"You're going to be late...again." I take a deep breath as I use all my energy to sit up straight only to meet with the positive rays of sun peaking through my window. The smell of eggs, arroz congri (rice and beans), sausage, AND tortillas filled the air with a Hispanic welcome and there was no doubt it was a motivation to get out of bed quicker. I grab my phone and scan through the notifications I didn't check last night. "ONE NEW TEXT MESSAGE". I tapped the screen to open the unexpected message from an unknown user. "Want to lose 10 lbs in a week? Text YES to this number." I roll my eyes so far back that I swear I could see my brain and I tossed my phone on my bed and I change into my school uniform. As I slipped my skirt on I noticed how difficult it was to get it past my thighs. "God damn it," I mumble as I hop around a little bit. "Valeria, stop hopping around, you're gonna fall right through down to the kitchen!" Echoed Carlos', my brother, voice. "Shut up, idiota (idiot)! " I managed to say as I held my breath to zip up my skirt's zipper. I take a double look in the full-body mirror and frown ever so slightly. Standing in only my bra and skirt, I examined the way my stomach flopped over the waistband and as my eyes traveled up my body, I noticed the rolls that formed when I wore my bra tighter than normal. "You look good, Val," I whisper as I struggle to put on my shirt. "You look good," I repeat as I slip on my shoes.
"Look who finally decided to come down!" My dad exclaimed as he took another bite of his buttered tortilla that was filled with eggs and sausage, wrapped so tightly that the egg began to fall out from the ends. His face was smeared with grease that the food left before entering the dark hole that would end their existence as food. "Good morning, Papí (Daddy)."I peck his forehead and take a seat beside Reina, my cat who was always welcome to sit on the kitchen chairs. "Mija (my daughter), you have to eat quickly, or else you'll have to run to school." My mom is always on my case about how I'll be late for class and explained how I'll have to work cleaning houses because of how much I miss, yet I've only been late once this week. "Ya, I know, I know." I grab a tortilla, piled on two spoonfuls of rice and beans, and successfully stuff in a fried egg without breaking the yolk. After eating three of those beautifully wrapped tortillas, I chugged down my coffee with milk and grabbed a piece of sausage. "I'm leaving! Carlos, let's go!" I call out for my brother who was nearly falling asleep on the couch waiting for me to call an Uber.
"You know what's odd? No matter how much weight I lose, I still look like a pig!" I hear Hannah, an admired blonde athlete that every guy wants to get with at my school, cry out to her group of friends in the bathroom. I sit in the stall, trying to mind my business after having a peanut butter sandwich for lunch and two bags of takis chips but I sadly couldn't enjoy my bathroom break as I kept hearing Hannah pout about her image. "Han, you look hot! Trust me, girl, anyone would kill to have your body, especially that Mexican girl who is like super big in our chemistry class. Did you see how much she eats? She probably considered that lunch to be a snack!" Yolanda chuckles and soon after the other girls start laughing too. "Two bags of takis, who can stomach so much fat!" I hear another girl comment. My eyes begin to water but quickly I rubbed the tears off my round cheeks and exited the stall. Their faces were priceless, shocked and ashamed they, one by one, left the bathroom but Hannah stayed. As I washed my hands I stared at myself in the mirror, examining the stretch marks that ran down my upper arm to meet with my elbow. "Hey, your name's Valeria right?" Hannah asked as she leaned against a stall door. My eyes followed her voice and I give her the deadliest stare. "Don't you mean that fat Mexican girl from chemistry class? I'll have you know I'm not even Mexican, I'm from Venezuela." I reply as I dry my hands which were covered in chip crumbs earlier that day. "Hey, I'm sorry about that. My friends, they're dumb. They don't know how to keep their mouths shut. I'm Hannah, by the way." She stuck her hand in my face as if to offer a handshake but my pride was too high to even touch her. I scuff and turn on my heels. "You know what you are? Eres una tonta. (You're an idiot)." I roll my eyes, grab my bag and head down the hall waiting for the next bell to ring.
