Nothing is Certain

         I ran down the slippery road, rain slapping hard on my back in thick sheets. My bare feet pounded theough asphalt, tearing away skin from my soles. But I was too preoccupied to care.

          I could hear them behind me, racing through the streets. My heart was beating faster, and my side started to constrict. I turned off the road sharply, into a thin strip of wilderness. Mud splattered behind me, and I stumbled over brambles and twigs as I tried to outrun the ones behind me. My black hair provided cover in the night, a single advantage to this battle. I could almost feel my enemy’s breath on my neck. Not fast enough, I thought painfully, not fast enough.

Rose

          I trudged along the scorching-hot asphalt to my ’99 Corolla, as the afternoon sun beat down on me. I dug my hand inside my bag, searching for my keys. When I lifted it out, all I came up with was a handful of sticky quarters.

          “I don’t have the time for this,” I grumbled, dumping the contents of my purse onto the empty parking space beside me. Plucking my keys from the very top of the pile, I stuck them in the lock and popped the door open. When I managed to finally shove all of the trash back into my purse, I threw it onto the passenger seat before jumping inside myself.

Perfection- Chapter Three

*Chapter Three*

The next morning was a sleepy Thursday. I felt guilty still about eating lunch and dinner yesterday. It made me feel huge-- nine-month-pregnant huge. I skipped out on breakfast again, but after yesterday’s near-disaster on the bike, I took a shot on the school bus.
As always, it was loud and smelled like a diesel station. I searched the row of heads until I found the brunette. When I did, I tapped her on the head.
Izobel darted her eyes up and smiled. She was always useful for a spare seat and a voice to talk to, whenever you managed to say something.
“Hey, Iz,” I interrupted as she stopped for a breath, during an epic recount of How Much I Hate Math Homework. “Did you say something about your cousin?”
She nodded, looking slightly apprehensive.
“Isn’t she really skinny?”
Her eyes widened with tales. “Ohmygod, yes. She eats maybe one plate a day... and she throws it all up right after! Like this one time...”
Izobel’s voice dwindled away in my mind. I had a new plan.

Perfection- Chapter Two

*Chapter Two*

I woke at midnight with a furious claw in my gut. I gasped at the pain. It felt like somebody had slashed my stomach with a knife. I quickly adverted my eyes to the window. They were still locked. My closet was still open. But the pain in my abdomen wasn’t imagined. It was crippling. I heaved in. What had I done?
I wasn’t sick. This wouldn’t happen when I was sick.
I wasn’t hurt.
Suddenly, I remembered. I hadn’t eaten since . . .
When had I last eaten? It dawned on me I hadn’t eaten since lunch yesterday at school . . . at 11:30. I hadn’t eaten in twelve and a half hours. And now I paid the price. A hard bargain.

Perfection- Chapter One

*Chapter One*

My name is Siovhan Randers.

I’m fourteen.

I am five foot two.

And I’m fat.