Skinny (15 page)

“Thanks,” Melissa whispered and then bit into her bagel. Before she could finish her banana, Tanner’s horn honked from the driveway. Her heart raced. She was supposed to eat all of her food. That was the program, but here he was, and he and Gracie would be waiting. Her face flushed.

“Sweetie, why don’t you have one last swig of juice and take your banana with you in the car?” Mom cheerily offered.

Melissa’s shoulders relaxed. The answer was that simple. “What would I do without you, Mom?”

She slid on her coat, slipped her backpack onto her shoulders, and took a long swallow of cold juice. She popped the last bite of sweet bagel into her mouth.

“Bye, Dad. Bye, Mom. Thanks for the prayer, too,” she mumbled, chewing her food.

She scampered out the door and hopped in the backseat of Tanner’s Mustang, holding her half-eaten banana. Gracie and Tanner looked back and smiled, but both were jamming so much they didn’t speak. “Big House” by Audio Adrenaline was blaring on the radio. A smile spread across Melissa’s face. Her head started to bob back and forth to the beat. Her shoulders swayed from side to side. She joined her friends, singing at the top of her lungs. By the time the threesome pulled into the school parking lot, Melissa felt different. She almost strutted out of the car. The music had elevated her mood. Music always did that to her. That was why she loved to dance.

In front of the big silver doors, she pulled Gracie to the side. “Okay, Gray, it’s time I came clean.”

Gracie tilted her head. “I’ve been hoping you would.”

“I need your help,” Melissa continued. “I mean, I’m sure you know there’s something up with me being out of school a whole week and everything.”

Gracie nodded.

“Well, I, well, it’s just that I wasn’t eating enough. I mean, it’s no big deal or anything.” Melissa smiled and waved at some girls on the dance team coming through the doors. “It’s just with Beau and Chemistry and these silly officer tryouts, I just kind of, well, got stressed and stopped eating enough. So I got dizzy and weak, and I’m perfectly fine now, but . . .” Melissa rambled until she reached the hardest part.

“But what?” Gracie asked. She looked concerned.

“But I need your help,” Melissa spit out. “I need you to be, like, my secret partner. Just to make sure I eat everything I bring.” Melissa motioned to her backpack. “See, I need to pack a lunch to make sure I’m getting enough calories, so please don’t let everyone make fun of me for packing my lunch.” Melissa faked a smirk and drew her right ring finger to her teeth.

“Hey! I really wanted to start packing a lunch too!” Gracie’s eyes widened. “I need to save up some money to get Drew a birthday present, and I figured if I packed a lunch, I could stash my lunch money, but I don’t know, everyone else buys something in the cafeteria, so I just felt stupid.”

“Well, now we can be stupid together.” Melissa grinned.

Gracie leaned closer to Melissa. “I was worried about you, you know. And, yes, I promise to be your secret agent and your brown-bagger buddy.”

Melissa hugged Gracie.

Gracie squeezed back and whispered, “But mostly I promise to be your best friend.”

“I’d be lost without you,” Melissa whispered.

Brrring!
The bell signaled six minutes until class.

“Bye!” Melissa waved to Gracie as she ran toward her locker.
Thanks, God. Thanks for giving me Mom and Dad and Gracie to help me through. Together, we can all do this!

W
hen Melissa slid into her desk in French class, she was relieved to see Beau wasn’t there. When he wasn’t in Algebra either, she knew he was absent. That relieved a lot of her first-day-back pressure.

On Tuesday she had a little more confidence. Melissa had gotten through the first day without any major glitches, Gracie made a great conspirator, and Todd said she could perform at tonight’s basketball halftime with the rest of the dance team.

She got to Monsieur Renauld’s class two minutes early and systematically laid out her textbook, notebook, and pencil. Melissa wrote out a schedule for the rest of the day, including when and what she would eat, how long she would have to get ready for the game, and how she would squeeze homework into the hour when she first got home from school. As she erased and rewrote times to make everything on her agenda fit, she was interrupted.

“I’m glad you’re back.” Beau placed his warm hand on top of Melissa’s.

