Catch Me by Claire Contreras Page A

school was having a birthday party and invited me. It was the first evening birthday party I would attend, so I was extra excited about it. After shopping we went back home and tried everything on. My mother barged into my room while I was pulling on a purple tube top.
    “Oh, Brooklyn, how many cookies have you had this week?” she asked.
    My excited face instantly fell. “I haven’t had any,” I lied. I’d only had two—how could she tell?
    “Sure,” she scoffed. “If you keep that up, I’ll be able to pinch your fat.”
    I looked in the full-length mirror in front of me, horrified. I’d heard the way my mother spoke about muffin tops and “cellulite covered thighs.” I’d heard the disapproval in her voice whenever she saw a friend of hers for the first time after a long time and she’d gained weight. “Wanda,” she’d say, “you look so … fat.” Just like that. The filter over my mother’s mouth wasn’t broken. She was just a bitch. That was something I’d learned from an early age.
    “Yeah,” I muttered quietly, wishing I didn’t have to constantly diet to earn her approval, not that I would have it even if I looked like a skeleton.
    “Where are you two going tonight, anyway?” my mother asked airily.
    “Donovan’s party,” I replied.
    “Donovan … Matthews?” she asked, seeming more interested.
    “Yes.”
    My mother nodded, a smile spreading over her face that made me wonder what she was thinking. Of course she never said, she just turned around, her perfectly wavy, frizz-less hair bouncing as she did, and walked out. My mother walked with a grace one could only hope to perfect in one lifetime. She’d been in countless fashion shows and modeled for numerous designers. She was still, even at her age, one of the most sought out models. She had long dark hair like mine, honey brown eyes like my brother’s, and a lean figure that made her look taller than she was. She had legs for days, my father loved to say. I always wished I did. The only thing I had for days was my ass, and I hoped to grow into it as I kept developing because it was calling a lot of unwanted attention from much older men.
    When we got to Donovan’s party that night, Nina went off to flirt with the first cute guy she spotted. I walked around talking to the girls from my class, ignoring the way they began to whisper to each other as soon as I walked away. A couple of them asked me if my brother was coming over, which I hated. I hated that the girls in my grade and the grade above mine had such big crushes on him. And I hated that the guys in my class all called my mom a MILF. It didn’t disgust me more than it bothered me. I just hated that they paid attention to her but didn’t even give me a second glance.
    Sighing, I stepped outside and wandered off to sit by the pool, grabbing a soda on my way there.
    “You here alone?” Ryan, a tall lanky kid in my class asked.
    “With my cousin Nina,” I replied.
    “Oh. Nina. Yeah,” he said with a laugh.
    “What?” I asked confused.
    He shook his head. His hair was strawberry blond, matching the strawberry freckles that bathed his cheeks. He had nice green eyes, big ones that always looked like they were in awe of one thing or another.
    “She was trying to hit on me,” he explained as he sunk down to the grass beside me.
    “Ohhhh,” I said, laughing. “Sorry about that.”
    He shrugged. “No biggie.”
    We sat there in comfortable silence, listening to the music pouring out of the speakers and the loud squeals of laughter emitted from the girls that were dancing and jumping around. I never understood the whole shriek when I see my friend even though I just saw her yesterday in school , so I just sat there rolling my eyes most of the night.
    “Can I ask you for a favor?” Ryan said after a while.
    I closed my eyes and lay down beside him on the grass. I didn’t want to be rude because he was always so nice to me, but I felt like screaming, “Why? Why do