I asked my parents if they were really sending me to a mental center. They told me that they are'nt and I should relax. The fact that they lied to me made me even more furious and my hallucinating mind had started to shut me out. I stopped talking to my house hold. i did not spend any time with them . the only person i communicated with was Zolene. she was my only true friend since then. I was not sure if was because I have been hearing Zolene speak back to me or if it was because we shared a special bond together. At that time, I thought that talking to the same persons who thinks I am mentally ill would not make a sense, it was breifly a waste of time and breath.
During the days, I would go through my daily routines with Zolene. She was always beside me and I would take her everywhere with me. Since the last day Zolene spoke to me, she has not responded to my questions but, I was'nt going to allow that to make me stop talking to my pet. This made my family extremely worried and scared for my mental health. For sure, I know that I am a hundred percent okay. However, they insisted that I was'nt okay and decided to get me a therapist.
I still remember the every day the therapist met with me. She stooped down to my face with glittery eyes of the night sky and with a mouth full of butterflies.
"Hi my name is Mrs. Henry and I bet your little Lacey-Ann Maxwell huh?", said the therapist.
"Thats right! I am Lacey", I said.
My parents were shocked to hear me respond to Mrs. Henry because, I barely even responded to when they try to speak to me.
Mrs. Henry was different and i founded it difficult to not answer her. After all she was jovial and her compliment surely made me flatter. How could I not answer her? And why would I answer such plain questions my family asked?
Mrs. Henry dealt with me in a fashionably manner. he took her time and she never dear suggested that I was mad. She made me do some exicting activities and play some awesome games afterwards, she asked me some questions.
" I see that you have a great sense of humor! Now tell me, how much do you love your pet Zolene", said Mrs. Henry.
" I love her every much. She is like my bestfriend and she sure is a better family to me", I replied.
" Oh I dont think you should isolate yourself from your family, they are worried for you and are just trying to help", said Mrs. Henry.
" Help! By planning to take me to a mental center for children? No way i would rather have Zolene as my all in one thank you", I shouted.
" Okay I understand but, what about your sister. Most twins are very close. I was expecting you to confide into your other half",said Mrs. Henry.
" It will never be Lucy. We love each other and are very close at times but, i cant confide in her for too long as she is a bully. Her generosity towards me is like a switch", I said with sadness pulling on my face.
" Okay it was nice talking and playing with you Lacey cause I think I know what the issue is! and its time to let your parents know your not mad or insane", said Mrs. Henry calmly"
It turns out that I was perfectly okay and just needed some more affection and attention especially from my sister. She would always bully me or leave me out. She promised to treat me good this moment and then the next we are like strangers. So thats the main reason why I shut out from my family and started to abide with Zolene. Mrs. Henry further expalined that most children chooses to speak with animals because they feel they will not be judged by the chosen animal or pet. The therapist suggested that speaking with animals may be a sign of smartness and that I should get my IQ (Intelligence Quotient) tested when school reopens.
It finally came to the end of the summer break and it was time to prepare ourselves for the new school year . My parents took my sister and I shopping for back to school. first we bought text books, writing books, folders, reading books, pencils, erasers and sharpeners. Then, we went to the tailor and he took the measurements of our waist, hips, bust, shoulders, legs and neck, in order to the sew our uniforms. Finally we went to the shoe store right next to our bakery and bought two pair of black school shoes.
Shopping for back to school was'nt easy, our new class requested a lot of items to be used during the upcoming school year and these items or stationaries could have cost a fortune itself. Many of the books were highly expensive but, luckily my parents used a coupon to get our stationary on a discount. I helped my parents to unpack what we purchased and pre-pack everything we had. Everything was in place except for our school uniforms. The tailor said the uniforms would be ready next week saturday and like promised, they were. On friday night, the tailor called and told my parents to come pick up the sets of uniforms the following day, saturday. They fitted perfectly. Mother washed them as soon as we got home then, she ironed them and hung them on hangers in the closet.
After making breakfast on sunday morning, Mommy detangles our hair and washed them. She poured shampoo and massage our scalps with her fingers thoroughly. Then, she rinse the shampoo and added condition in our hair. Finally, she plaited our hair.
