Chapter 2

Sulking, I sat down hoping to get Mum to feel sorry for me. She was prattling on about drinking lots of water and how she’d prepared a salad for my lunch.

“I think it would be a good idea if you walk to school. Why don’t you take your bathers and gym gear with you? You could call into the gym on the way home for a workout.”

“Sure,” I said. “Sounds like fun.”

Mum snapped that she was only trying to be helpful.

I felt bad then. Why is it that parents can turn a situation around and make us feel guilty when we aren’t the ones who have done anything wrong?

Anyway, at assembly Mr. Carney broke the news to the rest of the school. He asked me to come out to the front, to stand on the podium with him.

He said I deserved a round of applause. God, I was so embarrassed. I could feel myself getting redder and redder. As I glanced at the “in crowd” I wondered if any of them realize just what a big deal this was.

Probably not.

She flicked through some pages skimming through her handwriting, her eyes scratchy and sore

For weeks she’d been eating everything her mother had prepared. She’d walked to and from school, spent two hours at the gym every night with her father and for what?

All she’d lost was two kilos, nothing more. In another eight weeks she had to meet with Dr. Goodman, and more than anything she wanted him to see how hard she’d been working, but for what?

She wondered what she was going to do. Why couldn’t she lose weight like everyone else?

She found the entry she’d been searching for. A sentence had been underlined many times showing her frustration at the time. Smiling to herself she peered down again and read on.

There has to be a reason. There’s only one other thing left to do. I’m going to enlist help from Caitlin on the side and find out all I need to know about hypnosis.

What Mum and Dad don’t know won’t hurt them.

Closing the journal she sighed, her eyelids drooping as she remembered how it eventually had panned out.

* * * *

Her father had seen her at the bus stop on his way home from work and pulled over to give her a lift. She could hardly contain herself as he drove.

“You look like you’ve won the lottery,” he said.

“It’s better than that.”

“Better than winning the lottery? I can’t imagine what’s better than that. Come on, tell me. I’m dying to know.”

“I’ll explain everything when we were all together,” Natasha said, fidgeting in her seat

“Tasha, come on. You know you can’t keep a secret from me. Now tell me,” he teased as he watched her shake her head.

It was so hard not to give in to him, to not even hint, but in the back of her mind she was beginning to wonder what her parent’s reaction would be considering she had done this without their permission. She hoped once they heard the whole story they would be as elated as she was.

She hoped.

Pushing all negative thoughts from her mind she squeezed her eyes shut, willing the pyramids and Egypt to flood her mind with nothing but happy thoughts.

Before she knew it, they were parked in their driveway. Rushing into the house she called for her mother and Caitlin. She found her mother in the kitchen peeling potatoes. Pulling her by the arm, practically dragging her into the lounge room, she forced her mother to sit on the couch next to her father. Caitlin bounded down the stairs glancing from one to the other, biting her bottom lip.

“What’s up?” Caitlin said.

She had a suspicion of what might be coming and hoped this wouldn’t backfire on them.

“Well, out with it then,” her father said. He was laughing, totally oblivious of her escapade.

She stared at them a moment longer, their faces eager for the news she had and so she began. It was like opening a gateway. The words flowed out as quickly as water from of a burst pipe. She was so busy telling them every detail she could remember that she didn’t notice the look of total outrage on her father’s face.

She was focusing on Caitlin, whose eyes were shining with happiness. It was because of her that Natasha would now be able to conquer her problem. If she hadn’t introduced Natasha to Eric, then they all wouldn’t be here to help celebrate her good fortune.

“How dare you do this?” Her father roared.

Natasha was taken aback. She stopped mid-sentence; mouth open. The look on her father’s face was frightening. She’d never seen him like this in her entire life. None of them had. At first his face went pale but the angrier he became the redder it flushed.