Remedy #freeyourbody

[14]

FOR THE THIRD TIME, THE DOORBELL RANG WILDLY, AS IF SOMEONE WANTED TO BREAK INTO THE HOUSE THROUGH THE DOORBELL. 

"Ger Bear, open the door will you?" His mom called from the kitchen. He groaned.

"Mommy, don't call me that!" He went to the door anyways, checking his reflection in the mirror. The zillions of acne medication Addy had found him were working, slowly but surely. He had a confident smile on from successfully charming girls at school, and his outfit was chosen carefully. Casual but nice jeans with a pale blue shirt tucked inside.

Gerry took a few deep breaths and opened the door.

"Jimmy!" Cadence exclaimed. His face lit up seeing her, but he didn't know who Jimmy was.

"Hey Gerry." Addy said.

"Well, which is it? Jimmy or Gerry?" Asked Mrs. McAllister.

"Or are you a twin?" Asked Mr. McAllister.

"His name is Gerry, and there's only one of him," Addy said with a roll of her eyes, pushing past him, plopping onto the couch.

"Uh, come in! It's nice to finally meet you all," he said with a wide smile. Gerry felt like his face was going to fall off from smiling.

They sat for dinner and began normal conversation, as his mom and Addy's exchanged cooking tips. Addy and Cadence watched in amusement as Mr. McAllister interrogated Gerry.

"So," he said, one hand on his chin stroking an invisible beard, one hand on his waist. "What are your intentions with my daughters?"

"Um? No intentions sir. I'm friends with Addy?" He shifted nervously.

"Hmm." He kept in his ridiculous but intimidating stance and continue to ask odd and sometimes embarrassing questions.

Gerry thought he sweated through his shirt, the nerves filling his gut, when his mom announced dessert and Addy volunteered to go and help.

A silence took over the table until Mrs. McAllister broke it.

"My my, Gerry, you should really do something about all of that," she said, gesturing to his face, hand over her mouth in shock, as if only now realizing that his forehead and cheeks and chin was riddled with acne.

"Uh, I'm actually trying some treatments right now-"

He broke off when he saw Cadence laugh and point to his face. "It's everywhere," she giggled. "You should wash your face more often," she said.

"Too true," Mr. McAllister agreed.

They all continued poking fun of Gerry, his acne, making wild assumptions about his diet and hygiene.

"Oh gosh, I bet he only eats chips and soda!" Mrs. McAllister exclaimed, laughing away.

Gerry took each insult as a word of advice. He agreed he had bad acne. He did think he looked terrible too. He saw their points, but not believing how terrible he looked was attributed to poor hygiene, but to the fact that he was just ugly.

And he tried so hard to change himself. So hard. It didn't work, so he must've not been trying hard enough.

After their teasing subsided, Addy and his mom returned with slices of pie and whipped cream. Full of calories and fat and sugar, all of which would contribute to his acne, as he heard Mrs. McAllister whisper to Cadence.

Gerry's stomach suddenly felt empty, but he wasn't hungry.

"No thanks, mom." He mumbled as she placed a plate in front of him.

"But you love apple pie! What's the matter?" His mom said, hurt and taken aback by his comment.

"I'm just...trying to be...healthier." He said unsteadily.

His mother pursed her lips, silently nodding and passing the plate on to Mrs. McAllister who took it with vigor and dug in excitedly.

Gerry watched as they devoured the luscious pie, wishing he could have a slice, but knowing that it wouldn't be good for him.

When they left, Gerry had hardly said a word. He couldn't bring himself to even say goodbye.

He trudged up the stairs as his mom called for him to wash the dishes.

Gerry shut the door behind him, slipping to the floor and just laying there. He felt the hate flood over himself, and started to cry. He'd change himself if he could, but he didn't know how. Nothing he did worked.

Everything hurt and Gerry didn't want to stop crying because that was the only thing loud enough to drown out the destructive thoughts filling his mind.