Whats Love Got to do With it?: An Arranged Marriage to a Stranger

Arranged Marriage to a Stranger (1)

Arranged Marriage to a Stranger

Hello everyone, this is the first thing I have ever written outside of school papers. Thought I would just give it a try. Tell me what you think; suggestions, comments, they're all welcomed :)

Chapter 1

"Hey, I was eating that!" I whined at my mother as she ever so gracefully snatched the donut right out from my watering mouth. Ugh, it is way too early in the morning to be doing this.

"Do you know how many calories are in this? You keep shoveling crap into your mouth like that and people are going to start poking your belly like your the Pillsbury dough boy." My mother snapped. I couldn't help but laugh, I love the Pilsbury dough boy.

"Jeez mom, relax, since when do you care so much about my weight anyway? I thought you and dad wanted me to get fat so that no one would want to date me." I eyed my donut which was so precariously dangling off of my mothers dainty,over manicured fingers. Mmm, chocolate cream, my favorite.

Time froze as my mother contemplated that, her eyes cast up in thought as my hands slowly inched towards my precious breakfast pastry being held captive in her claws. Don't worry precious donut, I will save you! "Your right, you are not allowed to date, so do whatever you need to make sure of that, without getting fat!" And with that she dumped my precious donut into the trash bin and walked out of the kitchen.

No, my dounut! Five second rule, five second rule! Yeah, no even I can't stoop that low.

So your probably wondering, is my mother crazy? Why yes, yes she is. And not only is she crazy, but I'm pretty sure that she has recently made it her mission in life to be the bain of my existence. God, why can't I just be twelve forever, life is always perfect when your twelve.

When I was little, both of my parents would spoil me rotten. Anything I wanted I got, no matter what it was, even donuts! I was their baby, the youngest of five and their baby girl, how could they not spoil me?  FYI- I was adorable. 

All this was fine and dandy up until about five months ago when I turned sixteen. Now its all-

"Carmella, don't you dare eat that last fried chicken wing, do you want everyone to think your butt is an ad for jello pudding?"

Or "Carmella, you are not going out dressed like that, I know your looking for a job, but pretending to be a hobo is not a way to make a living."

Ahh, sometimes I just wanted to scream. I mean, I know they don't mean it in a bad way, but do they have to be so ridiculous? And I get that they grew up in another country and were raised differenlty, but this isn't Morocco circa 1977- watching jazzercise videos won't cause me to run away to Vegas and join a harem in which I will belly dance for jello shots. Though green jello is my favorite....

What's the big deal anyway, if I can't date than what does it matter what I look like, right? Apparently it matters a lot, because supposedly I reflect them, and my actions affect my future, and blah blah blah. My dad tried having this conversation with me at my birthday when I officially became a "woman", but I couldn't help it, I zoned out, its a reflex I have to people lecturing me. Seriously, its like a documented condition or something, I can't control it, just ask my teachers.  

Anyway, my dad's sort of the passive type, and we never had those "daddy, what's a condom?" conversations growing up, so it gets kinda awkward when he tries to have heart to hearts. Which means that my mother put him up to that task so whatever he was talking about probably wasn't important anyway...

"Carmella!!!" Note to self, refrain from having long, slightly irrelevant, internal monologues while in my mother's vicinity. It only leads to long, slighly irrelevent, one sided converstions with her.

"Sorry mom, I'm late, gotta go to school" I tried to rush out of the house before she could complain about something else. Huh, maybe I should cut back on the donuts, I feel kind of winded.

"Just remember that we are having a special family dinner tonight, so I want you home right away after school. None of this crap about just going to your friend's house until dinner time, then conveniently falling asleep there and waking up in time to get home by curfew." Aww crap, that was my plan.

"But mommy, I already have plans" I said, eying her with the biggest puppy dog eyes I could make. I was blessed with big, brown eyes lined with dark, thick lashes. They had gotten me out of trouble several times in the past, as well as into trouble.

"Carmella..." Oh boy, she was giving me her pissed off face, which incidentally really just looked like all her other faces.

"Fine, fine, fine, I'll be there." I pouted, I hate losing.

"Good, plus I think you'll like the news your father and I will announce tonight." She said with a grin, an odd twinkle in her eyes that, though I tried to fight it, caused a slight chill to run up my spine.

"Yeah, yeah. Sure thing, mom". And boarding school never looked so good.