Following Isaac Read Online Free Page A

several workout videos over the years and nothing had ever been effective. I just ended up cheating or giving up when it became too difficult. I was relatively sure I needed the peer pressure that came with going to a gym, but the same peer pressure that could help me succeed could also keep me from going in the first place.
    I lost thirty pounds one time in eighth grade by eating only baked potatoes for a few months, but gained it back almost as quickly as I lost it. I knew in my gut that real exercise was the only way to get the results I wanted.
    "I think I might need to sign up for a gym or something."
    "You should do kickboxing," he said. "Then you can kick that guy's ass if he rejects you."
    "I'm not losing weight for him," I lied. I only did it because somewhere in the back of my mind I thought it might make me seem like a crazy person who would go to any length to get a guy.
    "You look fine like you are," he said, just like any good uncle would.
    "I'm not saying I look bad," I said, sighing. I was glad he was preoccupied with tinkering with his new toy, because I needed to talk it out, and he was content to sit there and listen. "It's just that I've never been the hot girl—never the center of attention, unless it was because I was being funny."
    "And this guy makes you want to be the hot girl?"
    "I guess."
    "Well, you have the face for it. It's almost completely symmetrical."
    Only from him would I get a compliment like that. I felt a rush of hot blood move to my cheeks when he mentioned me having a good face . The symmetrical part was funny and made it a bit easier to swallow, but that was a backhanded compliment I'd received several times over the years, and it stung every time. One time, someone said, "You'd actually be really pretty if you lost…" They trailed off before saying the word weight or suggesting the number of pounds I should lose, but offense had already been taken. At least five other times in my life someone had said, "You have a really pretty face." I always wondered why they couldn’t just say, "You're really pretty," but for some reason people felt compelled to add the 'face' part. Maybe it was so I didn't misunderstand and think they thought my body was pretty too. Well, guess what—I wouldn’t.
    Anyway, all those memories came rushing back to me when Greg said I had the face for it. I was glad he was busy with his metal detector and didn't see me blush. "I'm not trying to say I think I could get that guy, no matter how much weight I lost," I said, clarifying.
    "I don't care who you're trying to go out with," he said. "Just don't start gagging yourself."
    The thought had never even crossed my mind. I hated throwing up, and would much sooner exercise than do it intentionally.
    "I don't even know where to start," I said.
    His gaze snapped up to meet mine. "Someone gave me a card for a gym the other day. I think it's supposed to be a thirty day free trial."
    "How long do you think it'll take me to lose weight?" I asked.
    "How much are you trying to lose?"
    "I don't know, really. I guess about fifty or sixty pounds."
    "Probably longer than thirty days," he said.
    "I figured that, but I was just wondering what sort of time frame I should expect."
    "You're talking to the guy who can't gain weight to save his life," Greg said.
    "I seriously can't imagine making a statement like that."
    "You look fine," he said, feeling bad for me.
    "I know I'm not bad looking, but I want to be the girl Isaac Charles walks up to because he wants to meet her, not because he wants to be nice to a fan."
    "So you are losing weight for him."
    "Noooo, but it was meeting him that made me want to lose weight."
    He stared at me as if wondering how that was any different.
    "Let me put it this way… I have no chance in hell with a guy like that, no matter how much weight I lose, but today, I wasn't happy about how I looked and I just feel like I want to make a change."
    That was a mostly true statement, but somewhere, way