Nellie felt. . .strange, ever since her sixteenth birthday. When she tried to remember what it had been like going out with Tom, or getting the car from her father, it felt like something she had read in a book. She had a wonderful boyfriend, a nice car, and a loving family, and everything just felt. . .off.
She looked down at her breasts. She had been proud of them, marks of her womanhood, maturity and desirability. But now she felt like they belonged to somebody else. Well, at least Tom likes them, she thought. That didn't make her feel good the way she used to.
There was a more immediate problem, in that she couldn't find the necklace. Fortunately, she knew her Mom and Dad would expect her to wear it only for special occasions, but if she couldn't find it the next time the family went to a wedding or another formal gathering, there would be h-e-double hockey sticks to pay. Where could it be? She had worn it back to her room, and now it wasn't anywhere?
And things got even weirder over breakfast, where her mom started going after her for gulping her food like a boy and not eating in a ladylike way, something that hadn't happened since she was twelve.