At dinner that night, Ethel ate seconds of everything before her mother insisted she stop, though she was still hungry. "You've got to watch yourself Ethel...and please, do use the treadmill in your room tonight" "All right, Mom, I will. Uh, Mom? Have we ever talked about weight loss surgery? Her mother looked frustrated, shaking her head. "You know we have Ethel. My insurance won't cover it, unless your life is in danger, and the doctors saw that you're healthy except for your weight." Ethel dropped her head. "Oh yeah, Mom, I forgot. Sorry.'
Ethel trudged up to her room. She changed her clothes, avoiding the mirror-she was still unable to look for long at her huge, round new body; why had Sarah done this? Ethel sat back on her bed and sobbed, her head in her hands. "She could have just made me gain 50 lbs or something if she didn't want me to be popular-and she even made my hair short and mousey brown! Is she really this cruel?" Ethel pulled out a box of chocolates hidden under her bed and began munching on them. "Great-she gave me the appetite and habits of a 500 lb girl as well as the body." Suddenly Ethel became angry-the old resolve she used to feel as Karen returning. "She is not going to succeed in ruining my life. I'll work hard and lose weight and keep on getting good grades. I'll show her."
