"It's just, my real name is Megan Underwood," she said, releasing a huge sigh, as if lifting a great weight off her shoulders. She looked to Alice as if she was supposed to know that name, and was ready to cringe at the reaction that would come with it.
Now that Alice thought about it, that name did sound familiar. Was it something Mel had told her? No, maybe it was something she remembered from her interview. Wait, it was kind of both. "Underwood, like the guidance counselor here? Ms. Underwood?"
Megan looked back at her, a little confused. It was as if that was the last reaction she had expected. "Oh, yeah, that," she said, Alice noticing the hint of bitterness in her voice. "Yeah, she's my mother, but that's not..."
Alice had gone to get a glass of water and pulled up the desk chair in the room to sit opposite Megan. It now seemed to make sense. Mel had told her a little bit about the kindly Ms. Underwood who always made time for every girl that came into her office, whether they were upset, angry, overjoyed, or just plain moody like any teenager. Alice only vaguely remembered her from her interview when she had taken a tour of the campus. Looking back on it, she could see some of the resemblance to Megan. It now seemed apparent that genes did play a small part in Megan's size. While her new roommate was not near the size of the large Buddha-bellied counselor, she was getting pretty close. Course, Alice didn't remember Ms. Underwood having a British accent either. But then, Megan had done a pretty good job of concealing it until her outburst. "I didn't think Ms. Underwood was married, though," Alice said after taking a sip of water.
Megan rolled her eyes, thinking Alice couldn't see. "She wasn't, or I mean isn't...or she just never was," Megan began. "She had me when she was still in high school and everything."
"Oh," was all Alice could manage to say. She didn't quite know how to respond in that sort of situation. She still wasn't sure about Megan's feelings towards her mother.
Megan had started tearing into her own welcome basket and was eating the biggest candy bar in there. Genes played a part, but Alice now saw where the rest of it came from. "Look, I don't know if you've met my mother or not, but she's kinda...flighty, you know? Anyway, she decided she wasn't cut out for the whole 'mother' thing, and she left for the states. My grandparents raised me, hence all the butlers. They're the Underwoods. You know? They own one of the biggest diet pill companies in the world."
Alice almost choked on her water hearing that. Taking one look at Megan, she would have believed she had come from Mars before she believed her family was big in the dieting business. Did she even have a clue just how big she was, or was she just in denial? Megan seemed to be waiting for a response from her. "I didn't think Ms. Underwood was the type to..."
"Come from a wealthy family?" Megan finished for her. "Yeah, she's kind of a hippy type. Free love and share the wealth and all that crap. No wonder she got knocked up when she did. That was another reason she wanted to leave. She couldn't stand the lifestyle my grandparents had. My grandmother had no idea when she filled out the application for Buttercombe that my mother worked here now. It was sure a surprise when we found out. And now all of a sudden, she wants to reconnect to me. Can you believe that? She abandons me, saddles my grandparents with the responsibility of raising me, and now she wants to be all buddy-buddy with me? That woman has nothing to say that I want to hear.”
Alice was actually going to say that she didn’t see Ms. Underwood as the type to abandon her own child. She had remembered how sweet and helpful she had been when they briefly met on her tour. She was so gentle and maternal by nature. How could anyone like that not want to take their child with them? Alice felt that there was another side to this story, one that Megan was obviously not willing to listen to.
But how would she do it? She couldn’t just go up to Ms. Underwood and casually ask her to tell about her child born out of wedlock that she never raised and is estranged to. Alice could just see that blowing up in her face. Besides, she hardly knew Ms. Underwood, and didn't have any intentions of going to the guidance counselor any time soon. Then again, maybe Alice shouldn’t get involved at all. It didn’t seem proper, as she heard her mother’s voice in her head. What transpired between Megan and her mother was their business and not hers. At the same time, she felt that there was a lot of heartbreak between the two, and it hurt her to know that she would consider just letting it be.
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