The up coming orientation for third grade was supposed to be held monday and there, we will know the class we will be in, our teachers and we could get our IQ tested. That I was excited for. Luckily, our parents took us to back to school shopping on time and so we had our uniforms and eveything ready just in place.
She did Lucy' hair first. Lucy's hair was a corn rowed up into one with a scrunchie on top. When mommy was finished with my sister' hair, she called me to get mines done. I sat in between her legs with my head leaning on her legs. My hair got a little knotted so she had to comb it out with a fine teeth comb. It was truly painfully. I cried out my throat. My hair was like raveled wired earphones. The comb could not pass through my hair. The more she pulled, the more I cried. Luckily, my mother had an idea of spraying water into my hair with a hair softening solution which both detangled my hair.she added hair oil to my hair then, she parted my hair into different sections and corn row the section of hair she parted out. After some time, my hairstyle was finished. Our hair's were properly tied down just so that the style could be preserved for atleast two weeks.
Early monday morning, my mother woke Lucy and I up to get ready. We brushed our teeth, had a shower then ate breakfast. Next, we put on our uniforms and shoes then headed through the door.
I was anticipated and a quiet shy but, i was ready for third grade. It will be a blast for all i know but, it will get more difficult with more challenges. Well unlike me, my sister was completely relax and unbothered. How could someone not be nervous about entering a new phase in their lives. Lucy pertrayed no emotions. No nervousness, no shyness, no excitement, no interest no feelings, and no nothing. She sat in the car beside me with a resting face looking out the window. Her head was held high and her hands were on her laps. Sometimes, I begged and plead for a confidence like hers. Whilst we waked together with our parents, I was holding moms hand and Lucy was walking freely. Making high steps as if she was walking on a run way. She cared not to look back nor to walk with her family. Lucy had only one strap of her bag on her shoulders while the other hang down. She had ways of a teenager and she was just only seven years old. We further walked into the school were we saw a massive crowd.
All of the third grade students were standing in a line with parents and the classes would be called out based on our intelligence level. This was done not to disown the less inteligent from the smart but, it was done to know each and every students placement and work on the ones with their weekness throughout the school term. The first class that the principal was listing was three A, the class with the smartest children with some attaining an every high IQ score. My sister was very much elated when she heard her name being called up for that class.
I was devasted to learn that I was not elected to be in the same class as my sister. Although she is not the best of sibling to me, I sti6ll needed her company at school after all pets are'nt allowed at school. How was I going to function? I was in even more devastation to learn that i was elected for class three C. Which was the class out of all the five third grade classes, which students did good and not so good in their exams. Right after that long proceedor, my sister and I got our IQ tested right after the class placement to know if we are the gifted ones. I add to finish puzzles and choose the odd ones out form different items. Bare in mind that there is a difference between smart and intelligent as a child who scored low on their exams could be every intelligent inside just as Albert Einstien was.
Surprisenly, the therapist was right. My IQ score was the third higest in the entire school. It was higher than my sister's and she is the one in the smart class. All of the teachers and staff members were shocked. Even I was shocked. How was it possible and I failed half of my exams. There is a difference between knowledge learnt and knowledge known. The good thing about this was that my sister and i would be together in gifted class. After that day, I became beknown around the school and I decided to take school more seriously as I wanted to be on the honour roll for once and not only the gifted class.
My love for food is unbelievably great. I could eat anything, in any amount, at any given time, and the food eating competition at my school was just the place to show off my unknown talent. I was cooked up and ready with a determination to win the prizes. The top three winners would get a basket of food, vouchers to eat at a restaurant at no cost, and the mega prize of four thousand krex dollars.
I really wanted to win the prize for first place, so I didn't eat any breakfast that morning. I purposely starved myself for hours just so my stomach could easily demolish all the foods being served. I would definitely win that way, but even if I lost the competition, I would not consider it a total loss because I would no longer be hungry.
