The dining table was spread with enough food to feed a small army, but my stomach felt like it was tied in knots. I sat between them—my mother, who was beaming with pride, and Vaughan, who was a wall of silence. The clinking of forks against porcelain was the only thing filling the gaps in my mother’s endless questions.
"Honey, do you see Angel?" Mom asked, leaning back to look at me with a critical, loving eye. "She’s grown so big! When I was in school, I could never keep any weight on. I was so thin, almost like a stick. But look at her! She’s all chubby and cute now."
Vaughan didn't look up from his plate immediately. He cut a piece of steak with a slow, surgical precision. Then, his eyes drifted toward me. They didn't just look; I saw it. They lingered.
They traveled over the curve
