Bikini Body

Chapter thirteen:

When I came home, Mom and Tony were together. Mom told me to drop my stuff off in my room and come back. I never felt so guilty and so scared in my life. I sat on the dining table across from them. For about a minute, none of us said anything. Then, Mom asked me, "How was your day, Abby?"

"It was good," I told her. Nervous, I rubbed my hands together.

"Are you okay?" Tony asked, his deep voice a little toned down.

I nodded.

Things got quiet again. Mom forced a smile and looked at Tony as if to encourage him to continue. Tony gave her a slight nod before saying, "As I said before, Abby, I'm not trying to be your father or anything. Yesterday... we got off on the wrong foot. And I sincerely apologize for that."

"And I'm sorry, too," Mom added. "I'm sorry that I haven't been a mother to you like I am with Zarah. I promise from now on that everything will be different." She reached and smoothed my hair.

"And I'm sorry that I yelled at you, Tony," I said.

"Apology accepted."

"Do you have a lot of homework?" asked my mother.

I nodded.

Mom sent me to my room and told me to finish my homework after that. Homework wasn't that bad this time. I finished it just before Mom started to make dinner. I had nothing else to do, so I went to the kitchen and asked her if she needed help. She told me that if I chopped some onions and pepper, it'd be great. So I grabbed a knife and started my job.

"I got an email from your school," Mom said as she started to shape the meatloaf. "It says that you're going to have Finals. Correct?"

I nodded. "Yeah, Mom, that's right."

"Are you ready for it?"

"I guess."

Mom put the meatloaf in the oven.

"Just do your best," she said, closing the oven door shut.

I hate it whenever people say that. I hate it when you actually do do your best, but then it becomes a big failure in the end and then people yell at you and call you stupid. Everytime that happens, I say in my head, "That was my best... take it or leave it." But I knew if I said it out loud, I could get in big trouble.

"Okay," was all I said in reply.

The rest of the month wasn't that interesting. In each of my classes, we were constantly reviewing. When the month Finals started, things started to get pretty hardcore. We did practice some Finals which is basically doing a mock test, but still having the same criteria as the actual test. Everyday teachers reminded us to eat a healthy breakfast every day, get enough sleep, and study a lot. I was getting tired of hearing the same thing over and over again.

Mom, for some odd reason, was getting upset with me every morning. After when I finish breakfast, I go to my room and begin to put my clothes on for the day. And when I do, Mom always calls, "Abby! You didn't finish your breakfast!" I would go back to the kitchen and tell her that I did.

"You barely touched anything!" she said one morning, gesturing to my plate of pancakes and sausage. "You didn't like it?"

"No, of course not," I told her. "I'm full, really."

Mom scoffed. "Really? You are?" She slid my plate over to me and said, "You're not leaving this house until you eat!"

"Mom, I'll be late!" I protested.

"I'll drive you."

"Mom..."

"What?" Mom raised her eyebrow. She wasn't backing down this time. Reluctantly, I picked up the fork and cut a piece of pancake. I looked at Mom as I put the piece in my mouth and ate it. I put the fork down.

"There-- I ate," I said. "Now can I go?"

"Eat more." Mom took the fork and cut two pieces of pancake and shove it towards my lips. I didn't open my mouth.

"Abigail Ash Newman!" Mom shouted. "Open your mouth!"

"I'm not hungry!"

"Fine!" Mom ate the two pieces of pancake and tossed the fork onto the sink. "Go get dressed!"