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"Are you ready?"

I sucked in a breath of air and looked up at Alex. This was it. The moment I'd been waiting for since I started this process a year ago was finally here—the end results. My eyes fluttered shut, exhaling the breath I'd been holding.

"As ready as I'll ever be." Relaxing my shoulders, I stepped on the scale. Not wanting to see the number just yet, I kept my eyes trained on the ceiling, and counted the numbers of patterns I saw. One, two, three—

"Isabella . . ." The way Alex said my name quickly snapped me out of my train of thoughts. "I'm afraid you didn't make it . . ."

When those words left his mouth, my gaze immediately glanced down at the scale. Seeing the three-digit number, my eyes widened as I let out a loud scream. "Are you freaking serious?" I shouted, motioning my hand at the number. "Alex, I—"

"—got lower than your desire weight!" he finished off for me, his smile wide and prominent. It was at this point that I realized he lied for my sake—he wanted me to see the number on my own. "I'm so proud of you, Isabella."

When the shock wore off, I jumped up and hugged him. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I repeated over and over again. Hearing his soft chuckles, he returned my hug and hooked his arms around my waist. He lifted me up and swung me around.

"You're welcome, but honestly," he said, putting me down. "It was your hard work and dedication that got you here."

"Yeah, but I couldn't have done it without you." Without him, I don't think I would've even lost ten pounds. "So, thanks."

"Since you put it that way, you're welcome." He smiled. "I have to go upstairs quickly to grab something, so in the meantime, feel free to tell your friend and family the exciting news. I bet you're dying to tell someone." He chuckled, earning a laugh from me in return. He gave my shoulder a quick squeeze, before he left, giving me some privacy.

Fishing out my phone, I dialed Amanda's number. I bit my bottom lip, and tried to contain my excitement as much as possible.

When I heard her voice, I shouted, "Guess what?"

"What?" she asked, sounding just as excited as I was.

"I weigh 140 pounds."

"Holy shit," she yelled, as I heard a loud crashing sound on the other end of the line. There was a short pause. "Clear your plans tomorrow. We're going to the mall."

I raised my brows. "The mall? Why?"

"Makeover. Duh."

"And, why may I ask need a makeover?"

"You did say I could give you a makeover after your year was up," she reminded me, her tone sounding quite deviously. Crap. I did said that.

"Just promise me, you won't go overboard with it," I begged her as I pinched the bridge of my nose. Knowing Amanda, she would.

"Don't worry," she said, probably rolling her eyes at me. "I won't."

By the sound of her high pitched voice, I knew she was only saying that to make me feel better. But I also knew I couldn't back out of this since I did technically agreed to it. "I guess, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bright and early," she said, saying her goodbyes.

When the line went dead, I closed my phone with a sigh. What in the world have I gotten myself into?

"Isabella," I heard my mother's voice, followed by a bang probably caused by the opening and slamming of the door. I let out a groan when I saw her heading over to my screen-glass windows. When she pulled open my shades, the morning sun swept in, practically blinding me. "Come on, sweetie," she said softly. I soon felt the bed dip at the foot of my bed. "Amanda's here."

"What time is it?" I grumbled out, my voice coming out hoarse.

"Eight o'clock."

"Eight?" I moaned out. "Why is she up so early?"

"Because," another voice said. I covered my ears when I realized it was Amanda. Her voice can be quite loud when she wanted it to be. "I actually have a reason to get up this morning," Amanda shouted. I then felt the cover being pulled away from my body. "Come on. It's makeover time!" Amanda said, way overly cheerful as she started tugging on my ankle. "Get your lazy butt up."

"Can't it wait another hour or so?"

"Hell no," she denied quickly, while I heard my mom saying something like, "I'll leave it up to you," before I heard the door shut close a few seconds later. "Come on, Izzy. Do I need to get your brother in here?" she threatened me. I laughed, knowing that the possibility of John waking up this early in the morning was zero to none.

"John's probably snoring away in his bed. There's no way he's awake," I retaliated.

"Actually he's fully functioning and downstairs with Alex."

