All Chapters of Lost the Weight, Not Their Disgust: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

Emma's POVI called the dean, Mr. Robert Whitaker. "Mr. Whitaker, is it too late to apply for that residential research program you mentioned?""Of course not! I've been holding a spot for you. As long as you get here by the day after tomorrow, you're fine." He hesitated for a moment. "But you understand that once you're accepted, you're committing to at least three years. You won't be able to drop out halfway through, and you won't be coming home during that time. Are you sure about this?""Yes."As soon as I hung up, my phone buzzed. At some point, someone had added me to a family group chat. My twin sister, Clara Winston, had sent a message. "Why didn't Emma come after us? Is she mad because I had too many suitcases and there wasn't room for her in the car?"Our older brother, Nathan Winston, replied almost instantly, "She's lost some weight and somehow gotten even moodier. Just ignore her." Then our mother, Sierra Blake, chimed in, "Exactly. She's been too sensitive her

Emma's POVWhen we were kids, Nathan and Clara had their own personalized dishes, their names painted neatly along the rims.I was the only one who didn't.Once, when Granny came to visit, I'd worked up the courage to mention it. Mom tore into me before I'd even finished. "You already eat enough. Now you need special dishes too? You think those things are free?"And you just had to bring it up in front of your grandmother, didn't you? You're awfully calculating for a kid your age."I cried through half my dinner that night before giving up and going to my room. Just before Granny left, though, there was a soft knock at my door. She came in smiling, something wrapped carefully in tissue paper between her hands. She placed a white ceramic bowl in my lap. At the bottom was a tiny bluebird. "If Nathan and Clara get something special, you'll get something special too." Back in the apartment, no one said a word. The silence was so complete I could hear Snowy's nails clicking a

Third Person POVAfter Emma left, the Winstons went right on with dinner.Eventually, Patricia and Susan exchanged a look.Patricia was the first to speak. "Nathan and Clara are wonderful kids, but Emma's never exactly given you much trouble either. Not since she was little. I really don't think she's the type to steal."Susan nodded. "They're all your children. Maybe Emma needs a little kindness from you too."Sierra bristled. Her usual response almost came out automatically. She wanted to say, "How could we not care about her? Look how well-fed she was."They had been saying some version of that for years. But then she remembered the Emma she'd seen today. She was 88 pounds lighter, with a face so thin and sharp it seemed almost too small.For once, the old excuse wouldn't come."If she hadn't done anything wrong, why would I treat her that way?" Sierra said instead.Then, as though convincing herself, she added, "No. She needed this. If we don't straighten her out now, she'

Emma's POVAt the same time, I'd already landed at the classified Starlight research facility in Redhaven. The sun beat down relentlessly. But the heat here was nothing like Westbridge. It was dry, the warmth settling over my skin without the suffocating humidity.The person sent to meet me was a government official in her 30s named Regina Dawson.When she saw that I'd arrived alone, she took my enormous woven bag from me. "You're so young. You must be one impressive recruit."She had a kind face, and there was something almost sisterly about the way she treated me. Without realizing it, I began to relax.I followed her through the facility as she showed me around and explained the assignment I would be working on, a project code-named "Beyond the Stars"."We've actually had our eye on you since your college entrance exams," she told me. "You were the only student in the entire state to fully solve the final advanced physics problem."We were surprised when you didn't end up at

Emma's POVThis was where Granny had been laid to rest.She looked just as warm and gentle in the photograph on her headstone as she did in my memories."Granny, you once told me that whatever choices I made in life, I should choose the ones that made me happy. So, I came back to tell you something. I'm happy now. I really am."A trembling voice came from behind me. "Emma?"I turned. Dad, Mom, and Nathan stood a short distance away.I hadn't seen them in three years.The arrogance I remembered was gone. Now there was something almost hesitant in their faces as they looked at me, their eyes full of emotion and quiet pleading."We heard you'd come back to Westbridge," Mom said. "That you'd been visiting your professors and old friends."She took a step toward me. "You came all this way home. Why didn't you come see us?"I stepped back. "What home?"Mom stopped.Nathan's eyes reddened. "Emma, we know we failed you. We overlooked you for years. I'm sorry. As your brother, I sho