Her heart stopped for a full second. Then it raced. She couldn’t breathe. Melissa had to force herself to swallow.

“Thanks.” She couldn’t bring herself to look into those dark brown eyes.

“Are you okay? I mean, is everything all right?” Beau’s drawl sounded sincerely concerned.

His hand was still on her hand. She felt his warmth burning through her skin, leaving an achy feeling in her heart. “I’m fine, really.” She found the courage to look up.

“Bonjour, messieurs et mademoiselles,”
Monsieur Renauld began.
“Monsieur Pointreaux, asseyez, s’il vous plaît?”

Beau swiveled and sat. The smell of his soap was intoxicating. Melissa felt herself flush. He was so amazing. Why did she have to like him? And why did he have to act so concerned and touch her like that?

The class was repeating a phrase in French. Melissa forced herself to tune in to her teacher and tune out the handsome athlete in front of her.

At the sound of the bell, Melissa bolted to the bathroom. Gracie was only a half step behind her. Once inside the safety of the concrete room, Melissa leaned against the cool, hard wall, threw her head back, and closed her eyes.

“I can’t believe he did that!” Melissa shrieked. “Who does he think he is?”

“I think he still likes you, Mel.”

“Then why did he break up with me?”

“I don’t know. Boys are weird.” Gracie shrugged. “We’d better get to class. Update me at lunch, okay?”

Melissa nodded, took a deep breath, and ducked into the hallway. She managed to delay her entrance into Algebra long enough to avoid any more Beau interactions. She spent most of the day keeping a lookout for his dark curly hair. Whenever she sensed him, she turned up the level of whatever conversation she was having or just turned the corner and detoured around him.

This is crazy!
she thought.
He was probably just being nice and doesn’t even want to say anything else to me.

At home, Melissa sped through her assignments and forced down an early dinner consisting of a grilled chicken breast with a dab of tangy barbeque sauce and a small helping of corn—no butter, of course. Mom lurked around the kitchen, serving as chaperone for the meal.

After she ate, Melissa put on her uniform. She pulled her hair back in a sparkly bow that matched the sequins on her costume. She polished her white boots until they shone. Melissa even applied a little sparkly eye shadow under her brow, some extra-shiny lip gloss, and a squirt of Love’s Baby Soft perfume. The fresh, sweet smell that reminded her of baby powder and flowers made her feel like she was walking in a dream, lightheaded and worry free.

She loved the adrenaline rush before a performance. She hurried downstairs to get her letter jacket. Mom and Dad were waiting for her.

“What are you performing tonight?” asked Dad, helping her with her coat.

“Oh, Dad, it’s way cool. It’s a jazz routine with a killer beat. You know that 80s tune I’ve been playing, ‘Bizarre Love Triangle’?”

Dad nodded.

“I can’t wait to see it,” Mom said, grinning her June Cleaver smile. “Let’s go.”

During the first half of the game, Melissa sat with the dance team and the band. She gave Lindsey a yellow rose and a card saying she’d missed dancing with her. She felt guilty for not including Lindsey in her secret. She just wasn’t ready to expose herself like that.

“Thanks, Yellow! You are just too sweet!” Lindsey squealed, hugging her.

“I’ve missed you, Linds. I just feel bad, that’s all.”

“Please! I’m just glad you’re back. Now I have someone to gossip with during this boring game. By the way, I love the glitter!” Lindsey nodded her approval of Melissa’s daring foray into the makeup world.

The crowd roared. Most of the Spring Hill side stood up. Beau had stolen the ball from the Lakota Lakers and was headed down to the home basket. He paused and aimed. The entire gymnasium was silent.

Swoosh!

He scored a three-pointer. The fans burst into applause, and the band trumpeted the fight song.

“How can I get my mind off Beau if he keeps doing things like that?” Melissa asked.

Lindsey leaned over and put her hand on Melissa’s thigh. She whispered, “This’ll get your mind off that boy. Did you hear Todd yell at Jill for her poor attitude at practice?” She gave Melissa a nudge to the ribs. “Plus, everyone on the team was asking about you.”

“Ladies!” Todd stamped his foot in the narrow walkway at the bottom of the bleachers.