I felt Hannah's eyes burning the back of my neck. I constantly slapped it just to let her know I feel her presence behind me. I feel someone tap my shoulder, causing me to lose my cool and lash out. "Hannah, stop being so annoying! I kno-" I stop mid-sentence when I came face to face with Mrs. Clark, our chemistry teacher, wide-eyed and hands on her hips as if to hide her shocked expression. "Excuse me, Ms. Ortiz?" She lifted her left brow. "Sorry, it was a misunderstanding," I mumble and look over in Hannah's direction. Her friends chuckle and mock me. "Like I was saying, Valeria, sit up straight, and don't distract us with your constant slapping." I nod my head obediently and jot down the notes that were on the board. "Val, wait for me outside of class," Hannah whispers as she gets up from her seat to head over to the front of the class. I roll my eyes and sigh, I might as well see what she has to offer. As we leave class after what seemed to be an eternity, I find myself waiting for Hannah. I tap my foot impatiently and stab my ears with my worn-out Apple earphones. Everyone had made their way out of the school and still, Hannah was nowhere in sight, still in class with Ms.Clark. Right when I was about to head out because I was not gonna wait an hour for her to show up, I feel someone grab my upper arm from behind and yank out my headphones. "Hey, sorry I took so long I had to ask Ms.Clark a few things about the homework. Anyway, I wanted to give you this note I wrote." She handed me a folded in fours paper and showed off her bright white perfect teeth as she smiled widely. "I didn't say anything about you, I promise. It was all my friends and it was wrong of them. I think you're pretty cool and maybe we can actually be friends. I don't know, I don't want you to think I judge you for your appearance because I'm really not that kind of person. Please forgive what happened in the bathroom earlier today." She stood there swaying back and forth on her heels. "Fine. What's this note?" I asked as I snatched it from her hand. "Don't open it now! Wait till you're alone... See you later, Val." She hugged me so quickly that I lost my balance. I watched her skip away into the halls, her blonde straight hair put up in a high ponytail dancing around.
"Val, dinner!" I hear my mom yell from downstairs. "Ya voy! (I'm coming!)" I respond as I sat on my bed. I left the note in the front pocket of my bag, it sat at the end of my bed. We had a stare-down for a good minute. "What do you hold that Hannah had me wait so long for?" I poked at my bag. I leaned forward and grabbed the note to quickly open it but in a careful manner making sure I didn't wrinkle or tear it. It read:
"Hey there Valeria, it's me, Hannah, I just wanted to tell you something you could never imagine... I, the so-called perfect girl, used to be overweight and also bullied for how much fat I had on my body. I know, I know, it's hard to believe. Go on Facebook and look me up, send me a friend request if I haven't already and you'll see for yourself. I wore a size 15, nearly developed deadly conditions, ate away my boredom and emotions, food was my friend, and well let's just say, I wasn't the girl I am now. Anyway, in no offense, I wanna help you lose weight. You can be like my tiny project. If you're interested, send me that request and we'll talk some things out.
Talk to you soon,
Love, H."
I squinted at the paper for a good second. "Val, que te pasa? (Val, what's wrong with you?) I've been calling you to come downstairs for five minutes, come down now and have dinner." My mom slammed the door open, scaring me enough that I crumbled up Hannah's note. I felt everyone's eyes on me at the dinner table. "I just want to say that I think I've found myself una novia (a girlfriend)," Carlos states as he takes chomps on his pizza. I nearly choked out with laughter. "What kind of species is she?" I tease him but deep inside I was interested in what he had to say. "Hey, let him speak. Our big man's found a girl." Papí spoke with a proud tone. "Her name's Hannah. You wouldn't believe how we met. But first, let me tell you about her. She's on the volleyball team, she has beautiful long blonde hair, she's petite, AND she speaks French. She's got these jugs too-" "That's enough, hijo (son)." Mamá glared at his derogatory comment. No doubt that my mouth hung open to find out that Hannah, one of the most popular girls at school, was possibly going out with my lame brother. "Wait, what? Girlfriend?" I gasped. "Why are you so shocked? I'm an attractive, tall, handsome, Latino male-" "Yeah, sure" I cut in, "Let me finish! Jesus, it's like she doesn't want me to get to the point. Hannah's in my French class and she offered to tutor me after noticing me struggle with the classwork, she seemed super into me though so I'm pretty sure she's gonna be my girlfriend eventually." I burst out laughing, spitting out the pizza that sat in my mouth. "Gorda, please. Chew with your mouth closed!" I hear my dad order. Embarrassed, I pick up the chewed-up pizza and take a sip of soda. "That doesn't mean she's your new girlfriend you dope, thanks for the laugh." I try to hide how bothered I was by my dad's usual comment. It never bothered me before but something about it today, got to me. "Invite her over for dinner one of these days." My mom suggests as she put away the dishes. "I'm going to my room," I said getting up and jogging up the stairs. I logged into my Facebook account, which I hadn't used since middle school, only to be greeted with a friend request from Hannah. I accept it and she, in seconds, sends me a DM (direct message).
H: Hey -9:49 PM
V: Hi - 9:51 PM
H: So u read my note - 9:51 PM
V: Yup -9:52 PM
H: So what r ur thoughts on my offer? - 9:52 PM
V: K, as long as my results are like urs - 9:54 PM
H: Don't worry -9:54 PM
H: This will b fun, c u @ school tomorrow - 9:54 PM
V: bye - 9:55 PM
Not sure if my decision was the smartest, but I brush aside the thought of what she could have planned for me to do. I get ready for bed and prepare myself for what's coming my way.
I will lose weight.