My Secret Family

Art Attack

Sophie

54 kg and falling

Ana, Mia, Sue, and I walked out of DeLorean's, the self-proclaimed best burger joint in Colma, laughing about how the waiter got annoyed with us when we ordered one Blue Cheese Supreme and four plates.

Me, Ana, Mia, and Sue, the four horsemen of the apocalypse. I remember Ana taking little nibbles of her quarter of a burger, eating behind her hand. I remember Mia going to the bathroom after she finished her quarter, and when I wanted to go with her she said no, go when I come back. I remember, Sue, the quiet girl I had known since grade school, sitting lost in her own thoughts. I only invited her because I saw her outside art class and she kind of hung around without saying anything. She was like a lost little lamb, in a strange way I liked her company. Even if she didn't talk much occasionally she would say little insightful things, little bits of spicy punctuation or a quirky sentence in an otherwise bland conversation. Mia got back from the bathroom and I slid out my phone and took a photo of us. Ana peered at the screen over my shoulder.

"Can you delete that? I look horrible."

"You do not."

"I said delete it. I don't want a record of me looking so fat. What if someone hacks it?"

What could I do? I deleted the photo.

"Hey, Sophie, you'll find this funny. " Mia was talking to me. "When I used to be fat, like, no guys would talk to me, but the other day Jason Walton asked me out and I turned him down."

"Oh really? That's hilarious, " I said, wondering just how fat Mia used to be.

"Now that I'm popular I have to make such difficult choices. " Mia laughed and sipped her diet soda.

"You're not popular, your vagina is popular, " Ana said, waving her hand at the waiter to bring the bill.

Mia glared at Ana, and it seemed like she was going to retaliate, to defend herself, but then she decided against it and looked down at her empty plate.

"I can't believe I ate all that, I'm such a pig."

We gave each other glances, each of us knowing what Mia had done in the bathroom, but she wanted to play the game of secrets. We paid the bill and walked to my car.

"You guys want to come to my place?" I said, trying to change the subject. "I have three, count them, three bottles of Bergerac Champagne I got as a house-warming gift from my mom.

"How many calories is that?" Mia asked, getting in to the front seat of the car. She had not buckled up, which annoyed me, but I didn't say anything.

"Not many, like 70 per glass. How many have we done today?"

Sue piped in, "Two twenty, including the perpetually motioned diet Pepsi.

Ana raised her eyebrows at me as if to say, what a weirdo.

"We can still do two or three glasses then. " Mia said, as I unlocked the steering wheel.

"Mia, you stink. " Ana waved her hand in front of her nose from the seat behind Mia. I saw Mia out of the corner of my eye flush with embarrassment. She did have an odor. I tried to block out the atmosphere and started the car.

My parents had moved me into their garden cottage, a small but perfect space for me to study and have friends over without them embarrassing me. It was actually really amazing of them to do that because they usually rented it out and used the money to go on holidays to the South of France.