Bikini Body

Chapter twelve:

One can never be too careful about getting sick. So when I got home, I did some gargles. I do it all the time if I was ever around people coughing or when Flu season hits. Doing gargles prevented me from getting sick lots of times, and because of that, I have perfect attendance. I don't remember when was the last time I was sick, actually. When we were kids, Zarah got sick a lot of times. The most severe sickness she had was pneumonia. She was hospitalized for several days for that. I've never been in a hospital. And I hope I never will. Well, I bet the only reason why I'd be in a hospital is because of the birth of my children. But I changed my mind about having children years ago.

Mom made tuna casserole for dinner. This time, she forced Tony eat the same thing we were, much to his dismay. He already had his fruits, vegetables, and juice out to make his smoothie. Reluctantly, he took the plate my mother shoved at him and served himself. She gave me a plate, too.

"Do you promise to eat?" she asked, her eyebrow raised.

"Yes," I mumbled.

Tony butted in, "What's this about?"

"Nothing," I said.

"Abby barely ate any breakfast this morning," Mom told him.

"Abby!" Tony scolded. "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. It refuels the body and brain with lots of energy and nutrients. It improves mental alertness and physical performance."

Tony sounded like a textbook. All I said was, "Okay."

"Guess what, Abby?" Mom said in a sweet voice as we were almost through with our meal.

Just by sound of Mom's voice, something was up. "What?" I asked, taking a sip of water.

Mom's voice instantly changed. "I spoke to your principal and he says that you didn't show up for class the last few weeks!"

I choked on my water. "What?"

"You're skipping class?" Tony boomed.

"Abby, do you have an explanation for that?" Mom demanded.

Staying silent is the best thing to do when Mom is angry. That doesn't work for Tony because he said, "Abigail Ash Newman, you will tell us why you're skipping class, or else--"

"Don't threaten me!" I said, jumping up from my seat.

Tony stood up, appalled. "I'm not threatening you, Abby! Tell us why you're skipping class, or else I'll punish you!"

I shouted back, "You're not my dad!"

As I ran to my room and closed the door behind me, I heard Mom and Tony shouting and cursing at each other. Then I heard the front door slam. Then I heard Mom crying. By the sound of Mom's crying, I knew that things weren't good. I felt guilty... and glad at the same time. Cruel, I know, but I was done with Tony.

I told Lauren what happened the next day.

"What?" she squealed. "Oh, my God..."

"I know," I said, nodding my head. "Plus, I'm grounded for two weeks because I "ditched" classes."

"I don't recommend ditching class for the next month-- Finals are just around the corner," said Lauren, as if I didn't already know.

Finals are the worst-- long hours, pointless questions, rethinking your whole life-- and a complete big waste of time. The only good thing about Finals is that summer starts the next day. Our school is the best in the state when it comes to big tests like Finals, surprisingly. Considering that this school has some of the dumbest people here. I'm one of them alongside Bree and Tad. But not Lauren. One time, she got a perfect score on her test, and she got put on the evening news.

"Ew," I groaned, thinking about the mountain of study guides and homework the teachers were going to shove at us. "I don't care anymore, Lauren. I seriously don't care anymore."

"Don't say that, Abby. You should care. You should start thinking about applying for colleges."

I snorted. "Double ew!"

"What's better-- getting a job and earning gobs of money or flipping burgers the rest of your life?" Lauren asked. When I didn't answer, Lauren shouted, "Abby!"

"I'm weighing my options. Shut up!" I told her, although I did not care deep down inside.

Lauren rolled her eyes and walked to class. I followed her. Just as we were about to enter, Bree walked out of the classroom, the red envelopes for her going away party in her hand. She did nothing but smirk at us. We found Luke sitting on his desk, reading the invitation.

"Did you guys get one, too?" he asked us, holding the invitation out to us.

Lauren and I both shook our heads. Luke showed it to us. I was glad that I wasn't invited-- the party was at the same day of my cousin Robert's wedding. And so was Finals. Before class officially started, Mrs. Hall gave us a paper with the schedule for Finals week. We would get out the same time from school as usual, but the classes are longer. No one was really on board with that idea, but Mrs. Hall told us that longer periods were necessary for students to take their time on their tests. For all I knew, I was not looking forward to being in Trigonometry for another forty five minutes.

In all my classes, we were getting started on study guides for Finals. Our Finals were worth five percent of our grade, all of my teachers said. Already people were stressing out. Even in Dance there was a Final! A performance Final, that is. I figured out that that way the only thing I was going to pass. My strategy in the beginning of the year was to take all the easy classes and pass high school like a breeze. Apparently, that idea never went to plan. Sometimes I think teachers were put on Earth just to confuse us more than we already are. When the bell rang at the end of the last hour, I wanted to scream, "Hallelujah!"

Heyyy me again!!! How did you like this chapter? Any advice or ideas??? Please comment me or PM!!! I love you all!!! STAY BEAUTIFUL!!!