Losing It by Sandy McKay Read Free Book Online Page A

Things
    Whittle me down
    As far as you can
    Carve my angles tight
    A work of art, a body part
    Chiselled cheekbones,
    Nice and thin
    Wrists like twigs
    Shape and trim.
    Weird, huh?
    Dear Jo,
     
    Hmmnnn … those poems are pretty bizarre all right. They must have something to do with her illness.
    I borrowed a book about anorexia from the school library because I thought it might help me understand. Only now I wished I’d got a nice cosy fantasy instead. Something with a good plot and a happy ending. (Or maybe I should have stuck with my usual – The Guinness Book of Records .)
    Anyway, the book is called Dying to be Thin and it has five true-life stories of people with anorexia. One of the stories was about these twins called Penelope and Patricia. Apparently, Penelope was always the ‘chubby one’ until one day she decided she wasn’t going to be the ‘chubby one’ any more. So, she decided to become the ‘skinny one’ and five years later she was dead. The story was told from Patricia’s point of view, so it was like one twin watching her sister starve to death. It was so sad and I got all tearful andhad to leave the class before anyone saw me blubbing.
    So I read Theresa’s tale in the loos. Far out! This Theresa gets so thin that her tailbone actually breaks through the skin and … well, I didn’t read any more after that because the book really freaked me out. There are photos of girls who look like famine victims. One is, like, twenty-three and looks about a hundred and ten. This disease is scary, Jo. Your kidneys fail and your hair falls out. Do you seriously want to go to the formal with no hair?!
    Dear Jo,
     
    Please ignore my last letter. I’m sure you don’t need any more lectures or scare-mongering (is that the right word?).
    What you need right now is gossip.
    Okay … here goes. So guess who Marko Deans is taking to the formal? I’ll give you a clue. Her name starts with ‘A’ and she’s been going out with his best friend for the past six months. (Yes. Amanda Curtis!)
    You should have been there. Marko and Dave had this big scrap outside ‘D’ block near that purple rhodo bush. We were just coming out of maths and there they were. Marko had Dave’s tie and was pulling it really tight and Dave was all red and sweaty. They were both yelling and swearing and some of the girls started squealing andthen Mr O’Malley came racing out of class to break them up. But they just carried on hitting and kicking like Mr O’Malley wasn’t even there and you could tell he was too scared to get between them, like they were pitbulls or something. Tane Milton had to break them up in the end and they all got marched over to the principal’s office.
    Oh, and guess what else?! There’s this new school rule. All Year Elevens have to do at least one culture option. It’s the new DP’s idea. Mr Stalker. Mum thinks the sun shines out of that guy’s bum, but that’s another story. Anyway … I’ve joined the school newspaper. Yes, me! Don’t laugh. It was a choice between choir, kapa haka, debating, or newspaper, and deciding which one I’d hate least. After serious consideration I figured that ‘newspaper’ was the only one that didn’t involve standing on a stage making a complete dork of myself. I know I’m useless at writing but I’m hoping to get a job as photographer, which might be good for a laugh and could also be a possible career option providing I steer clear of self-timing units and try not to chop everyone’s heads off.
    Most of the others are from Year Twelve. There are two issues per month and we meet once a week on Tuesdays in the library. Doesn’t sound too daunting. I’ll keep you posted.
    Not much else to report on the school front. In English, we’ve started reading A Slipping Down Life by Ann Tyler. I’m up to page 88, which is pretty good for me. We were having this discussion in English the other day. Oneof the characters in the book – Evie – gets a guy’s name