Mom's tears dripped onto my hand. "You have such a bright future ahead of you. Don't say things out of anger that might ruin it..."
I yanked my hand back. Hard. The seam of my uniform tore wide open.
I ripped off the jacket entirely and hurled it to the ground.
[Wait... that body...]
[Is that a guy or a girl? Eighteen and not developed at all?]
[No Adam's apple though. And completely flat below the neck...]
Mom scrambled to explain. "She's malnourished. A late bloomer..."
Aunt Naomi's laugh was a serrated blade. "Some people are just blessed—a mother who dotes on them, vitamins since childhood—and they still don't appreciate it."
Uncle Albert's voice cracked like a whip. "Have you been stealing diet pills?! Is there anything you won't stoop to?!"
The stares closed in like needles piercing flesh.
All those eyes fixed on my flat chest. The whispers. The probing curiosity. The contempt.
My throat seized. My stomach churned.
"Don't touch me!"
I shoved. Hard.
Mom staggered backward, her foot caught on something, and she crumpled to the ground.
"Doris, have you lost your mind?! How has your mother ever wronged you?!"