“We’re moving, Rami!” Her mother and father spoke together. Mai’s eyes looked around, like someone was playing a trick on her or something. “W-What?! I just got f- I… Mean… Right. This house is pretty old…” Her voice trailed off into a sadness. Her eyebrows arched sadly. “We started packing for you, you just need to get your extra things… Like your laptop.” …Witch. Mai screamed inside her head. I know it was you, mother. I KNOW IT. Father loves me too much, to do this. Why… Mai’s trembling hands closed the final box.
Her old house smelled of must. The walls creaked every step. Mai hasn’t even explored all the rooms. It was old… But it was home for her. It was where she lived. Why would her mother rip her of it?
They traveled to the airport and boarded the large plane.
The plane smelt of olden peanuts. She sat near the window, as she said fare well to her tradition, friends, and happiness. Her selfish mother sat next to her, with a faint smile on her face. The flight attendant came in, and told of the procedures of safety. “…Have a nice flight!”
Mai looked at her mother. “…Mother, why are we leaving Vietnam?” The mother turned her head and frowned. The wrinkles on her face were showing. “I’ve told you, Rami. I’m tired of that old house. Aren’t you? You’ve been in it for fourteen whole years!” The frown was gone, and came a stern look. “You are happy we’re moving… right?” Mai looked out her window, as a tear stroke down her cheek. “Good-bye… My only friends…” She drifted into a light sleep.
About four hours had pass. Mai hoped to awaken to her bed, to see her house. But as she opened one sleepy eye, she could see the blue chair ahead of her. It still smelt of Peanuts.
It was the plane. The cramped, stupid plane.
Vietnam was a fun place. Especially in eight grade. She gained some confidence. She wasn’t that simple smart girl that you just use for those hard math tests. She was almost somebody. Not quite there. But that was all ruined. Her mother had said, “Maybe you’ll be even more popular! I mean, you have a redo!” Of course not! It took her nine years to get there! It’ll never be the same. Never.
She was going to be a loser… All over again.
“Stupid, Stupid, Stupid mother…” she grumbled. The flight attendant spoke into the microphone “Konichiwa! Welcome to Tokyo, Japan!”
“We’re here, honey.” Mai opened her eyes to the bright lights outside. They shone in and burned her eyes. “Alright Mother… Goodbye Vietnam…”
She arrived at her house. A idea popped in her tiny, stupid mind. “…A way to get back at her… I can’t kill her…” She smirked a bit. “I can’t injure her. Perhaps myself…? If she loved me… She’ll notice it. And she’ll ask how to help me. Back to Vietnam I go! I’ll… Cut myself? No, too bloody…”
“Aha… I’ll stop eating. It’s subtle, but a true mother would notice. I’ll start off easy.” And so began her Anorexic adventures. Throwing her food away, hiding it, et cetera. Her mother had no clue. She was too obsessed with herself to notice.
A year passed with subtle eating, only when she felt very weak. Her bones stuck out. Her eyes turned black. She was pale. She was smart enough to eat small portions, to stay alive and strong enough to show off to her mom. At school she was ignored for this. Oh, but she didn’t care. She had good friends at home! Soon enough, mother will notice… right?
Mai’s ebony eye’s filled with anger as she saw her vain mother in the corner of her eye. Her bony arms hit the wooden table hard as her mother’s wrinkly put down the breakfast. It smelt disgusting.
“Darling, Rami” Mai’s eyebrows arose from her eyes. “You okay? You seem… pale.” Her face tilted up slightly. “I’m quite dandy, thank you.” Her crackly unused voice sounded strange to her. She grabbed her meal and went to her room. She threw it out the window, as she usually does. She prepared her backpack and went to school.
She was ignored. As usual. The bony freak. Never eats at lunch, school parties. Freak. Freak. Freak. Who cares? Why do they get to judge her? Whats so good about them? Mai pretended she didn’t care. She did. She’d sometimes come home crying, but her mother wouldn’t notice. Her father was nice. But he was gone. Got home at 10:45 PM, left at 5:00 AM.
She came home and threw her lunch out of her backpack. She sat down at her desk and turned on her laptop. She made a slight annoyed noise at the tune of the start up. “Hmph.”