Weight

"Hello?" I woke up to the loud, obnoxious ringing of my brand new cell phone. And of course, it was Emily. "Do you know what time it is, dick bag?" Emily wasn't the holiest of teenagers."Yes, Em, it's," I had to look at the clock to check... "One o'clock! Crap, I slept so late." I had no idea it was so late into the day. Unlike Emily, I wasn't so quick to throw out curse words, and "crap" was basically the naughtiest thing I ever said, and it was usually when I was very stressed/tired/angry or whatever. "I'm on my way to pick you up you lazy ass. We're going out to eat." I hung up the phone and slid out of bed. I am 120 pounds and 5'6". Sometimes I feel like I am too skinny. My friends, excluding Emily, always like to make me feel bad about my weight. They say things like, "you're so skinny and all you do is complain about your weight," "I wish I had your body, instead I'm fat and ugly," and "why can't you be fatter?" They said things like this even though I never ever complained about my weight in front of them, and it made me feel really bad. Like I was a terrible person for ever becoming friends with them and for being the way I am. They'd also make comments about how I had big boobs and a butt even though I was so skinny. I couldn't control the way I looked so I didn't get why they were so resentful about it. Maybe they were jealous? Or maybe they actually hated me. I just didn't know. Regardless, it upset me. Wow, I just wet completely off topic, I think too much.I stood in front of the mirror and took my ponytail out of my tangled hair. I combed it out and put it back up. My hair was really long since I had been growing it since freshman year, and now it's the summer after junior year. I of course had a few trims here and there, but my hair was very important to me, and I liked to keep it long and healthy. I changed into a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt I had from Cape Cod, grabbed my hand purse and went into the living room. My phone started buzzing since I turned the annoying ring off, and I knew Emily was here. Not only from my phone, but from the non-stop horn honking occurring outside.
"LET'S GO BITCH" She screamed from the window. I got in the car and she flew out of my driveway. "So I've been thinking, maybe it's time for me to lose my V-card." Emily was really open about these sorts of things. "Yeah, okay, Em." "What, Dana? I'm serious." "No you're not, Em, you're only 17 and you're not ready." She was getting pretty steamed after I said this. "How do you know when the fuck I'm ready? Bobby P. has been really sweet to me lately. I think he might be the one." I hate when she talks like this. She can be so stupid sometimes. "Bobby P.? Really? You also said that about Frankie last week, and Greg the week before. He's sweet to you because he WANTS to get in your pants. So don't let him. Seriously." She shut up after that one. We were silent for the rest of the ride. When we arrived at Applebee's, she talked to me. "We're meeting Katey and Ronnie here by the way." I was happy, because it's nice to go out with just the girls, but those are usually the friends that comment on my weight. "Hey, girls!" they smiled as they saw us walk in. We sat down and caught up even though we had just seen each other a few days ago. There was a bunch of gossip about boys, hair, girls, school, vacation, etc. Then we ate, and then more chit chat. "Wow, Dana, I'm surprised you were able to eat that much." Ronnie made that snide comment and then picked at her chicken. I was done with dealing with their rude comments. "Shut up, Ronnie." Everyone at the table, including Emily whipped their heads towards me in shock. I wasn't one to usually call someone out like that, but I was sick of it. "What did you just say to me?" I started to panic, but wasn't backing down. "I told you to shut up. I'm sorry you're so jealous of my weight, but it's not my fault I am the way I am. And I shouldn't have to feel like I hate myself or I'm a bad person just because you're a bit fatter than I am." Immediately, I knew I had done something wrong. Ronnie got up from the table, placed her money down, and walked out of the restaurant. I looked at Emily, then Katey, who then followed Ronnie's lead. It was then only Em and myself left at the table and I had no idea what was going through her head. "I'm sorry." I said. "Why are you apologizing?" "That was wrong what I said." "No it wasn't, Dana. Maybe it was a little harsh, but it's true. And it's about time you begin sticking up for yourself." I felt a sense of relief that Emily would back me up on this, but I decided I had to apologize to Ronnie anyway for the way I said it.

I knocked on the front door of her middle-class house. Ronnie was a good person, she was just an average teenage girl. It made me feel like I wasn't average because I wasn't as self conscious as her or Katey or any other girls, but I realized it was normal for girls our age to feel that way. Her father answered the door, "Oh, Dana! Hello! May I help you?" I blushed because I was nervous. "Hello, Mr. Baker, I was wondering if Ronnie was home. I did something wrong and would like to apologize to her." He looked behind him and answered, "Yes she's here, thank you for apologizing in person rather than over the phone or something." "You're welcome." Was that good? Was it better that I was doing it in person? I would never even consider apologizing for something over the phone because it doesn't mean anything. Regardless, I still felt bad either way. "What?" She answered the door with a lot of hostility. "Ronnie, I'm really, really sorry for what I said. I was just sick of getting picked on for looking the way I am, and I ... Ugh, I like the way I look, and I didn't think it was nice that I was being mocked for it." Ronnie had a look of uneasiness, but answered, "It's okay, Dana, you shouldn't be apologizing. What you said and are saying now is right, and I've been hard on you. I've just always been jealous of the way you look and it's not fair to make you feel badly about it." "Don't worry about it, what's done is done. And we can start fresh now, right?" "Right." We both smiled and hugged, and before she went inside, I had to add one more thing. "Ronnie, you're not fat, okay? At all." She smiled. "I know. Thank you."
Finally, I felt good about the way I looked, and knew I could feel completely comfortable in front of my other friends. Even though I don't curse or be mean a lot, I really need to watch what I say when I decide to speak. I may have a small body, but I sure have a big mouth.