WE ARE US by Leigh Tara

Author:Leigh, Tara
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-02-26T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

Worthington University

Spring Semester, Senior Year

The cafeteria on campus is practically empty at five o’clock. I know this through careful observation, timing my visits in fifteen-minute intervals to determine the most optimal time to pick up my dinner. If I fill my cardboard take-out container quickly, most days no one will even see what I put inside.

I always tell myself I’ll only have a salad. Just some lettuce and chickpeas, a tiny drizzle of vinaigrette. And usually, I listen to that inner voice.

Sometimes, I ignore it completely.

Today is one of those days.

Instead of heading immediately to the salad bar and turning a blind eye to anything else, I do exactly the opposite. The glistening displays of pizza, buckets of French fries, pasta, and stir-fry stations are all I can see. I’ve eaten nothing but a banana for breakfast and a protein bar for lunch. Because this is what I eat. Every day, since deciding that squeezing into a size four Armani suit was my most important goal in life.

Having to stand in front of Tucker, literally busting at the seams, was an experience I will do anything not to repeat. That afternoon, while I was sucking wind on Worthington’s track for the first time ever, I came up with a plan. No need to research the latest diet fads, or sign up for Weight Watchers. All I needed was willpower. I would eat three meals a day. Banana for breakfast. Protein bar for lunch. Salad for dinner. Plus a half-hour run.

My plan worked. Within a couple of weeks, I didn’t need Spanx to close the zipper. And by the time I walked into my interviews, I felt pretty and successful. Being offered a job with a Manhattan-based marketing company was the icing on my cake. Slowly but surely, I’m working toward the goals I set for myself when I applied to Worthington. Goals I set with Gavin, showing him pictures from stolen magazines.

Missing him hurts a little less these days. Mostly because, for my own sanity, I pretend he’s the guy who got away instead of the guy I turned my back on. Everyone has one of those.

Dieting down to a size four was almost too easy. I felt good, especially after Tucker said that my newly slim figure made me look like I’d been born on the Upper East Side.

Like Wren.

Except, Wren is a size two.

So now I pick the smallest banana in the bunch instead of the biggest. Choose a protein bar with less sugar. Even less salad dressing.

These days, my new suit is a little too big.

Tucker noticed, of course. Just last night he’d swirled his tongue over my protruding hipbones, calling me delicate. He’d been so gentle, pushing into me as though I might shatter in his arms. I liked it.

But I have a secret. I’ve discovered a trick. One or two nights a week, I hit the cafeteria early, filling my cardboard box full of everything that tempts me. Pizza and pasta. French fries. Egg rolls and fried rice.

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