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Eleven months.

That's how long it'd been since I first started my training. Since then, Alex had weighed me at the end of each month. Every time he did, I would sneak a peek at my weight, but he would shield my eyes to prevent me from seeing the actual number. He knew it would be more special if I saw it once the year was up. But as I looked in the mirror each and every day, I'd noticed my figure getting smaller and smaller to the point that I was even going to let my mom pick out a dress for me to wear for my birthday.

"Isabella," I heard my mom called, as I rooted my way through my closet.

I cranked my neck around and looked at her. "Yeah?"

"What color do you want your dress to be in?" she asked, with a permanent smile on her face. She couldn't stop smiling since I'd agreed to wear a dress this morning. Apparently, according to my mom, the last time I let her picked out an outfit to wear was in Elementary school—when she could dress me anyway she wanted.

"Purple," I decided, going with my favorite color.

"Then I think I have just the dress." She smiled and headed to the far left, where all the evening and party dresses were. A few moments later she came back holding a dark sleeveless dress. It was one of those dresses where it was shorter in the front, but longer in the back. The front came up to about mid-thigh and even though I was starting to get comfortable with my body, I wasn't that comfortable showing off my legs—yet. I'll probably end up wearing leggings underneath it.

"It's cute, but will it fit me?" I asked, dubiously looking at the waist size. Even though it was loose fitting, the dress came with a tiny brown belt, so I wasn't sure how expandable it'll be.

"You'll never know until you try it on."

"I guess you're right." I took the dress from her and headed towards my suite's bathroom. Flipping on the lights, I quickly slipped off my t-shirt and sweatpants, and put one foot after another into the opening. Holding onto the cropped top, I took a deep breath and mentally crossed my fingers. Lifting the dress up my legs, I began to smile when it started passing my waist easily, and finally up my back to my shoulder blades.

"Mom, it fits!" I exclaimed, as I fumbled with the doorknob. When the dang thing finally decided to open, I ran towards the closet screaming, 'it fits' all the way there.

"I heard." She laughed, chuckling at my outburst.

I nodded, too thrilled to stop smiling. "I haven't been able to fit a size nine in ages!"

"I know, but look at you." She sniffed, looking like she was on the verge of tears. "You look so beautiful, sweetie."

I smiled, feeling the salty sensation just bursting to come out. "I feel beautiful."

"You'd always been beautiful, honey," she said, tenderly rubbing soothing circles up and down my bare back. "Now, before we both start crying up a storm, let's get your hair done."

"Thanks, Mom." I grinned, leaning my head onto her shoulder. "For everything."

She smiled back and pulled me tight against her. Letting go of me a moment later, she looked down at me tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. "What style do you want?"

"Maybe some loose curls?"

"Whatever you want," she replied, as she lead me to her room. Seeing that I had no styling products whatsoever, Mom set up a mini hair station in front of her dresser, equipped with the latest hair styling tools in all different shapes and colors.

Once I was seated, she spun me away from the mirror, blocking my view.

"You'll see the finish product once I'm done," she said probably seeing the obvious disappointment on my face. I reluctantly nodded, as I watched her grab the curling iron, and started working her magic on my head.

In less than thirty minutes, she had my normal straight hair transformed into long flowing beach waves. On the right side of my hair, she pined some of my hair up with a silver plated hair comb. I lifted my hands, feeling the smooth texture of the ivory flowers, and beaded pearls.

"It's b-beautiful, Mom." I bit my lips when I saw my reflection in the mirror, blinking back the tears. "Thank you."

"No need to thank me, honey," she said, as she wiped away the corners of my eyes. "Now, let's go downstairs and show everyone this gorgeous, daughter of mine."

I laughed, but nodded anyways. As we made our way down the spiral staircase, I heard the music on full blast, practically shaking the whole house down. I'm surprised none of the neighbors had called and complained yet, but then again our closest neighbor was down the street from us.

