Lisa bounded down the stairs. She wanted to get this over with as quick as possible. She did NOT spend that much money just to let her prize sit and collect dust. Rounding the corner, Lisa saw her mother tending to tonight's dinner on the stove. 'Man it smells good,' Lisa thought. Her mother turned her head and pointed with a pasta fork to some vegetables. "Chop those up for me? They're going in with the noodles."
Lisa moved to grab a knife from the big knife block, but before she could grab it-- "I don't hear hands being washed!" Her mother called out. Lisa rolled her eyes even though she knew she was right and shuffled over to the sink and ran the water, scrubbing her hands with hot water, then went to wipe-- "WITH Soap," her mother chimed in again, causing Lisa to pause with dripping hands mid-step. Sigh. Scrub-scrub-scrub. Wipe.
Lisa reached for the knife again, but her fingers caught it the wrong way, causing her to snap to attention. 'Jeez, nearly nicked myself.' She thought, now carefully guiding the big knife over to the cutting board. She'd done this kinda thing before with her mom, it was one of the few things she was good at and liked doing in the kitchen. But for some reason the knife felt kind of awkward in her grip. Unwieldy. She also found it harder to keep her hand steady. Did she eat today? A few minutes of chopping extra carefully, and she was done. She clunked the cutting board down by the stovetop and plucked a piece of fried meat to chew on, before quickly regretting it. Her mom glared at her as Lisa stood there, fanning her face and blowing air in and out.
"Whah, i'sh too hoh." Lisa said, mouth wide open.
Lisa's mother straightened up, and looked at her more intently before turning back to cooking. "Maybe I'll give you a smaller plate tonight, honey. You're looking a little chubby-cheeked."
That stopped her mid-chew. Chubby? She felt her face. It didn't... seem that much different. She started walking to the bathroom.
"Oh and, don't wander off. I need you to help me plate this in a minute." Her mother said.
"Okay!" Lisa called over her shoulder, before immediately stumbling on her sweatpants. "GAKHH!" she tried to say, choking on her food. After a good long round of coughing, Lisa brought herself up slowly breathing, chewing, and then slowly swallowing. "God, damn," What the heck happened? She rubbed her throat, pulling her drawstrings on her sweatpants tight, not quite noticing the bottoms were starting to fold over the hems a little more than they should. Making her way to the bathroom she flicked on the lights, and nearly thought she was choking again. Who the hell was this girl in the bathroom with her? But then all the little details started to make sense again. It was her, from a year ago, minus all the little minor changes a year brings for a teenager. God, she really was chubby-cheeked at fifteen... How did she not notice the first time around? Wait...
"Is the watch turned on?!" She nearly yelped.
She came back into the dining room off the kitchen. Her mom turned her head to the side, still focused on cooking. "You really have to stop and chew your food, kiddo. I swear you're going to choke to death one of these days."
But Lisa was panicking, she hardly registered what she said. "I know, mom!" Was her voice higher, or was she just freaking out?
And so...