Jessie's Journal (6/30/26) (Patreon)

Dear Journal:

I had three job interviews today.  All of them went pretty well.  None of them brought up my checkered past, and I was polite, respectful, and not at all snarky. However, it did take all my strength not to comment on the bovine-sized employees at Burger World.  I swear, they were all north of 200 pounds.   

“You seem like you’d fit in here,” the interviewing manager said with a smile.    

Of course, I would.  I was already in the required weight class.  If anything, I’d look skinny next to some of the girls I saw, though adding me to the overcrowded kitchen might be a safety hazard.

When I got home, Mom and Dad were at work, and I hoped to have the house to myself.  Instead, sissy was sunbathing in the backyard.  I swear, for such a popular girl, she has surprisingly little on her social calendar.  At least she added something to her summer itinerary beyond eating, sleeping, and sulking.    

It's funny, for all the “support and encouragement” Dr. Chen told mom and me to show Michelle in her time of need, it was the one person in the family who didn’t get the message who finally roused her from her room…

“You’re not staying in here all summer,” Dad yelled when she was still in bed when they got back from church Sunday morning.  “Now, get up and clean this pigsty!”

Say what you will about tough love, it works sometimes.

Watching sissy emerge from her room was like watching a bear come out of hibernation.  Nah, strike that; she isn’t that big.  It was more like watching a groundhog waddle from its burrow. 

Uh-oh, she can see her feet.  That means six more weeks of winter!      

(Sorry, I need to get out the snark I have stored up from my job interviews.)

Seriously, though, I could see why Dr. Chen was so concerned.  I've never seen sissy care so little about her personal appearance and hygiene.  She looked pasty, pudgy, stinky, and a host of other alternate Disney dwarf names.  (Sorry…more snark.)  It was like she'd given up.

Michelle’s summer plan, before receiving the letter revoking her scholarship, was to get in shape so she'd be in "scholarship athlete form" come Fall, but now that that was out the window, her plan seemed to be “get fat for winter.”

That certainly seemed to be the case as I looked out at her lounging in her Chaise, a Dr. Pepper in her right hand and a bowl of Doritos within easy reach to her left.  Don’t get me wrong, she did her share of sunbathing with snacks last summer, but it was complemented by stringent exercise and a flattering swimsuit.  Now, her only exercise was walking to and from the refrigerator, and her swimsuit was no longer flattering...

It was fattering.

Last year, Michelle looked like a shimmering gem in her emerald-green bikini.  This year, it was obvious her gem membership had been revoked.  The only thing left shimmering was the pale flesh oozing from her overtaxed suit.  Still, she sat stoically on her throne, a jewel in denial, her sunglassed face tilted proudly toward the sun.

With her sunglasses on and her face skyward, I didn’t think she could see me, but she slowly turned her head as I ogled her through the window.  She beckoned to me with her finger, and I dutifully opened the back door, expecting to be scolded for spying. 

Instead, she surprised me--

“Care to join me?”

“Sure,” I said way too eagerly, as if a cute boy had just asked me to prom.  I hated myself for that. 

Things got better once I put my new suit on and went outside, however. 

More to come!

--Jessie