I shot up. "How the hell did you get him to wake up so early?" I knew my brother, and he slept like the dead. If there's nothing in it for him, he'll sleep into two in the afternoon if he wanted to.

She smirked. "I might have told him that there's probably going to be plenty of guys hitting on you. He got up pretty quickly after that." She giggled.

I narrowed my eyes at her. "You did not."

She laughed. "Did too. So, wake up, or I'll get John to carry you to the mall." My eyes widened at the mental picture.

"You know. Sometimes you can be really evil."

She only smiled at my comment. "But you love me anyways!"

"Sadly, I do." I sighed, pushing a fallen lock of hair behind my ear. "Give me thirty minutes, and I'll be downstairs."

"Great. I'll be downstairs waiting."

I dipped my head in a quiet nod and watched her disappear from view. With a sigh, I pulled my weary body out of bed. The movement caused Sweets to shift slightly. She was curled up like a snowball at the foot of the bed, her soft tail twitching in her sleep. I leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead, her fur warm and cushiony, like a pile of laundry just out of the dryer. Trying not to delay the inevitable, I grabbed a change of clothes, and made my way to the bathroom. The cold tile met my feet as I flicked on the light and turned the faucet. The steady stream of water marked the quiet beginning of yet another day I wasn't quite ready to face.

"Took you long enough," Amanda said, bolting up from her seat on the couch. I rolled my eyes at her, laughing at her impatience. When I finally descended down from the spiral staircase, I watched as she ran over towards me, my brother and Alex following right behind her. "Ready to go?" she asked.

"Ready." I nodded, greeting Alex and my brother with a wave hello. "Whose car are we taking?"

"Let's take your car, Bell," John suggested. "I bet you're dying to drive your new mitsubishi."

My eyes lit up at the mention of my new car. Since I'd gotten my birthday present from my parents, I haven't exactly had the chance to drive it, let alone step outside the house. "You know me so well, John."

"Of course I do." He grinned. "I am your brother."

"Yeah-yeah, we all love each other and shit, but come on," Amanda demanded, as she started tugging on my arm. "The mall awaits us!"

"Alright-already." I laughed, jabbing my finger over my shoulder. "Just let me get my keys, and we can go."

"Okay," she said, motioning her hands at me to hurry up. "We'll be waiting in the garage then."

I nodded, ran upstairs, and quickly grabbed my keys off my dresser. As I made my way down the stairs, out the back door, and into the garage, I immediately saw John leaning against my new car, and Amanda chatting animatedly with Alex.

"I call shotgun," John shouted rather loudly as soon as he saw me.

"What?" Amanda's face dropped. "You know I wanted shotgun!"

He shrugged. "I already called it."

"Ugh." She threw her hands up. "Whatever."

Stomping her way to the back seat, she waited for me to unlock the car and then hopped in. Alex did the same, while John sat next to me in the front. When I had everything situated, I put the car into drive and drove down the pathway. Stopping right before the gatekeeper, he gave us a nod of acknowledgement and opened up the gate. I turned right and headed towards the nearest mall.

As soon as we arrived inside the mall, everyone and anyone who passed by us would stop, and stare. The girls practically drooled over my brother and Alex, while the guys would steal glances at Amanda, and surprisingly me. One guy even whistled at me, whispering, "hot" under his breath, which earned him a glare from my brother, and a confident booster from me. The guy suddenly ran off after seizing John up, causing Amanda and I to laugh loudly. Even though he was kind of cute, he was such a wimp.

Once that little incident was over and done with, Amanda began pulling me from store to store, and after four hours of shopping, I was literally about to pass out from the exhaustion. Amanda had me going from store to store, trying on everything they had—ranging from dresses to skirts, to t-shirts to blouses to tan-tops and jeans. In the end, we had a total of ten bags, which somehow ended up in Alex and John's hands. And even when we asked if they needed help carrying them, they both refused, saying it was fine.

"Now that shopping's done—" The guys faces automatically perked up hearing that, but dropped when Amanda said, —"it's hair time." Taking my hand in hers, she pulled me into the nearest salon, located at the front of the entrance.

