Chapter 3 What Is Wrong With You

Hair check, make-up check, mini dress check, heels check. Perfect Adriana murmured before slinging her gucci bag on her shoulder. She skipped with glee at the thought of spending a whole day inside San Juaquin High. Oh the perfection of it all, she will never tire of it. She went straight for the front door when she got downstairs, not bothering to utter a greeting, to the people who eyed her from the dining table.

"Adriana, have your breakfast" her nanny commanded, but she didn't spare her a glance.

"If you leave this house without breakfast young lady, I will make it my mission to remove you from that school." This time, it is her father who spoke. Her father, Peter Velasquez is a famous politician, known for the bill he created that allowed the allotment of funds for young and aspiring musicians. He believes, that with the growing influence of music on the younger generation, it is only reasonable for the country to give specific funds to hone talents from across the land.

"I can't eat breakfast, I'm on a diet." Adriana reasoned before attempting to exit their house. Her escape was immediately blocked by her mother though.

"Diet, do you have any idea how skinny you are Adriana?" her mother asked, using her sarcastic tone, accompanied by a smirk which Adriana hates so much.

"You can't expect me to eat bacon and rice for breakfast mom."

"Eat Adriana" Her father yelled. But she neglected his command by yelling back "Do you have any idea how many calories are in that food!"

A resounding and cheek ripping slap landed on her face before she even knew what happened.

Adriana immediately had her eyes wide and with fury, which she never thought could have come from her, she pushed her mother down, which caused the woman to stumble on the floor. But before Adriana could realise what she had done, her father immediately grabbed her arm, turned her towards him and slapped her face hard.

"Is this what you have become Adriana, how low had you fallen?" her father yelled accusingly at her.

Adriana, shock stricken by what happened fell mute. Her mom hit her, she hit her mom, her dad hit her, the realization slowly dawned on her as she glanced down at her mother who was still sitting on the floor.

" Mom, I'm, I'm so sorry" Adriana pleaded when the full extent of her actions sent the neurons on her brain in turmoil, and her heart to clench.

Angela Velasquez glanced up at her daughter, she never should have allowed her to attend San Juaquin High. She is aware of the negative effects the school have on teens, but she believed her daughter is a smart girl and would be wise enough to protect herself from the influence the school has. But clearly, she was wrong. She barely recognised the teen who pushed her a few minutes ago.

"Why do you insist on going on a diet when you barely have fat on your body" Angela asked as her husband hoist her up.

"Because everyone goes on a diet mom, not just me" Adriana reasoned while attempting to take hold of her mother's arm, but her father pulled her mom away and sent Adriana a disappointed look.

"Just because everyone does it Adriana does not mean you have to do it too" her mother murmured as she ran a hand on her husband's chest to sooth his growing anger.

"But mom, I don't want to get fat" Adriana screamed and with that, she received another slap from her father.

"You are grounded young lady" her father yelled before he tugged on the gucci bag that Adriana slung on her shoulder. He threw the bag on the floor, raised his hand and pointed a finger to her daughter's direction while saying "You will not leave this house until I say so."

Adriana felt mortified, she started to panic and threw a pleading look towards her mother, but Angela shook her head, knowing exactly why her husband did what he had done.

"Your going out of control Adriana" her mother said whilst picking up her daughter's bag and motioned for the nanny to come get it.

"You can't do this to me, this is a crime!" Adriana screamed as she tried to grab the knob of their front door.

Angela immediately wrapped her arm around her daughter's waist and pryed her hand away from the knob.

"Stop it, take this time to think of your actions, and I hope you find it within yourself to bring back the girl you once were." Angela said as she successfully removed her daughter's hand from the door.

Adriana, accepting her defeat, wiggled free of her mother's hold, ran towards their nanny, grabbed her bag and mounted the stairs.

Peter shot his wife an apologetic smile. "She will come out of this" he said, assuring his wife that their daughter is still the thesame girl who found beauty even in simple things like a broken bottle.

Upstairs, Adriana opened her phone and went directly to KC's proile. It surprised her to see that not a a single update had been posted since last night. KC always made sure to post a photo of herself before going to school, showing her army what clothes she'll be wearing, the brand, and where to buy them.

"Weird" Adriana whispered as she naivagted through facebook, making a few stops whenever Kc's name or picture pops up. "She is so perfect, Adriana said to no one.

Nightfall, Adriana fell asleep for the whole day. She awoke at seven in the evening and surprisingly found her body feeling light and refreshed. Her head and shoulder didn't ache as well. It is probably the first time she felt comfortable stepping out of bed.

In the past year, her body usually felt heavy even after a night's rest, if she could even call it that, because the truth is, Adriana would spend a lot of time with her body and neck bent in front of her phone. A rumble on her stomach reminded her that she had not eaten anything since morning, so, she ditch her phone and walked out of her room with an urge to eat.

She smiled to herself when she got to the kitchen and found a note that said "Dinner in the microwave." Looking at the hand writing it most likely have been written by her mom.

Adriana ate in silence, she mused and asked herself, if she had come to school today, what would she be doing at this time of night? Probably trolling Facebook and Instagram on her phone. Her fork immediately fell on the floor when she realised that she had left her phone, for the first time in the past two years, she actually ditched her phone!

Immediately, Adriana left her food on the table and ran up stairs. When she opened her phone, the notification in her school's forum is about one thousand. "What the hell" Adriana said as she tapped on the notifications.

Her jaw dropped when a photo of KC appeared on the school's forum, showing her idol wearing baggy clothes, without make-up and her hair hanging losely, dishiveled and sitting on what looks like a cafeteria, but clearly, not located in San Juaquin.