Not Quite Perfect

The Beach

  "Get your butt down here, girl!" Casey shouts into the phone. I laugh and hang up the phone, grabbing my beach bag and running downstairs.
  "I'm leaving! See you later, Mom, Dad!" I shout. Mom pokes her head out from a room in the hallway.
  "What about breakfast, honey?" Mom asks with a frown on her face.
  "We're getting brunch on the way, Mom," I say before hurrying out. I jump into the car and Casey pulls out so fast that I fall sideways. I get my seatbelt on and set my bag beside me.
  "Did you eat breakfast or lunch?" Casey asks, glancing at me in the mirror above the center console.
  "I had brunch before I left," I say smoothly. We drive to the beach with the windows of the car down and the radio turned on playing loudly. My hair is probably a mess, but I don't care. When we get there, the guys are leaning against the car, arms folded and looking bored. We get out of the car and Casey runs to Jake and practically jumps on him. Addie and I exchange a look and Miles chuckles. Speaking of Miles...he's wearing swimming trunks, but no shirt. My mouth goes dry at the sight of him shirtless.
"Hey, Kristy," Miles says with a grin. I give him a small wave. We go down and pick a spot before us girls take off our shirts and shorts to reveal our swimsuits. Jake, Casey, and Addie run into the ocean and start to play, but Miles and I hang back.
"Why no bikini?" Miles asks jokingly. I force a smile on my face and look down before wincing.
"Uh, I just liked this suit, I guess," I say quickly before hurrying to join our friends.

"Who's up for dinner?" Addie asks as we lay on our beach towels. My stomach growls and everyone laughs. I sit up and bring my knees to my chest.
"I guess Kristy's hungry," Casey says through her laughs. I lower my eyes in embarrassment. Nobody notices.
"How about Burger King?" Addie suggests. We agree and pile into the two cars. Soon after, we are standing in line deciding what to order.
"I'll have a medium plain cheeseburger with large fries and a medium drink," Casey orders.
"Large cheeseburger with the works and small fries and a small drink," Addie says excitedly.
"I'll have a large hamburger, large fries and a medium drink," Jake says, finally tearing his eyes away from the menu.
"I'll take the large cheeseburger, large fries, medium drink," Miles decides. Everyone looks at me.
"I'll have a Garden Side Salad and a bottled water," I say offering a quick smile to the old lady.
"What? No cheeseburger and fries?" Casey asks incredulously. I shrug.
"But you hate salads! Bunny food, remember?" Addie reminds me. I shrug again. We look at our choices and see that Miles had the most expensive order so he pays. That is how we usually do it. When our food comes, I eat my salad miserably. Casey waves a fry in front of my face.
"Mmm, yummy fries! Take one, Kristy!" Casey says, trying to tempt me. I know if I have one, I'll have to buy some more, so I shake my head.
"So you guys want to the park and have a picnic tomorrow? It would be awesome," Addie suggests. One by one, everyone agrees, but I can't have lunch tomorrow.
"I have something I have to do with my family," I say as an excuse. Addie frowns at me, but everyone lets it go.

"I'm going to eat at school, Mom!" I shout before running outside. Every other day, I ride in Casey's car and every other day she rides in mine. On our way to school, we discuss plans for the weekend. There's a party on Saturday so we are going dress shopping with Addie today, Friday. I've lost a lot of weight. Now, I weigh ninety three pounds. I'm sixteen so I am technically underweight, but I'm not at the size that I want yet. I have to keep dieting so I can be skinny.
"Okay. Addie's coming, right?" I ask and Casey nods. We get to school and as we are walking inside with Miles and Jake (Addie went inside already), my stomach growls. Jake and Casey are being couple-y in front of Miles and me, so only Miles hears. He looks down at me with an amused look on his face.
"I don't know why my stomach is growling. I had a huge breakfast this morning," I say with a chuckle and a smile. Miles doesn't look so amused.
"Are you sure?" He asks slowly. I nod and force a smile to reassure him. He nods, but he doesn't look to convinced.

  "Yes? No?" I ask, twirling around in the dress. It's a short dark blue dress with a black belt that's sewed to the dress. It has a small silver buckle.
  "Cute, but I think you should get a size smaller, girl! You're a small, now. When did that happen?" Addie asks with a worried expression. I grin widely.
  "Really? A small?" I ask, practically running to the rack to grab a small. When I get back, Casey and Addie are talking in hushed voices. When they see me, Casey stops me from going into the changing room.
  "Kristy, you were a medium last week. That can't be healthy. What's going on? Talk to us, Kristy," Casey says nervously. I glare at her.
  "Nothings wrong. If I'm a size smaller, that's a good thing," I say defensively. Casey purses her lips.
  "I guess..." Casey trails off. I go in and change, looking in the mirror. I have a very small high gap. I need a larger thigh gap and I still have a chubby stomach. I go out and model for the girls. Jake and Miles are standing there and Miles looks at me seriously.
  "Kristy, you went down a whole size in a week?" He asks. I shrug.
  "It's not that big of a deal. Hey, Casey, this good?" I ask, pointing at the dress. Both Casey and Addie squeal.
"It's perfect!" Casey exclaims. I smile to myself as I change back into my now baggy clothes.
  "So, food?" Casey asks. Everyone nods as we walk toward the cash register.
  "I had a big breakfast," I say casually to get out of eating. Casey stops in her tracks.
  "You said you ate brunch," She says either a frown. I fake a laugh.
  "Yeah, I meant I had a big brunch," I lie. Casey nods her head and we continue toward the cafeteria. Once we get there, they get lunch and I watch them eat awkwardly. To motivate myself, I think of how I decreased a size. Yay, me!

  It's been two weeks since the party, a month since my new diet. I'm on a 'fast' as I call it, not eating for the week. I've been getting light-headed as of late. I'm out for a run in the park that nobody uses, near Miles's house, actually. I have new exercise clothes because my old ones are too big for me now. I'm getting there, but I'm not there yet. As I jog closer to Miles's house, I start to see dark spots and I feel as I do when I stand up too fast. Actually, I feel like that every time I stand up. I'm dizzy. I put my hands to my temple and close my eyes for a moment. I open them and resume running, planning to run right by Miles's house, but I have to stop right in front of it. I'm seeing black bursts again and I'm really dizzy. I sway on my feet and suddenly, arms wrap around my waist and steady me. Once my vision clears, I look up to see Miles.
  "I, uh, I didn't have breakfast and I went on a run. Bad idea, I guess. Yeah, I was planning on eating when I get back," I say. Miles looks down at my legs and his eyes trail slowly back up to my eyes again.
  "Okay, just...be careful, Kristy," Miles says seriously.