Despite the fact that I am a food murderer and enjoy eating, I was not emotionally stable enough to eat before, as many people are.Even though I was thought to have good table manners, I chose not to have any, especially when it was a food competition and I was afraid of being judged or called greedy .
I was hoping for my sister to at least enter the competition with me or to just be there with me, but she was too high-chested and filled with pride. When I asked for her company, she told me that she would not want to be caught dead amongst me after all the judgement I would have gone through. I could not believe her. How can she be embarrassed by her own sister? What made it worse is the fact that neither of my parents were sure if they could make it to school, but they promised to try and work out a schedule for the day.
I remembered arguing with Lucy the night before the competition, screaming at her and telling her that if I won, she should expect to taste, touch, or see none of my glory .
" I am giving you the chance to have a second chance", I said.
" Oh no, I don't need any more chances. I made up my mind. I am not going to be there. ", said lucy.
" I will win for sure, and I will show you that I can do anything!" I said with determination.
"Who said you could not do it?" Look little sis, of course you're gonna win. ", said lucy.
"Wait, for real? I didn't know you believed in me all along", I asked as i felt heart warmed.
"Of course I believed it! I believe in your buttom less gut! ", said lucy while laughing away.
"Ha! Ha! Got you this time! ", laughed lucy.
I was hurt by Lucy's words, and her laughter could not even be any more annoying. I was tired of her switching her feelings and acting towards me. Sometimes she is so sweet and loving, and sometimes she acts like she is being sent by my worst enemies.
Either way, I was'nt going to let Lucy's gibberish conquer me, for I had a stomach to curb, a body to starve, and a competition to win, and it was all up to me.
My mother talked me into eating something, but I refused. I wanted to be as hungry as possible to take the jackpot home, but maybe I shouldn't have put so much pressure on myself.
My first class hadn't gone long before I started to feel abnormal, and then I fainted while being called up for my homework to be marked. I was not sure if it was anxiety from the big competition I had coming up, how hungry I was, or if it was because my language homework was incomplete. All I knew was that I fell to the ground , right before my teacher, and then woke up in the nurses' office. The nurse gave me some ginger tea and advised me to eat something before going home. Grandpa Maxwell was there as well. I was so happy to see him and gave him a hug like I had never seen him before. Even though I was in no shape or form to compete, I was still determined. I refused to go home and begged to stay. I was given a chance only if I went to lunch and stopped starving myself, as it did'nt make much sense to not eat till later in the afternoon when the competition was being held.
My second period teacher was informed that I was having a hunger crisis and that I should be dismissed earlier to get lunch before collapsing.Lucy was right after all. After my situation was announced in the class, my classmates started to mock me and call me a food creep. I felt embarrassed and troubled. Besides, I should feel a little happier. At least I didn't have to wait in lines. For a while, I thought that I would have peace and quiet in the lunch room for once, but I was wrong. Five minutes later, students started showing up, and before I could even continue with my bad table manners, the lunch room was already full and crowded. Luckily, I was almost done and when I did, I passed my sister, Lucy. In the end, the everlasting lunch lines fought to get past the others. Lucy looked unhappy and disgusted. I could see hunger written all over her forehead, and I did feel sorry for her in the end. Maybe I needed this laugh for the first time in a while. I haven't felt so full in a long time, and I could feel the meal stretcing through my limbs.I felt stuffed and could barely make it back to the class room. After doing some reflection, I started to regret eating so much. I should have eaten a small portion and left space for the competition to begin in two hours. Since I ate a lot early, I thought maybe I could use the time to run around outside and burn off my fullness. It wasn't the best thing to do, as I nearly vomitted, but it worked a bit. I felt even more relaxed and ready for the competition.
Finally, the two hours had passed, and so had my last two classes. In the middle of the school assembly area, all of the students stood in a circle with the participants in the middle . Time was ticking and I was looking to see who had come to support me. I knew that Grandpa was there and I was so appreciative of him, but I felt leaned and unbalanced without the family being together as a whole. I was still hoping for my sister and my parents to show up.
