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“cute” little names produced a snarl loud enough to clear a room.
    Actually, during her teens she thought she’d handled the weight thing without too much drama until Twiggy, the twig-bitch model, hit the runway and everyone wanted to have the body shape of a pencil. Janie’s body had kinda been like a pencil, only more like one of the oversized stubby ones made especially for kindergarteners, not the regulation #2’s.
    “I can’t take it anymore!” She’d thrown herself on her bed and staged an emotionally-charged (and very dramatic) breakdown.
    Her antics must have worked because her mother flew into her room, arms flailing over her daughter’s more than healthy sized body. “What is it? What can I do?”
    “I don’t know!” Between sobs Janie peeked through her crossed arms to judge her mother’s level of distraught-ness. “All I want is Thin Mints or…you know, those little butter shortbreads, or the assorted sandwiches…maybe even the peanut butter ones.” She’d memorized the cookie varieties.
    “Cookies? Girl Scout Cookies?”
    “Yes! Oh God, that’s all I can think about.” She dared another peek at her mother’s emotional angst. “You’ve got to help me, Mom. I can’t go on like this anymore. I need help. Please! People make fun of me at school.” Which wasn’t true because she was well-liked, and people also knew she was capable of delivering a sucker-punch if provoked. But the lie seemed to add flair to the scene. She exaggerated another agonizing sob just for good measure.
    Yeah, she was serious about her need to lose weight, but was tired of trying to figure it out herself, and knew she needed a stiff arm of something. So she resorted to what she did best…over-reacting, a family trait she found extremely useful from time to time. Besides, her drama classes were paying off.
    By the next day her mother had done the needed research. “How about the new Atkins Diet? I think you’ll get faster results.”
    “Yeah, but isn’t that like no carbs? Ever?” Janie was dead-set on losing weight, but she wasn’t crazy. The Atkins Diet had just appeared on the horizon of quick weight loss programs, and although faster results ended up on the plus side, too many of her favorite foods lined up on the negative side. No can do. She’d rather ration than omit. “What else you got?”
    “Weight Watchers.”
    So Weight Watcher’s it was. She hated and loved it at the same time. The program did take time to work, but no exercise was required and she actually lost the weight. So much so, she could finally stomach flipping through the la-de-dah fashion magazines touting covers of Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Tiegs, and Christie Brinkley. She’d even been able to wear hot pants and miniskirts, which was something she n-e-v-e-r thought would be possible. In fact, she credited her new wardrobe for catching the eye of Buddy, her first boyfriend. They dated for almost a year until he got his draft number, which put the relationship into a nose dive.
    Going off to college, the whole freedom bit was something she’d dreamed of for ages. Now…well, now she didn’t feel quite as excited as she thought she’d be. But, at least she’d have Dena and Frannie, her best friends, and a break from June and Ward. Not her parents’ real names, but they seemed to fit, although Leave It To Beaver had been off the air for what…ten years? Everyone still watched reruns of the Cleaver clan.
    “Is Frannie riding up with Dena?” her mother asked.
    “Are you kidding? The Bennetts would never go for that.” Janie huffed from the back seat. Ridiculous. Here we go again about Dena driving since she was fourteen. She’d never even received a ticket. Still, Ward and June, as well as Frannie’s parents, had concerns about Dena having a car on campus.
    “Well, I just thought—”
    “Would you let me ride up with Dena?” Sometimes parents said the dumbest things.
    “Of course not.” June whipped her head around to