The Meal Plan

Chapter 7

Copyright © Sharanya Mullassery 2012

All rights reserved.

This chapter is dedicated to duagilani for her awesome support on this book :) Thanks, doll! I really appreciate it xoxo

I'm really sorry that this chapter is short. I have been a bit busy this week.

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I hope you enjoy this chapter :)

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Trina lived two blocks away from my home. I rang the doorbell and waited. A tired Louis opened the door.

"What on earth are you doing here so early?" He asked me, surprised.

"Bonjour, Louis. May I ask you the same question?"

"Mrs.Norbury's project" He groaned, waving an unfinished project paper on my face.

"Serves you well for procrastinating" I pushed him off and greeted Tara, Trina's Mom. "Good morning, Tara"

"Good morning, dear. Would you like to have some breakfast? I have the mix for honey dipped pancakes. I can make you a couple in a jiffy!" Tara beamed at me. She was a great cook and she loved to feed me and Louis. My stomach grumbled in response. It wanted those yummy pancakes.

"No, Tara. I had a hefty breakfast already. Mom made my favorite omelet and bacon" I lied.

"In that case, you might want to help those poor souls in the couch" Tara pointed towards Trina and Louis, who were huddled up in the couch.

"Hey, guys. How is it going?" I sat next to Trina.

"This sucks, Neve. I hate doing cover pages. Mrs. Norbury puts too much emphasis on the outer cover instead of contents"

"Yeah, she said something about first impression being the best"

"Where is your project, Neve?"

"I turned it in day before yesterday"

"You are such a nerd" Louis pouted.

"You make us look bad, Neve. Go away..." Trina grumbled. I chuckled.

"You two are such babies. You can sit here and tell me why I am such a bad person or you can take these covers I made for you and kiss the ground I walk on" I said, pleased with myself.

"You are the best, Neve" Louis gave me a bear hug and squeezed the air out of me.

"Neveah, how did you complete these covers within such a short time? You weren't even planning on doing this, were you?" Trina eyed me suspiciously.

"I couldn't sleep last night. I went on Facebook and..." I shifted uncomfortably on my seat.

"Jeez! You saw that? I am so sorry, Neve" Louis wrapped his arm around me.

"I don't understand, Lou. Wh-What did I do?" I sobbed quietly.

"You didn't do anything wrong, love. You don't deserve any of this bullshit" Louis whispered. It made me cry harder. "Please, don't cry over that jerk. You are better off without him"

"I know. It's just that I care about him and I ca-can't help wondering if I did something wrong?"

"Honey, it's not your fault. Sean and Mia are just two horrible people who are out to ruin others' lives. Forget about them, babe" Trina squeezed my palm gently.

"I don't know. May be I am really ugly as Sean sai-" Trina slapped me, gently.

"No, Sean is a coward!" Trina said, firmly.

"He wanted to ditch a great girl like you for a skanky whore like Mia. He needed a good reason to justify his action otherwise it made him look like a jerk. He went for the obvious one - Your weight!" Louis explained.

"But that doesn't change the fact that I am fat, right?"

Trina and Louis stared at each other. Their silence gave me my answer.

******

The last month of junior year passed quickly. For me, it was the worst month ever. I was single for the first time in my life. After the first two weeks post-break-up, I was 10 pounds lighter as a result of not eating anything and sleeping through all my classes as well as the normal nightly sleeping hours--and all cried out.

I listened to my 'broken heart' playlist and tortured myself with BSB. I cried along with them and finally, I got sick of being a weeping daisy. So, after a heartfelt conversation with Trina and Louis, I decided that I was officially tired of crying over my past. I knew that if I let myself be sad for the rest of my life, I'd be sad for the rest of my life. And he'd win.

After long deliberation, I took twenty bucks from my pocket money and filled my iPod with almost every happy-preppy songs in the world. Whenever painful thoughts entered my mind, I imitated Lady Gaga and watched The Big Bang Theory. I breezed through the finals like a zombie. Once the school year was over, I was relieved and happy.

"Don't worry, babe. I will bet my bottom dollar that senior year is going to be a blast for you. We will get back at Mia and Sean" Louis gave me a high five.

"That's enough, Lou" Trina scolded him. I chuckled.

"What are your plans for the summer, Lou?" I asked him.

"I'm visiting my grandfather in Italy. He sent me a ticket" Louis grinned, happily.

"What about you, Trina?" I enquired.

"I am going to New York with mom. I don't know why, though!" She answered my suspicious look.

"Wow. You guys are ditching me during the summer. I hate you, traitors" I pouted.

"You are such a drama queen" Louis imitated my pout.

"I will miss you, doll" Trina gave me a hug and Louis followed. We stood there hugging each other for a while. I realized that it was going to be a long summer without my best friends.