Melissa and Lindsey scurried down the steps with the rest of the team to line up for their halftime show. When they got behind the bleachers, they filed into line and stood at attention, their chins in the air and their arms flat against their sides. They could hear the smack of gym shoes on the floor and the echo of the basketball bouncing, but they weren’t allowed to move a muscle.

At the sound of the buzzer signaling the half, Alyssa blew her whistle in four short bursts, giving the girls the timing. They marched single file onto the gym floor and found their opening positions.

Tweet tweet tweet tweet.
The whistle signaled the team to strike their pose and freeze.

Butterflies danced in Melissa’s stomach. She’d only been to one practice since she’d been out. Lindsey had helped her with the routine, but was she ready for this?

Dear God, I need You now. I mean, I need You again.

The synthesizers boomed from the sound system, and Melissa slipped into her dream world of music and dance. She grinned and twisted and kicked and leaned. She jumped and swiveled until the music stopped and she hit her final pose. She had nailed it!

She could barely hear the whistle over the applause from the stands.

Tweet tweet tweet tweet.

Melissa dropped her pose and marched out with the rest of her team. Once off the court she hugged Lindsey. Gracie ran up from behind them.

“Awesome, girls! Really awesome!”

Melissa beamed, then felt someone tap her shoulder. She turned to see Beau. He smelled like sweat, but it was a warm, rich sweat from a star athlete. Melissa felt woozy. The gym and Lindsey and Gracie all disappeared. It was just her and him.

“I just have a second. I’m not supposed to be away from the team.” Beau sounded out of breath. “But I finally got to see you dance, and
WOW
!” He raised his eyebrows. “You were great!” Beau glanced behind his shoulder. The rest of the players were filing back into the gym for the second half. “Melissa, I’m crazy about you. My folks said as soon as basketball is over, I can maybe start to go out with you again. That is, if you still want to?” The coach was looking at the team. “Gotta run, but we still have tickets to the concert next week, right?” he shouted as he ran back to the bench.

Melissa stood, stunned, as her two friends jumped up and down, shrieking.

“That is so huge!” Gracie said, clutching Melissa’s arm, bringing her back to reality. “I told you he still liked you.”

“Way to go, Yellow,” Lindsey joined in. “I think it’s the glitter.” She winked.

Melissa felt like she was soaring. She wasn’t worrying about the next class or the next practice or the next meal. She was just happy, genuinely happy.

That night she flopped into bed, gathered her soft covers around her, and grabbed her Bible before turning out the light. She read Luke 12:22: “Do not worry about . . . what you will eat.”

Why couldn’t I have read that a long time ago?
She laughed to herself.

Dear God, thank You. Thank You for showing me You are always there and for reminding me I can’t do anything without You. A few months ago that made me feel weak and scared. I wanted to do it all myself. Now I know with You, it’s way better. I have a long way to go. But I know I can get there with You. Amen.

1.   Whose comments influence the way Melissa views herself?

2.   How do your comments to others affect their self-image?

3.   Whose comments influence you?

4.   After reading the following scripture passages:

Proverbs 29:25

Matthew 11:16-19

1 Corinthians 4:3

What do you think the Bible says about being yourself?

5.   Whose comments do you think you should let influence you?

1.   What kind of pressures does Melissa feel from her parents? Her friends? School? The dance team? Beau?

2.   Are these pressures real or self-imposed?

3.   What areas of your life put demands on you?

4.   Are these demands real or self-imposed?

5.   After reading James 1:2-3, how do you think God expects you to handle the pressures of life?

1.   How much time does Melissa spend talking to God?

2.   How much time does she spend listening to Him?

3.   What does Philippians 4:1 say about praying?

4.   How does Melissa try to take control of her life?

5.   Read Galatians 3:5 and Romans 3:28 and discuss how important you feel it is to be in control?

1.   When do you see Melissa start to head downhill?

2.   What are some of the things she does to lose weight?

3.   Which ones seem extreme to you?

4.   Do you know anyone who practices any of these methods to lose weight?

5.   Have you ever tried any of these things to lose weight?