I lost hope and, with Grandpa's cheers and my magic stomach, I was prepared and won the first round with ease. which was a spicy noodle challenge. The noodles were peppery and sure made me cry, but, with no fear, I violated the bowl of noodles. I cleaned and licked every inch of that bowl. I had no mercy on my taste buds or my sense of feeling, and for a while I did not even know that the taste of spicy existed until I finished the noodles. My eyes remained watery and my lips trembled in the heat. What made it worst was that I was not allowed to drink any water.
Surprisingly, I was cheered on by the crowd. It turned out I was loved for my greedyness only in a competition, or maybe some people loved the crazyness behind my joy.
I played rounds and rounds and still had not lost one. Being in the lead made me feel happy. I could smell, taste, and could have eaten victory already, but when I realized that my only supporter was Grandpa, I felt defeated, not wanting to continue. I was just about to give up when I saw Lucy running from nowhere just to hug me while whispering:
"Take em 'home, lacey!" shouted lucy from across the crowd.
I was even more surprised. What had gotten into her and why did she come after all? Or was she trying to manipulate me? Either way, I could not have felt any better, especially when I saw my parents cheering for me. At that moment, I felt stoked with the rage inside my stomach to carry every award home.
The last competition was to eat a weird combination of different foods, such as ice cream and peanut butter. To be honest, that mix was disgusting, but I played a blind eye and ignored my sense of taste and what did you know? As expected, without any deny, I won.
" And the winner is- Lacey-Ann Maxwell!"
I was cheered on by hundreds of people. I have never been praised this much before especially by my school mates. I wa given a huge paper check with the money on it. After taking some picture with the sponsors, my family came on to join the excitement. One of the sponsors of the eventcame up to me before i left to interview me.
The sponsor: " That was some unbelieveable eating out there, so tell me how did you do it?"
" Ummm, I am a food lover sort of. I just found the love for food since I could spell my name.I was often called greedy oftenly but, i tried to not make it get to my mind. I did'nt knew that my greed would turn out to be something great or something that I would no longer be ashamed of but, proud of", I said
" So what will you do with your winnings?", asked the sponsor.
" I will use this token wisely. I will divide it between my sister and I . Then, I will deposit all of the remaining into my savings account", I said as I stood proudly.
" Thats the best thing to do and i like how caring you are to share with your sister. Well congratulations and all the best! " said the sponsor.
" Thank you", I said kindly.
I have never been so happy before my smile was beyond bright and i was full. I was surprised how proud Lucy was of me. She even spoke with me in the car.
" I cant believe that you are actually giving me some of your money, You should'nt have though", said lucy.
" Of course its no big deal", I said.
" Of course it is, After all that I have said to you and after all that I have did to you!", said lucy.
" Come on your my only sister", i said.
" But why though?", asked lucy.
" Well , I love you dearly no matter how much disagreements we have. i would do anything for you lucy", I explained.
" Awww for real? Are you serious?" asked lucy as she expressed true grattitude.
" Yes come here, give me a hug", I said.
I was feeling loved by sister for once again. maybe she cared cause is she had not then, why would have she came to the competition to support me? For that moment in the car, lucy and I was able to have an ongoing conversation without any conflicts or so I thought.
" Well in that case, i have something to ask you!", said lucy
" Whats is it?" I asked in confusion.
" well, cant you hold any composer to your pit?" asked lucy.
" What do you mean?", I questioned
" What do I mean! You wanna know what i mean? Why did you eat my bag of chips that mommy bought for me last night?" shouted lucy.
" Umm i am so sorry, i was just hungry last night", I said feel a bit embarassed.
" As I thought! no one cant leave there food in the house without it being eaten by you!", screamed lucy.
" Lucy, you were just being nice to me the other minute, so what changed?", i asked in concern.
" the strength I had to put up with your disgustingness!", said lucy with great disgust on her face.
" Ha! Ha ! I was just messing around but seriously though, you did'nt have to eat my chips", lucy said whislt laughing.
My head felt lighter when I learnt that she was just joking but, it felt heavier when i started to think deep into her pass actions and what she just said. Maybe she was not joking. Maybe she was just playing nice and goody- goody to win my trust. Maybe she is juts happy that she is getting some of my money.