#Chapter 95: Back to Normal…For Now

Over the next couple of days, things go back to normal. At least as normal as they can be now. I’m not able to hide my appetite or my newfound desire for meat. I tell Mom it must be my hormones. The stutter is becoming difficult to hide, mostly because I don’t want it anymore. I’m finally free of the one thing that placed the wrong kind of spotlight on me and when I finally get the chance to be free of it, I have to fake it again. I just have to remind myself that it’s temporary. Alex and I meet Hailey and Lenard for a double date, and it’s like nothing has changed. Except Alex isn’t shy about public displays of affection, though I wonder how much of it is a put-on for shock value. It works. We meet at the diner down the street from the school. As soon as I walk in, I can smell grease and meat, and my stomach starts to rumble. “I have to hide my appetite at home so Mom doesn’t get suspicious,” I whisper to Alex, who can’t help but cackle. I nudge him in his rock-hard belly. “It’s