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Chapters (67)
  1. Big Boned
  2. CONTENTS
  3. Dedication
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. 42
  46. 43
  47. 44
  48. 45
  49. 46
  50. 47
  51. 48
  52. 49
  53. 50
  54. 51
  55. 52
  56. 53
  57. 54
  58. 55
  59. One Month Later
  60. Acknowledgments
  61. About the Author
  62. Copyright
  63. About the Publisher
  64. Backad 1
  65. Backad 2
  66. Backad 3
  67. Backad 4

“It was okay.”

“Did you wear red lipstick?”

I looked up at her and smiled. “Yup.”

“And have you been silencing your inner bully?”

I stopped drawing and closed my book. “Something really strange happened today.”

She sat back on her haunches and looked at me through her red heart-shaped sunglasses.

“This girl at school, this really pretty, popular girl, offered to make me a dress.”

“Oh?” she leaned in, looking interested.

“She works in this shop that I went into and she saw me and . . . crap. It’s stupid, isn’t it? And I completely regret agreeing to it now. I don’t actually know why I agreed to it. It feels weird.”

“How so?”

“I don’t know. She says she needs a design for her portfolio and wanted to do a fuller-figured dress, or . . .” I tapered off when I saw how Vicki was looking at me. She had that therapist look on her face. The one that bores into your soul and attempts to drag your innermost thoughts out. “I know what you’re going to say,” I said.

“What am I going to say?”

“That I should do it. That it will push me out of my comfort zone, that it might even be good for my self-image to have a dress made for me, or something like that.”

“Is that what you think I’ll say?”

“Maybe it will even be a slap in the face for my inner bully.”

She turned away from me and sank her hands back into the soil. “I wasn’t actually going to say that, so I’m glad you didn’t listen to me.”

“What were you going to say?”

“I was going to say not to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. Baby steps, you know. But I can see that I was wrong.” She peered over the rim of her glasses and raised her eyebrows up and down. “It’s good. You’re challenging yourself. And who knows, maybe this will be your Oprah a-ha moment.”

“You like Oprah?” I asked.

“Not as much as I like Desperate Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

I laughed. “You mixed the shows up. It’s Desperate Housewives and then The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills.”

She shook her head. “I didn’t mix it. It was totally intentional.”

“You know, my mom’s kind of starting to look a bit like Lisa Rinna, the one with the huge lips.”

Vicki paused and looked at me for a while. “So, I take it you disapprove of cosmetic enhancement?” She pointed to her forehead. “I’ve been known to use a little from time to time. Smooth these damn wrinkles out, ne.” She ran a hand over her forehead.