𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝟏𝟎𝟏 (𝟏𝟖+)

𝐗𝐗𝐈𝐗

• 29 •

Gia: I hate this. I wanna go home. This is awkward.

Therapeutic. Although Ralph can't do shit to change my situation, sharing my thoughts with him was therapeutic—the same reason why a lot of people Tweet cryptic thoughts or rant online. I drowned out Adil and Dominic's laughter, stared at the chocolate cake in front of me, and waited for Ralph's reply. It came after exactly seventy-six seconds.

Dig Bick Ralph: I'd pay to watch that dinner.

The response was very Ralph. I snorted before my thumbs grazed the keypad again, typing another text—

"No phones during dinner, Ms. Alexa." came a voice to my left. I looked at Keenan blankly, the urge to turn him inside-out still present within me. He reached underneath, took the small device, and laid it on the table. Before I could shoot my glare, Keenan spoke, redirecting all attention to our part of the table.

"How about you, Ali?" he began, taking his fork and poking chocolate bread, "I haven't asked you yet how you're doing."

Alicia was happy to have the spotlight. She spoke, smile big and bright, "Clinic's going well." she told us, surprising me. Clinic? Alicia did not strike me as a medical professional.

Her eyes flitted to me and my face must've given it away. Alicia's pretty head cocked to one side and she spoke, pride seeping from the quotation marks, "I'm a medical esthetician and in the clinic I run, I work with plastic surgeons." Which made more sense than being a twenty-five-year-old general doctor. Looking at Ali, the job seemed fitting. If she runs her own business inclined to beauty, she must look the part, ergo the perfect appearance partly due to her habits and partly from the luck of having Travino genes.

Keenan drank his wine, "Aka she runs a plastic doll factory." he added.

The woman theatrically looked offended, hand to her chest and frown to her face, "Hey, nothing's wrong with wanting to change parts of yourself that you do not like." she told Keenan in a lecturing voice. Only his sister can do that. Her eyes flickered between me and her brother and I wanted to hide under the table. To my dread, she spoke some more, dragging me into it, "What do you think, Gia?"

I heard her right, but I wasn't able to stop myself from asking, "Me?"

All eyes were on an awkward Gianna Alexie except for Keenan's which were on his plate of cake. He'd rather look at cake. Alicia rephrased her question, "Don't you have things you wish you could change?" Maybe it's just me being insecure, but from her tone, I was getting a message aimed at a tender topic.

Do I have things that I wish I could change? Although I can easily admit that I'm not the prettiest woman on Earth, I do not have a certain body part where my discontent is directed at. A smaller stomach would be nice. Now that I think of it, my nose can do well with a bit of change—maybe turn a bit more upright and narrower at the sides. My eyes, maybe they'd look better larger. My lips are thick when I use liner which I do only occasionally, but I guess having permanently puffy ones would add to the appeal.

Janella came to my rescue, voicing her opinion and earning cookie points while she's at it, "Well, Gianna's pretty as she is."

Alicia hummed in affirmation, put cake into her mouth, and waved her fork in the air, "Everyone's beautiful, honey, but surely she has things she's insecure about."