"Happy birthday, Isabella," I heard my family and friends shout as soon as they saw me entering the dining room. After all the gasps, compliments, and congratulations from my family, they finally decided to leave me alone, and started talking amongst themselves. Even though I love my family to death they could get overly annoying and overbearing way too quickly.

Grabbing some snacks, I was about to munch on some carrots, when I saw my brother approaching me in the corner of my eye.

"Hey there, sister of mine." He grinned. "How does it feel to be finally eighteen?"

I laughed. "Pretty awesome."

He cracked a smile. "I'm glad you're having a blast."

"Yeah—" The rest of my sentence was drowned out by the sound of Amanda's voice screaming, "Happy birthday!" I let out a 'oomph' when I felt the weight of another person crashing onto my back.

"C-can't b-breath."

"Sorry!" She quickly jumped off my back. Her eyes surveyed me, gushing seconds later. "Damn Izzy. You look totally hot in this dress." She winked.

"Thanks." I shook my head at her, chuckling. "So do you." Her simple black dress hugged her curves perfectly making her pale, flawless skin a lot more apparent.

"Thanks, do—"

"—Happy birthday, Isabella," Alex cheered, interrupting Amanda. He scrolled over with his arms wrapped around a girl that I knew was Jenna, his girlfriend. If I'd remembered correctly, Alex said something about meeting her two years ago, and they'd been dating ever since. When he first mentioned he had a girlfriend, I was a little bit disappointed since I did had a tiny crush on him, but I eventually got over it. I wasn't going to break them up; they were too happy together.

"Hello, Isabella." She smiled widely, extending her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you. I heard a lot about you from, Alex."

"It's nice to meet you, too." I smiled back, and shook her hand.

"Hi, I'm Amanda. Izzy's friend," she jumped in, smiling bubbly at her. "Do you like cake? Because I really want some chocolate cake right now."

I chuckled quietly under my breath. Out of all the things she could've said, she chose that. And the sad thing is, I saw that coming. "Relax, Amanda," I said, saving Jenna from awkwardly just standing there. "You'll get your cake soon."

"When?"

I shrugged, not exactly sure myself. "Whenever we decide to eat."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to find out," she said, before racing off, probably trying to find my parents.

"Um, is she always like that?" Jenna asked, eyeing Amanda.

"Yup," all three of us said in unison. The four of us, fell into a comfortable silence as Jenna and Alex chatted quietly amongst themselves. John hummed softly to himself, finally trusting Alex enough to not want to kill him.

For the next hour and a half, I'd spent my time hanging out with my brother, Jenna, and Alex until we stopped to have some cake—much to Amanda's delight, as they sung happy birthday to me. Once we all had our fill, Lily came running towards me, screaming, "presents!"

"Come on, Sabby." Lily grabbed my arm, dragging me towards the table full of gifts. "Presents!"

I laughed, and let her pulled me.

"Here," she said and pushed a small gift bag decorated with a pink bow towards me. "Mine first."

I nodded and lowered myself down to her height. Pulling out a small box, I was blown away when I saw a small pendant of a gold star, with two tiny diamonds aligning the edges of the upper corner.

"You got this for me?" I asked, running my fingertips up the gold star. She nodded, smiling widely.

"The gold star is you," she explained, pointing her finger at it. "And John and I are the diamonds. We're always near you."

"Thanks so much, Lil." I hugged her tightly when I felt my eyes getting glossy. Feeling her hands locked around my neck, she hugged me back.

"Okay, my turn." Amanda practically shoved her present in my face. Lily reluctantly let go of me, and went towards John, grabbing his hand. Shaking my head at her overly, elastic behavior I opened her present and saw a charm bracelet of a white puppy.

"Aw. This is perfect," I said, pulling her in for a hug. "I love it." Glancing down, I hooked the charm onto the charm bracelet she had given me for my tenth birthday, along with the six charms she'd given me over the years.

"I knew you would." She smirked. "But I bet you'll love your next gift even more," she said pushing John in front me.

"Oh? What did you get me, John?"

