Chapter 757 Hurting Without Meaning To

I managed a weak smile. "Guess I've been out of Lake City too long. Not quite in tune with the local flavors anymore." Two years in Mandala had wiped the taste of home from my memory. After a brief pause, he cracked a small smile and took my hand. "Come on, let's go. We'll find another spot." I blinked, confused. "But why? This place is fine, I..." I began, yet was cut off. "Yvette." That voice cut me off mid-sentence. I turned to find it, and for a second, I did not even recognize Sweety, standing there with a kid in her arms. She had changed so much, ballooned up, and it was like the young girl I knew had morphed into a middle-aged woman overnight. Her features, once delicate, now seemed lost in her fuller face, and her skin had taken on a greasy sheen, dotted with angry red spots. A double chin was giving her neck a run for its money. Even her baggy dress could not hide the belly that jutted out. I stared, trying to reconcile this version of Sweety with the girl I had grown up