There's Another Choice

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"Excuse me Ms. Miller, but can I please go to the bathroom? It's an emergency", I asked my teacher impatiently. I drank too many bottles of water at lunch today. It's not my fault Ms. Phillips, the Health teacher, showed the class all those videos on dehydration and starvation. That was some scary stuff.

"Yes Martha, you can go to the bathroom. I can't take anymore of you hopping up and down in your seat" I sprang out of my seat so fast I almost tripped on Bobby Daniel's bookbag. "Don't forget the yellow pass," said Ms. Miller in the background. I ran down the hallway almost colliding into the girls' bathroom door. All the bathrooms looked so disgusting as usual with pee on seats and pads sticking out of the silver trash slots next to toilets. I had to pee so badly I couldn't waste time flinging through each stall so I picked the closest one near the door.  Luckily, this stall wasn't that dirty. 

All of a sudden, I heard tapping on the floor and soon realized it was just someone's shoes. And not just anyone's shoes, but my best friend Sally. Sally and I have been best friends since first grade, when I broke my pencil right before a test and she lent me an extra one. I've always felt she was the prettier one out of the two of us because she had that red fiery hairy and piercing grey eyes - the complete Irish package. Me, on the other hand, I had light golden brown hair and blue eyes. Everyone always said I was very pretty, but whenever someone said that,  I always looked at Sally and saw her fiery red hair. I would think to myself that she looked so much prettier than me. I may be Argentinian, but I feel like a complete weirdo compared to her sometimes. 

I got out of the nasty bathroom stall and went  to the counters to wash my hand. Sally was reapplying her makeup as usual. I don't see the need to wear makeup because I believe in the whole natural beauty thing. I don't want to have to have products to make me feel beautiful since I don't feel beautiful anyway. I just let people think I do. That is the price of being popular.

As I was washing my hands under the freezing cold water with the odor of the unknown soap in the air, I looked over to Sally and remembered she wasn't at lunch today. She is always at lunch because that is her gossip time. She's head cheerleader and always has something to say about how this cheerleader could've done better or something like that.

"Hey Sally, where were you during lunch today? I didn't see you," I asked her curiously. She gets this giddy expression on her face like she accomplished one of her main goals. Now, I desperately wanted to know what got her so happy to miss lunch.  She put her lip gloss and mascara back into her zebra makeup bag and turned to me. 

"I was in the gym during lunch. Guess what happened," Sally exclaimed. Before I had time to answer, she practically shouted "I LOST TWO POUNDS!!" She was jumping up and down clapping like a normal cheerleader would do. I half-expected her to start doing some cartwheels and splits any second now. I don't know why she wanted to lose weight. She looks perfect, and I always tell her that.

"Sally, it is great you lost weight, but you look perfect already," I replied to her with a sweet smile.  I shouldn't have said that. As soon as those words left my plush lips, her face faltered. She slowly backed away from me like I had slapped her in the face. She swiftly turned around and walked to the door. Her shoulders started trembling. Oh no, I had made her cry.

"Martha, you don't understand," she exhales. 

"I am a cheerleader and I have to look my best. You're not a cheerleader so you wouldn't get the feeling of not being pretty enough," Sally says with every breath regaining her strength. She turns around and walks up to me.

"Besides have you seen yourself lately Martha? You are getting a little pudgy around the ends ," she continues, "We are both pretty popular and we need to look our best. That's all I am doing and you should do it too."

I gasped. I can't believe she just called me fat! I mean I know we are best friends and all but sometimes you have to draw a line at what you say. I turned to the mirror and looked at myself, doing a whole 360 examining my body.

"I like the way I look Sally" I say half-heartedly. As I kept looking at myself, I started wondering if she was right. I mean she is my best friend and she always tells me the truth to keep me from getting hurt. Maybe she is right, maybe I do need to lose a little weight.

She pats my shoulder and grins, "We can't look like everyone else sweety, we have to look slim and in control so we don't lose our spots as Queen Bees."  She pulled me tight and gave me her motherly hug. I couldn't hold in the tears and I just cried on her shoulders, wetting her blue tank top.  I don't know how long I stood there crying, but I remembered I needed to get back to class before Ms. Miller thought I was skipping. 

"I'm sorry Martha, but don't worry. I'll help you find a diet to help you lose those extra pounds. You can get on my diet." Sally said cheerfully and let go of me.

"I'll write it down for you and get it to you tomorrow since we are going shopping anyway. The sooner the better!" exclaimed Sally. I grabbed some paper towels and dried my eyes. I didn't want people to think I was crying even though I clearly was. This is the time where I would have put on makeup to cover up my eyes, but I decided against it. 

"Okay." I said depressingly. I threw the paper towels away and interlocked my arm in Sally's. 

"We need to get back to class before our teachers think we are skipping." I shrieked nervously. 

Sally yelled "Oh crap! I forgot about class! We need to go!" We let go of each others arms and ran back to class so fast we almost tripped over our own two feet. Her class was next door to mine so I had to get to class before she did so they wouldn't see her pass by. All the teachers knew we were best friends and if they say one of us, they saw the other. I opened my class door and Ms. Miller was teaching a lesson so I snuck into my seat and acted like I was there the whole time. When Ms. Miller turned around, she looked at me and glared at me. Oh no! I was in for it. She stomped over to her desk and scribbled something down on a sheet of paper furiously.

"Here you go Ms. Copeland. Off to the office you go for going to the bathroom for god knows how long and then expecting to be able to stroll right back into class." yelled reprimandingly at me. I snatched my bag, my folders, and the slip in her hand. I stormed over to the office. Boy was I in for it now.