Apricity (Skinny Rewrite)

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MARLEY USED TO spend the summers sprawled across the grass under the large oak tree that loomed over Maria's back garden. They would lay there for hours, grass tickling the backs of their knees, and stare up at the light filtering through the tree branches. Watch the birds build nests. Watch the butterflies flutter so gracefully through the air and land on rose bushes.

Marley had always wanted to be like those little creatures. Light and delicate and graceful and beautiful. Pausing, only for a moment, to admire other beautiful things. Maria was like that. She was lithe and walked with an airy grace that Marley could only dream about. And she was, by the luck of nature, always exquisitely beautiful. Her eyes were a deep brown, round, and set evenly above delicate cheekbones. And while they were dark, everything else about her was pale. And the contrast between her irises and hair the color of snow made them look even darker. Her thinness made them look even wider.

Through the years Marley knew her, it was like she only got smaller. Like with each passing minute she was being whittled away by an overzealous doll maker. With each 'I could never eat that' they would carve a bit here, with every 'I wish I was skinny!' they would chip away a bit there. Until she was impossibly, impeccably, irresponsibly slender.

Marley envied her for it. She would catch herself staring at Maria's thin arms. Her nimble, slim fingers. Her delicate wrists and collarbones. And maybe that envy is what fueled Maria even more. Pushed her to the point of complete self-destruction.

Somewhere along the way their friendship had soured and spoiled. Turned from a blooming rosebush in the garden to something more subtly sinister. It became an unhealthy obsession with being better, being smaller, but also being the only person the other could rely on. With an unspoken agreement, they shut out everyone else. Them against the world and them against each other. Until they were blighted, broken, and bitter.

"Ugh." Maria pouted, rolling onto her back in the grass and ignoring the magazine she had been paging through just moments before. "I'm bored."

Marley looked up from her novel. One about fairies who could shrink to the size of butterflies. "You're always bored."

She rolled her eyes. "And you always say that." She peeked up at her friend, a smile pulling at the corner of her lips, though she tried to hide it. "Have you put on weight?"

Marley's empty stomach sunk. "I haven't weighed myself today." She lied. She weighed herself every day. And this time of the month the numbers tended to creep up just a bit. Just enough to torment her a little.

"It's ok, honey." sitting up, Maria tucked back a strand of hair that had fallen in Marley's face. "You don't have to lie to me. What was it today?"

And of course she had to tell her. She could never say no to Maria. So she tucked her bookmark into her novel and sat up from where she was laying in the pillowy grass. "One-oh-five."

Her friend sucked in a breath. "That's above the mark, Marley." She scolded. Looking at her as if she had truly let herself go. "I was only kidding but you've gained two pounds! How could you let that happen?"

She felt wounded. "I'm sorry." Tears pricked at her eyes as she found herself apologizing. "I still get my period sometimes. Usually it goes up around then. I-"

"Don't make excuses. I can't help you if you let yourself believe them." Maria reached up to wipe away a single tear as it glided down Marley's cheek. "Have you been logging?"

She nodded, turning to her bag to pull out her small black journal. And as her friend skimmed through the pages, Marley glanced up at the dark clouds growing closer. "It's going to rain." She mumbled, mostly to herself.