Eyesore

XXX - Monday

"This is so unfair!" Standing right by the front door, pulling the backs of her flats over her feet, Brier whined. "I would never go for a guy you like, Minnie." Brier had the unique talent of being able to take any small scenario and turn it into a battle that was against her. "It’s the sister code." She finally stood up straight and turned to shoot a glare, that she’d learnt from their dad, at Minnie.

"First of all," Minnie groaned while sitting up off the living couch and swiping her school backpack off the floor. "I am not going[/g] for him. Secondly, you can’t actually like him because you don’t know him, and third of all, I’m not, like, happy about this." She explained while meeting her sister at the front door.

"You should be." Brier and Minnie never could understand each other and it always came down to jealousy. "He’s fucking Joe Jonas."

"Brier Savard, language!" From her office, their mother scolded.

"God, what does he see he in you?" She drew her almond shaped eyes over her sister, checking out the top of her flat brown hair to the tip of her flip flops that revealed Minnie’s nails covered in coral chipped nail polish.

Where as, Brier always had her outfit for school picked out and hanging up on her door before school, Minnie did all she could to avoid mirrors or having to feel her skin against her clothing, so she opted for a huge tee shirt with a "Obama Fo’ Yo’ Mama" slogan across it and loose jeans that would become hazardous for her feet as the day went on.

"I have no idea, Bry." Watching her sister pump her hands through her hair for volume, Minnie contemplated why someone as good-looking and famous as Joe Jonas would ever want to talk to her, let alone take her out in the public eye as a date. It didn’t make any sense to Minnie and the more she concentrated on it, the more insecure she grew.

"Bye, Mom!" Heading for the door with a canvas bag slung over her shoulder, Brier called. She couldn’t wait to get to school because she knew due to her ridiculous party the weekend before, she would be the talk of the hallways.

"Wait, wait," Jumping out from behind her desk, Adrienne scurried out of her office and towards the entrance of her house to see her girls off. "Does everybody have lunch?" It was a question she only started asking a week ago, but she was adamant about it now, ever since Minnie began her adversity to food.

Sighing heavily, like her mom was causing her a great disservice, Brier pulled open the top of her bag and revealed a can of diet soda, an apple, one chocolate granola bar, and a six inch subway sandwich she picked up the night before and refrigerated.

"Good." Adrienne smiled, happy that her youngest was still living with such a hearty appetite. "What about you, Min?" She narrowed her eyes at the oldest Savard girl, who was also closest to the door.

Minnie shifted both of her brown eyes left and right before collapsing her shoulders inward and sighing in confession.

"Here," Adrienne walked around the corner into the kitchen and pulled out a yogurt cup. It wasn’t much, but it was something and she chose to believe that if Minnie ate one thing, she would probably eat another. "Take this and buy yourself a snack, okay?" She waited with an uneasy face until Minnie agreed in a groan, then she sent both girls off to school.

XXX

The cafeteria of Thomas Edison Collegiate smelt more like the inside of a double patty burger than any fast food joint in California. It also served it’s purpose of being the number one watering hole for every high school student very well. With more than just those two reasons, Minnie avoided the cafeteria of her school like the plague and planted herself down in the school library where she tried to concentrate on her English homework, away from staring eyes and temptation.

Her Ipod sang into her ears while her pencil scratched against the paper pointlessly. She could appreciate a great novel as a work of art, but English had always bored her, so it never stood a chance of circulating through her mind like thoughts of calories and exercise routines.

Growing exhausted of not being able to concentrate, she ran all of her fingers through her hair, holding it back out of her face as she looked up and around the almost bare room.

Like the devil’s minion dressed in a size two shirt dress and kitten heels, Addison Crickett and her quartet of followers wandered into a the library, a place they never had any use for before.

Clearly bored and looking for anything to occupy her, Addison ran her fingers along the wall of the American history section, humming to herself. Minnie tried to stare down at her English notes and avoid making any eye contact with the girl, who teased her all through out the last year of junior high.

Addison was popular because she spoke in a voice as sweet as honeysuckle and with a pitch higher than Courtney Love has ever been, but she was also the kind of honest that made people feel inferior, not grateful.

"Your parents shouldn’t have named you Minnie." Addison had said countless times when they were in grade eight. "Because you’re not miniature at all.".

Minnie always had considered both of her parents to be thoughtless when it came to giving her a name that kids could manipulate so easily. Had they forgotten all about the cruelties of the playground?

"Minnie," Addison’s big fish lips that smelt like the cotton candy gloss she always wore called out at her. Trying to stand her ground, she kept her eyes aligned with the notes she was erasing and ignored any urge to indulge in mindless chatter with Addison or any of her posse. "Have you lost weight?" Kindly, her voice sounding like sunshine she asked while walking over to the table that Minnie had taken over and held it down with both of her freshly sanitized hands.

"Maybe." Minnie answered, finally looking up at the girl she’d despised for years. Even though she would’ve loved to proudly say out loud she had lost a total of six and a half pounds in a week alone, she didn’t. She didn’t want to give Addison any ammo to use against her one day, plus, Minnie was convinced due to last night’s binge, she had gained it all back.

"You look trimmer." Addison shrugged, her eyes captivated by Minnie’s body, even underneath such baggy attire. "What diet plan are you on?"

"I’m not on a diet." Minnie wasn’t sure if starvation counted as a diet. She was sure if her doctor knew about it, she’d frown.