"You'll see." He put two fingers in between his lips, and produced a loud-whistling sound. A bark echoed around the room, and then a small puppy scampered in. The puppy was a big puff ball, covered in white from head to toe. My eyes widened as I watched the dog slowly heading over towards John, sniffing everything and anything on its way over.

"Bell." He bent down and carried the puppy in his hands. The puppy started pawing at John's chest, twisting its neck around. I melted when the puppy's giant brown eyes stared back at mine. "She's a eight-week-old, Samoyed puppy and she's yours now. Take good care of her."

"Shut up, you didn't."

He chuckled. "I did."

"Oh my gosh, you're so cute," I cooed, gently running my fingers down the back of her head. She immediately turned and began licking my fingers, her tiny tail wagging with delight.

I laughed softly and reached out to take her from John, cradling her close. "You're definitely a sweetie, aren't you?" I murmured, smiling as she covered the side of my jaw in eager puppy kisses.

Suddenly, an idea struck me. I gasped and snapped my fingers. "That's it! I'll name you Sweets."

"Fitting name." John nodded his approval.

With a huge grin on my face, I leaped into his arms, being careful with Sweets in my hands. Laying my head in the crook of his shoulder, I hugged him. "I love you so much right now."

"I love you, too." He chuckled, supporting my weight with his arms. "I'm glad you like her."

"Sabby." Lily pulled on my dress. "Can I play with her? John wouldn't let me before." She pouted, and glanced up at Sweets.

I looked down at her, smiling. "Sure, but be careful with her," I told her letting Sweets down on the floor.

"I will," she exclaimed, following Sweets down the hall, bypassing my grandparents, and some of my aunts and uncles.

"I'm not exactly sure if I can top a puppy, but this is from Jenna and I," Alex said, handing me a huge square box with a purple bow on it.

"Thank you." I smiled, knowing that they still got me something even though they didn't have to. He was my trainer, him being here was already enough.

Flipping the box open, a long flowing red dress, encrusted with rhinestones along the waistline laid perfectly in the box. Feeling the silky material, I couldn't wait to wear it until I saw the tag sticking out from the side with the number 8 on it. My smile dropped when I realized I wouldn't be able to fit into the dress.

"Um . . . Alex, I hate to be a downer but this dress is a little too small . . . " I told him slightly confused and disappointed that I made him waste money on something I couldn't even wear.

"That's because you're going to wear it after you hit your goal weight," he explained, smiling. "You'll fit in it no matter what."

My eyes watered immediately after I heard that. Alex really was the best trainer in the world. "Thanks, Alex." I gave him a quick hug, patting him on the back before I let go, and turned towards my parents.

"This is from your father and I," Mom told me, giving me a small box. Ripping the neatly wrapped paper open, I lifted the box to find a small key.

"What's this for?"

"We thought it's about time you get a car to yourself," she started saying, but once I heard the word car, the rest of her sentence got drowned out by my loud, screaming and shouting.

"Oh my God! You did not."

"We did." Dad held my mom closer towards him, smiling widely at me. "Just be careful, sweetie."

"I will," I promised, trying to contain my excitement. "I love you guys, so much." I thanked them over and over again, showering them with kisses and hugs. They laughed, hugged, and kissed me back.

Knowing that I didn't have to drive Mom's car around, I couldn't wait to actually see the car they'd gotten me. And just when I was about to head to the garage, my family kept throwing present after present at me. They were mostly either money, jewelry, or some loose fitting clothes. But as the day started to draw near the end, one by one, everyone began going home. Once the last guest left, I brought all my presents up to my room, and Sweets tagged along with me. As soon as I brought her up to my bed, she made a little spot for herself, and fell asleep. I assumed she was tired out from all the playing she had done with Lily today.

Feeling tired myself, I hurried and took a fast shower and put on my pajamas and climbed in to bed. When my head hit my pillow, I couldn't help but think that in another month, I'll be back in school, finally getting the respect I deserve.

Cover by XxXdarkwhisper101XxX

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