and uncomfortable around me. I wanted my life back, whatever it was now.
Sandy pulled me along, like she always did, because clearly humans had no idea where the good smells were. I always let her take charge of our walks. I thought it was more interesting that way.
“Daisy!” Margaret, who’d lived on the street as long as I could remember, watered her flowers in front of her house. “I heard you were at the Pilgrims game with Cam Hunter.”
“Yeah.” My face flushed at the mention of Cam. “We’re going out again tonight, too.”
“Good for you.” Margaret beamed. “I loved him on The Spotlight. I voted for him every week.”
“Thanks.” Just like that, Margaret made me feel so much better. I should send her down to my house to give my mother a lesson on how to be happy for me.
My mom was gone when I got back, she must have had a party. I had to wonder how she treated the people who went to her parties. They were weight loss shakes, after all. Or was she easier on them than she was on me? After all, they were trying to change things. But so was I.
C am had all of his stuff in the doorway when I knocked. “Ready to go?” he asked, almost out the door already, holding a cooler. When Cam had asked me to meet him at his condo, I was psyched. It was right on White Horse Beach, my favorite place in town, and I’d dreamed about having one of those condos since I was a kid. Waking up, looking out the window, smelling the salt air first thing, sign me
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