This choice: Given her BMI, couldn't the school physician help Alex with a diet plan? • Go Back... Even though Alex had made it this far into getting settled at Buttercombe Academy without flaking out, her insecurities were starting to get the better of her as she sat there on the couch. She might be, what, double Nicole's weight? A lifetime of smothering by a mother that encouraged her to eat and the dividends that came with being the child mascot of your father's ice cream company had did a number on Alex Greese.
She was plenty smart and thus wasn't worried about her classes. Yet now that she was beyond her mother's supervision, it was high time to take matters into her own hands.
If only Alex could work up the nerve.
"Art. What are you here for?"
"Huh??" Alex was snapped out of her reverie by her remarkably untalkative roommate. "What did you say, Nicole?"
"I'm enrolled in the art program." The skinny freshman was nose deep in her sketching again. "You had asked."
About what Nicole thought of the school? That had been minutes ago! Goodness, Alex couldn't let her nerves continue to bother her. She was going to make something of herself at school, finally be an independent girl. No, young woman.
"Oh. Well, I'm in...I'm not quite sure what I want to focus on." Alex had a head for numbers and business, having learned from her father's lap how he run the company. When she could fit in his lap, at any rate. She'd dabbled in chemistry and biology. And she was an avid reader so she knew her literature. She didn't know where she wanted to shift her education focus, however, and as much as that was important her scare at reading the SSS brochure made her worried about getting her health under control before she plotted her course in life.
"H-Hey Nicole..." Much as Alex Greese was emboldening herself to stand on her own two feet, she was hoping for a confidant. "Would you mind coming with me to the infirmary?"
Nicole looked up from her sketch, blinking twice. "The infirmary?"
"I'm not contagious," Alex tried to clarify, before realizing that sounded worse. "I just wanted to get some advice from the physician. And didn't want to end up lost."
"Oh," Nicole folded up her sketchbook. "I can join you. I'm supposed to turn in a doctor's note."
Phew! Nicole had her own reasons to go to the infirmary so Alex wouldn't feel like the center of attention. Even though her weight had become the center of her life, she now realized, for far too long. She had to stop thinking about what could have gone differently in life, about how she had already demolished half of her gift basket. This was no time to continue to flake out. Alex had to look to the future. Right?
Once Nicole found her note the two roommates were off to travel across campus to find the nurse's office. Alec had gotten a sense of the scale of Buttercombe from finding her room although the trek made her realize just how palatial the school was arranged. The journey was half in silence until Alex found another topic of conversation.
"If I may ask, what do you need to see the doctor about?"
"There are some medications I have to stay on," Nicole explained. "I have an adrenal deficiency."
"Oh." Nicole could be quite frank. It put Alex's concerns into perspective. She asked a few more questions, in case there was anything she needed to monitor for Nicole as a roommate, although the skinner freshman assured her there weren't many complications. They soon found themselves at the nurse's office.
The clinical ward of the school, much like the other decor, had soft yellows and amber tones for the wall paper and accents. There was a nurse seated at the desk, with a few wide chairs nearby for patient waiting before the doors sung into medical rooms.
"Hello," the nurse, Shiro Fukiyama, greeted the two roommates. If Alex thought Nicole was much skinner than her the nurse was practically bones. Not really, of course, she was somewhat tall with a limber build but very smelt, barely looked to weigh a hundred pounds. Alex was beginning to grow red faced by currently being the fattest woman in the room.
"How can I help you?" Shiro continued.
Alex mumbled. "You can talk to her first, Nicole."
Nicole Frasser shrugged, stepping to the desk. "I'm supposed to turn this in to update my medical records," she handed over the doctor's note.
Shiro glanced over the document. "I see. This won't take long to input. I will warn you that, given our relative isolation and medical budget we may need to find an effective generic or two for your medications. Do you have any side effects from previous replacement medicine."
Alex didn't mean to pry, so she drowned out the conversation by looking over the office thrice over, working up the courage to ask about her issue. She was so caught up in psyching herself up that she nearly missed the nurse addressing her.
"And what can I help you with in the meantime, miss?" Shiro asked.
"Oh," Alex looked back to the desk. Nicole was slouched against the wall, giving Alex the space to approach the desk. "W-Well it's about, my, my..."
Alex Greese swallowed, getting right to the point. "It's about my weight, you see, I would qualify for SSS assistance. I mean, the intermediate tier?"
Shiro bit her tongue. Compared to Nicole, who had a healthy weight, Alex was a poster child example of teenage obesity. Many at this school were, Shiro had come to find out, although few were ever this big when they entered as freshmen.
"And so I was curious," Alex continued, "would I be able to get help with some kind of diet plan? A regimen to help me lose weight?"
Shiro was rather surprised that Alex was both aware of her size and wanting to work at losing weight. "SSS matters are addressed by my supervisor, Miss Greese, but I can help get you started. We may have to update some paperwork."
She had a warm smile, which encouraged Alex. Today might be the first step in introducing a thinner Alex Greese. What could possibly go wrong with a Buttercombe and Yeng Corporation approved weight loss plan?  indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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