“I said I’m fine,” snapped Mary.

“Fine, fine,” said Emily. “So, did you hear what happened between Sara and Nick? I heard they’re dating.”

       Mary tuned her friend out. She really couldn’t muster her usual enthusiasm for gossip today.

       In math class, was horribly distracted by her rumbling stomach. She hadn’t had time for breakfast that morning, and all she could think of was lunch.

       When lunchtime came around, Mary loaded her plate. They were having hamburgers today, and it smelled delicious. But, as she approached the cash register, the lunch lady said, “Sorry dear, you’ve run out of lunch money in your account. It’s okay, we’ll fix you an alternate lunch.”

      So, Mary walked off with a cheese sandwich and milk. She was too embarrassed to mention her lactose intolerance, so she just walked off with a mumbled ‘thank you’. She ate the bread but tossed away the milk and the cheese. Unfortunately, her stomach continued to rumble.

The rest of the afternoon dragged on slowly. Finally, after what seemed like a matter of years, school was finally out and Mary began the journey home on the bus. She was getting annoyed. The heat of the bus, the loud obnoxious children, everything was starting to drive her insane.

As soon as Mary got home, she headed straight for the fridge. After fixing a light snack, she tried to tackle her math homework. As she looked down at the numbers and symbols, she couldn’t understand a word of it.

“Forget it,” she said peevishly. “I’m not going to bother.”

After giving up on math, Mary went straight to sleep.

“Mary,” a soft voice said. “Wake up dear. It’s time for dinner.” 

       “Go away,” she mumbled.

       “But we made your favorite, pasta primavera.” said Mary’s mother.

       “I’m not hungry.”

       “Are you feeling all right?” she asked, her voice full of concern.

       “I just want to sleep, okay?” snapped Mary.

       “Rest up then,” said Mary’s mother as she left the room.

       An hour later, Mary was tossing and turning in her bed. After her mother woke her up, Mary could not go back to sleep. She stared at the ceiling. She tried counting sheep, but nothing seemed to help her relax. On the few occasions when she managed to drift away, she would always be woken up by the same nightmare of falling into a pit of darkness.

       The next morning, Mary was already awake when her alarm clock went off. She hadn’t slept a wink the whole night. Mary trudged to her bathroom to get ready for school. As she got dressed, she couldn’t help but criticize her reflection in the mirror. My thighs are too big. My stomach isn’t flat enough. My skin is awful. I hate my glasses. Braces make my teeth look weird. She kept censuring the girl in the mirror for every little thing. What happened to the cute little girl I used to be? Back then, I didn’t have these stupid glasses, or these stupid braces. I wasn’t fat, and I didn’t have all the acne. Soon, Mary began to hate the girl that she saw in the mirror.