"Hi," a middle-age woman said, waving at us. "What can I do for you girls today?" she asked, as I heard the door chimed again.

Cranking my neck around, I saw my brother and Alex coming in.

"We'll be sitting here." Alex pointed at the nearby armchairs, sounding like he was about to pass out and sleep.

"Boys." Amanda rolled her eyes. "Anyways, my friend needs a new hairstyle, think you can give her something that screams, "hot as hell?""

"I'm sure we can find something." She gave me a kind smile and ushered me to follow her. Saying goodbye to Amanda, I ran after the hairstylist, and followed her to the back. "Take a seat, please."

Nodding, I did what she said as she gathered up my hair and pulled it behind my ears.

"So, what's your name?" she asked suddenly, as I felt the lukewarm water hit my scalp.

"Isabella."

"Really? My daughter's name is Isabella," she told me, as her eyes lit up at the mention of her daughter. "But she goes by Bella."

"Everyone usually just call me Izzy, beside my siblings. They each have their own nicknames for me."

"Aw. That's so sweet. Were they the ones they came in with you?"

"One of them. He's the one carrying the pink bag."

"He looks like you." She smiled. "You're both blessed with good genes."

I blushed, shifting my gaze away from her face. "Thanks."

"Of course," she said, as she ran her hand through my hair. "Your hair is flawless too. Are you sure you want to cut it?"

"Um, maybe just a dye then?"

"What color?"

"I think I'll go back to my natural roots before my hair darkened."

"So, blonde?" she asked.

"Platinum blonde, with some highlights."

"That we can do." The corners of her eyes crinkled. "Just sit back and relax. I'll have your hair done in a jiffy."

In about an hour, my hair was finally washed, styled, and dyed. Sitting in the chair, I waited feeling nervous and excited about the results. Prior to my hairstylist touching my hair, Amanda asked her to turn the chair around so I wouldn't see the final outcome until it was fully done. But as I looked at the boys and Amanda staring at me with their mouths open, I swallowed, afraid to look now.

"Is it that bad?" I gulped, their silence killing me.

"Fuck no," Amanda squealed, uttering something. Relief washed over me immediately seeing the guys nod in agreement. "You look amazing!"

"Really?" I asked.

"Duh!" Running towards me, she placed her hands on my shoulder, and turned me around. "Look for yourself."

As soon as I saw myself, I was beyond amazed. The hairstylist really outdid herself. She practically made my hair a walking hair advertisement ad with its silky smoothness, and its vibrant shine. The shade was even perfect—it had the perfect touch of golden highlights to make it look natural. Adjusting my glasses, I noticed how well my eyes contrasted with my new hair color, making it a more eye-popping blue.

"Holy crap . . ." I touched the tip of my hair. "It actually looks good."

"Good?" Amanda repeated, "Try more than good. You looking fucking hot." She grinned, turning me around. "Don't she boys?"

"Please do not ask me if my sister's hot ever again," he told Amanda, his body shivering. "But—" He turned to face me. "—you do look beautiful, Bell."

The corners of my lips curved upwards at his compliment even though I knew he always thought of me as such. But instead, I actually felt beautiful, inside and out. And that's the most important part.

"Yeah, you look pretty, Isabella." Alex smiled, agreeing with everyone.

I blushed slightly at his comment, hoping he didn't see that. "Thanks guys, seriously."

"What are friends for?" Amanda said first. "You'd always been beautiful, but now everyone can see that." She smiled. "Now let's go pick up your contacts, so we can complete your makeover," she said, dragging me out of the store.

"Wait up," John called, as I heard his footsteps behind us.

"Yeah," Alex said in a rush, probably gathering up our shopping bags.

Smiling, I have to make sure Alex got a raise for doing this for me. Even though he was the only personal trainer I had, I knew for sure he's the only trainer willing to go shopping with someone crazy like Amanda.

My smile wavered when I realized I have to say goodbye to him once I go back to school, Monday. I just hope I'll be able to put his efforts to justice. It's time to show everyone that I'm back, and better than ever.

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