Through His Eyes | Fezco

Chapter 3

"You're too chunky to be a flyer Gabriella. You gained weight over the summer girl."

I instantly brought my 14 year old hands around my waist the moment the words left one of my best friends, who also is a flyer on the middle school cheer team.

"I don't think I gained that much-"

She scoffed while looking at the other two girls who sat next to her on the cheer mats, "No girl. Last year you were a twig. Don't you remember, everyone called you a twig, better yet, toothpick. This year, well...," she smirked at me, "you don't belong in the air anymore with me. Your place now belongs on the ground."

She laughed at me. 

The other girls laughed at me. 

Neither of them defending me.

Have I really changed that much?

I felt sick to my stomach, "Um I'll be right back."

Without causing any raising brows, I swiftly walked to the girls locker room. Once I made sure no one was in it, I turned around, locked the door, and ran to the nearest bathroom. I leaned over the toilet, forcing everything that was inside my stomach to come up. 

'You're too chunky'

'You're too chunky'

"You're too chunky-'

"NO!"

I looked around frantically, wiping my forehead from sweat that was fall down, but my stomach had other plans as my nightmare was one of my worst memories that I've tried to lock back into the darkest places in my brain. I began puking up all the alcohol that was in my stomach from the party earlier, not a single chunk of food in sight as I only had a single toast yesterday morning . 

'Aye, mija, you're looking a little chunky in that.'

That wasn't even the first time my family has told me that I've gotten, as they told me, "fat," since my freshman year. Am I supposed to be the same weight now in the 11th grade, better yet, every year of my life? 

Tears rolled down my face as I puked up now stomach acid and saliva, nothing in my stomach to puke as I skipped dinner and refused Fez's offer to picking me up food. Why? Because I want... no, need, to look perfect physically at all times. I just have to. 

My head snapped towards my bedroom door when I heard a phone ringing down the hallway.

"He's what? I-is he going to be okay? Okay. I'm on my way." My grandma's frantic voice made me question because who would be calling her at 3 in the morning.

I heard my grandma's shuffling footsteps go to my mother's door and knock. "Rosalia, get up. It's Valerio. He's in the hospital. He was shot, we need to go now."

My world began to feel like it was slowing down, as I tried to get up off the bathroom floor, but to no avail, I accidentally tripped on one of Luna's dog toes and fell right back down with a thud.

"Gabriella," my mom poked her head in my room, "Are you okay?"

I winced as I got up, "Yeah, just tripped on one of Luna's toys getting out of the bathroom. What are you doing up?"

She took a breath, "It's your uncle. He was shot, they're not too sure if he's gonna make it. I have no idea how long your grandma and I will be gone. Call a friend to see if you can spend the night over, okay?"

I nodded and I guess she knew that I wasn't gonna be able to make words out because she walked out. Panic started creeping in, he was the only father I had, well besides my own dead beat dad. My uncle Valerio has always struggled with drug and alcohol abuse since I could remember, he left us years ago, the summer before I went into 3rd grade, to really go into that world of drugs and gangs. It was only a matter of time the three of us knew we would get this type of call. A call that we dreaded.