"Well, you’re not eating lunch. What are you anorexic?" She would deny it if anyone confronted her, but Addison was definitely being judgmental, effortlessly.

"No," Leaning back, Minnie snarled and shook her head, trying to laugh like she thought that suggestion was kind of humorous. "No, I had a spare last period and walked over to Starbucks with Liz." She lied. Minnie didn’t have a spare third period and she hadn’t eaten the, either. Plus, if she was going to eat somewhere, it would never be Starbucks with it’s drinks full of sugar and delicious pastries, and last but not least, Liz and Minnie weren’t talking anymore because Liz was tired of having to drag Minnie outside of her house.

"Well, careful, I don’t want to start looking fat next to you." Half-joking, Addison began to walk away from the library table, still staring Minnie down while waving at her with a shake of her long fingers.

XXX - Friday

Thrilled to see that one of her mom’s old dresses was actually loose on her body, Minnie stood in front of the front closest mirror wearing a jade colored jersey dress that came together at the neck with three button clasps and had two hidden pockets near the waist for her hands to hide inside. Though she wished the keyhole in the back wasn’t so big, she could admit that she didn’t look awful, but she didn’t think she looked very good, either.

"Minnie, be careful, okay?" Adrienne didn’t trust anyone that worked with her ex-husband, they all seemed like shady characters to her. "You have your cell phone in your clutch, right?" Considering, Minnie had only had one boyfriend before and they hardly dated, Adrienne was extra protective. She knew how sensitive both her daughters could be and she’d seen them both cry over boys, she had a feeling if a hot superstar like Joe Jonas was involved, it could only turn out worse.

"Yeah, I’ll call you, if it blows." Minnie combed her fingers through her pin straight brown hair and waited for the car that Joe had said would come via text, to pull up.

"And if your dad says anything..." The idea of her daughter being around a man that had caused great emotional damage didn’t sit very well with Adrienne. She would love for her daughter and ex husband to get along, but they didn’t and because of that Adrienne liked to always be around to put out any fires that could spark between the two Savard’s.

"I have to go, Mom." Closing her eyes to try and censor herself at looking into the mirror again, Minnie heard the car pull into her driveway.

"I hope you have a horrible time!" Somehow, Brier had grown more upset as the week went on, and hollered from upstairs in her bedroom, where she was staring at Joe getting out of the back seat of the car.

"Thank you!" Minnie called back, sarcastically. She kissed her mom on the cheek quickly before opening the door to reveal Joe, with his arm out, preparing to ring their door bell.

"Hey," Quite happy to feel nothing Joe was surprised when his knees wobbled at the sight of the girl standing in the open door frame. For someone who wore no expression, she was looking beautiful dressed in jade with a little color painted on her face. "Oh, hi, I’m Joe Jonas." Tapping into old manners his parents taught him long ago, he reached past Minnie as she left her house, and shook her mother’s hand.

"Adrienne Louise." Smiling her pageant winning smile, she shook his hand right back and giggled at the sight of his doe eyes still on her daughter.

"I’ll take good care of your daughter tonight, don’t worry." He assured Adrienne while they both caught a glimpse of Minnie’s forehead wrinkling and staring at him in total disbelief.

Where did the arrogant rock star go? The one that she met at Brier’s extravagant birthday party.

"Just have fun." Adrienne held her door, closing it while watching Joe offer his arm for Minnie to link her hand through, but she declined and walked down the stone walkway solo in front of him.

"You know, you look great." Joe told her, honestly, in complete disbelief that he hadn’t noticed the special qualities about her, that he couldn’t look away from, before.

"You don’t have to just say that, you know." She told him, reaching for the car door at the same time of him and pulling it open on her own. "Hi," Meekly, she smiled back at the oldest Jonas who was sitting there already, the youngest grinning at her politely from the passenger spot.

XXX

Glamorous was word to describe the retirement event for Allen Trope, but Minnie would’ve chosen the word ‘aloof’ instead. The plethora of cracking light bulbs and snapping cameras made her resort to her cold and distant place. She held both her hands around her clutch, trying to make it hide her gut while standing back from the Jonas Brothers, who were accustom to walking red carpets and posing for media.

"Coming?" Joe asked, holding his hand out between his two brothers and waiting for to join in.

"Uh, I’ll meet you at the table." Itching at her face and nervously shaking inside herself, Minnie excused herself and headed behind the backdrop to head into the actual ball room without having to be snapped by a single photographer.

She walked through the door that was being held open by two gorgeous looking well-dressed men, thanking them each without bringing her eyes off of her shoes. She was beyond uncomfortable and making matters worst, she bumped right into the chest of a man who was all too familiar.

Reeking of Cuban cigars and ruthlessness, she slowly brought her chin up and looked right into the always sun burnt face of her father, Gaston Savard.

"Minnie?" Nearly choking on his astonishment, he did a double take at her. "What are you doing here?" He would’ve remembered extending an invitation to one of his daughters. He didn’t even invite Nicoline to Allen’s retirement function.

"I’m just here as someone’s date." As soon as the sentence came out from behind her glossy lips, she realized how foreign it felt to say something like that.

"Who’s?" He almost laughed, looking over his oldest daughter all dressed up in an outfit he recognized as her mother’s.

"Joe Jonas." Both Savard’s couldn’t wrap their heads around that one and before he could fully process that idea through his business minded head, Gaston excused himself, coldly, from his daughter and went off looking for the middle Jonas.