Chubby ✔️

Snide Remarks

Present Day

I woke up to my phone blasting away Wake Me Up by Avicii. I rolled onto my back and grabbed my phone, turning the music off. As I looked at my phone's background, I smiled. It was a picture of my three-year-old nephew, Casper. He was a sweetheart. He was smiling at the camera while he played with the kitten I got him.

Of course, my older sister Natalie was a bit hesitant at the thought of keeping a kitten but one glance from the cat and she was completely entranced and just couldn't say no.

The reason I got Casper a kitten is because a childhood is so much more magical when you have a pet. That, and the fact that I saw his Christmas wish list on his dresser while I was visiting once. So why not?

I smiled at picture once more and decided to get up for the day. I can hear the vacuum going off downstairs which probably means Mom and Dad are cleaning again. They do this every weekend and clean the whole house obsessively. I once suggested they could just hire some help to clean the house but they looked at me in disbelief. And said that no one can clean "our" home better than we can. It got so out of hand, that once I tried helping them out with the dusting and mom slapped my hand when I was swiping the huge and obnoxious tree painting Mom was gifted; claiming that I was moving the duster in the "wrong motion".

After that, I pretty much gave up on helping them. And try to stay as far away from them as possible when 'clean-the-house-like-weirdos-day' comes around.

As I made my way down the stairs after showering and getting dressed, i went in the kitchen to get myself a cup of tea and drank it while I sat on the counter while scrolling through Instagram.

"Oh you're up," Mom walks into the kitchen while she ties an apron around her waist. "I was just about to get started with marinating the chicken."

Uh oh.

Marinated chicken means Mom is making something fancy and the only time mom makes something fancy is when we have guests coming over.

"Who's coming over for dinner?" I ask as I take a sip of my heavenly tea. Mom looks over at me and looks a bit hesitant as she quietly mutters,

"The Johnson's"

I almost choke on my tea as my brain registers her words. I put my cup down on the counter with shaky hands. And look at her in shock. "You're joking. Please tell me you're joking."

She shakes her head.

I groan at that and slam my head on the counter. "But Mrs. Johnson always makes snide remarks on everything I do. My outfit. How I walk. And she calls me chubby."

Mom doesn't even look my way and she says, "Well, maybe she's not wrong. You do dress a bit weird and you walk as if you have ants in your pants. Not to mention, your face fat. Honey, she's not wrong."

Ouch. That hurts. My mom is defending a stranger when that stranger criticizes me in public.

I try not to let the hurt show on my face and put my cup in the sink and walk away.
I go up to my room and sit on my desk.

Okay. Homework.

•••

As I stretch my hands up in the air and arch back into my chair, I hear the door bell ring, stopping me mid-stretch.

I get up and walk over to my bedroom window and see that a car has pulled over our driveway.

I sigh and walk over to my closet. There's no point getting out of this one.
I decide on a perfectly decent looking dress that is a pastel blue color with a camel brown belt around the waist. I pair it with matching brown colored colored flip flops. I look at myself in the mirror and decide to put my wavy dark brown hair up into a ponytail. After applying some lip balm, I walk downstairs and hear laughter coming from the living room.

As I make my way inside, I see Mr and Mrs Johnson sitting and next to them, in an arm chair, is their daughter, Katy. Her and I never get along, we never have and never will. Only because she's like her mother, materialistic and beauty- conscious all the freaking time.

I smile and greet them all politely and make my way into the kitchen to help Mom set the dinner table.

As we're all eating dinner, Mrs Johnson finally begins with her first snide remark which of course made me realize she hadn't changed one bit.

"Willow dear, you seem to be getting chubbier every time I see you!" She laughs at her own stupid joke and shoves a piece of carrot into her mouth.

I smile at her politely and nod my head.        

I hate you.

"But really, I wish Katy had some chubbiness on her face because she just has these high cheekbones that everyone compliments." She says as she looks at her daughter with pride.

Aw. Poor Katy. Aw.

As I see her admiring her daughter, a pang of jealousy hits me. I wish my Mom would look at me like that and compliment me sometimes. She rarely hugs me these days.

"You know, these days boys are so crazy about my Katy. They all just flock around her. Even at school, I noticed when I insisted on driving her in my new Cadillac!" she boasts with a huge smile on her face that I want to smack the heck out of.

But instead, I smile and nod my head. I look at my Mom and see her smiling towards Katy. Just great. Mom is now going to compare me to Katy in her own little head which sometimes, makes me wonder if it's any different than Mrs. Johnson's.

I stab my piece of broccoli and put it in my mouth, chewing it. And trying my best to control not snapping at the sad excuse of a woman in front of me.

I meant Mrs. Johnson. Not my mother.

I think.

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Teddy🐾