Emma: Seventh Grade

Chapter 14: Hannah's Party

It was Saturday, the day of Hannah's birthday party. Emma was excited to go, particularly because she hoped to strenghten her friendship with Hannah. She hoped that after this party, she and Hannah would be best friends again. Emma hadn't seen Hannah since before school started and she missed her a lot. She wondered if Hannah felt the same way, or if Hannah even knew what she was missing out on. Because why would she invite Emma to her birthday party if she didn't want to be friends anymore? It wouldn't make sense if she did.

It was an unusually warm day in October, so Emma decided to wear her favorite jean shorts. They were low rising short shorts that sat a few inches below her hips and barely covered her butt. To Emma, they were the comfiest pair of jeans she owned and she often went commando in them, as was the case today. With them, she had on an open backed, low cut, floral tank top. Her cuts had finally healed up enough so she could finally expose her arms once again. Her top was rather short, and came down just below her belly button, so anyone could see her flat, sunken stomach. Her hip bones stuck out drastically, showing that she was clearly not getting enough to eat. But Emma didn't care; in fact, she was glad she was skinny. Her anxiety often curbed her appetite, but sometimes she would deliberately not eat in order to lose more weight. Kendra and her friends would always call her fat in the cafeteria, so Emma was determined to lose as much weight as she could in order to prove them wrong. One of her biggest fears was getting fat, and those comments would always hit her hard.

Emma's mom made her walk to Hannah's house, since she only lived a few blocks away. Carrying her overnight duffel bag on her shoulder, Emma walked along the sidewalk in her flip flops with the hot sun shining down on her. Since Emma was always cold, the sunlight felt good to her. However, the straps of her bag cut into her bare shoulder, and it felt very uncomfortable. She had packed pajamas, a bikini swimsuit, her toothbrush, her hairbrush, her favorite pillow and blanket, her wallet, a gift for Hannah which consisted of the board game, "Apples to Apples," and a handmade card summarizing Emma and Hannah's entire friendship. Emma also wrote in it about how she wished she and Hannah could become close again after drifting apart during Hannah's time at her private school. She hoped it would be good enough for Hannah. If it wasn't, Emma didn't know what she would do.

Walking up to Hannah's house, Emma nervously rang the doorbell. She wondered how many people were here, and how many of them she knew. Did Hannah keep any of their old friends? Or did she forget about them all and invite the cocky, rich private school kids in her classes?

Soon, the door was opened by Hannah. Her brown, curly hair was tied back into the usual ponytail, and she was wearing a pink, sparkly tank top and jean Capri's. "Emma!" cried Hannah excitedly, giving her friend a big hug. "I'm so glad you could come!"

"Me too!" Emma replied. "We haven't hung out in forever!"

"I know," Hannah rolled her eyes. "I've been sooo busy lately." She took a good look at Emma. "You look a lot skinnier, girl. Have you lost weight?"

"Yeah, a little," Emma replied, flattered that her friend noticed. "How do I look?"

"Umm....great! You look great," Hannah said, forcing a smile. "Come inside! I'll show you where you can put your bag!"

Emma could clearly tell that Hannah was worried about her weight loss. Even though she said that Emma looked good, her brown eyes showed concern. Throughout their childhood, Emma had always been the skinny one; why was Hannah asking about her weight now? What difference would a few less pounds make?

As Emma followed Hannah inside, she glanced at the living room. There were several girls sitting on the couches, talking and laughing. Emma didn't recognize any of them. She continued to follow Hannah down into the basement, where everyone else's bags were scattered around the floor and sitting on the couch. There was a large pile of blankets and pillows on the love seat, and a stack of movies next to the TV.