Geradine's POV

The day before Sophie left:

Why can't Sophie just understand? All the time she's either screaming at me, stuffing her face with junk food or listening to that god-awful screaming sounds she calls 'music.' Why? God knows why! I never had these problems with Lauren. Lauren was a good girl just like Sophie was until she's gotten into this... phase. And Lauren never struggled with her weight either. Lauren was always petite, a perfect little dancer. I don't know what went wrong with Sophie. I've always brought her up with healthy food and encouraged her with exercise. Now, I mentioned to her once the other day about maybe going out for a run or doing some exercise and she starts screaming at me that I'm shallow! When I walked back into the kitchen an hour later, there was a McDonald's AND KFC bag thrown in the trash. Empty. God knows how this girl eats so much! Not that there is anything quite wrong with her, but she just needs to find herself again. My little Sophie was always more trouble than Lauren. Frankly, from the second she was born I knew that she was going to be trouble, with the dancing situation and everything. She was such a fat baby that I can't do my ballroom dancing anymore. Was it really worth it? Sacrificing my beautiful ballroom for the daughter-from-hell that doesn't appreciate one little thing I do for her? I sent her to a nice school, helped her stay in connection with her friends by allowing her to bring them over all the time and of course all the connections I've made for her. The connections! Oh, God, the connections! I've already lined up many people that were willing to help Sophie become a doctor. And what does she tell me now? Oh, she doesn't want to be a doctor! She doesn't want to be a dentist either! She was rambling on with some crap about dentists and suicide, as if that really matters! All I want is for Sophie to become bearable again.....

Three weeks later

It's been three weeks since Sophie has left to Fran's and I think I'm experiencing Empty Next Syndrome. I've been looking through her baby albums and the pretty dresses she used to fit in. I hope that once she's done with Fran, she'll be a whole new Sophie! One that looks thin again, who likes having a nice chat every now and again. Of course Fran will be bathing in the fact that I couldn't control my daughter that I had to ship her off to my sister. Why, she loves it! I'm sure of it. 'Oh, Gerry can't control her rebel teenager. Big surprise! She Sophie to me because I have the compassion and the ability to get along with people! If she can't handle her daughter, imagine her when she was a nurse!' Oh, God, I can just see her now. With her little art studio and the books she's illustrated. Framed, presumably. It's just like Fran to keep holding onto things like this, so she can mention it in the next Family Gathering. Well, it's worth it if Sophie can stop being such a hassle and come back to reality. I worry about her. What is she going to do if she isn't going to become a doctor? Become an artist like her perfect Aunt Fran? Ha! Hardly.

Chapter 1 and 2 Review Questions

1.  "Sophie".   Sophie describes her feelings towards her mother and her aunt. What does she tell the reader and how does she feel about each of them?

Sophie has so much resentment for her mother bottled up within her that it's ridiculous. She feels hatred towards her mother because she thinks that her mother isn't treating her equally to the other members of the family. I can see why Sophie has so much irritation because her mother is incredibly rude and would drive anyone to the point of insanity.

Fran, however, she is unsure about. She thinks, from the few times that they've met, she's a pretty cool Aunt who is casual and nice. I guess she just wanted anyone to escape from her mother. She likes to make her mother jealous by talking about Fran in a conversation. She loves to brag about Fran just to make her mother annoyed.

2. "Fran". What two feelings is Fran trapped between?

Fran is quite bi-polar in chapter 2. At first, she hates the idea of her troubled niece, Sophie, coming to stay with her for a while. After the recent passing of her husband, she had decided to move into the house that her parents left for her and to just have some nice, quiet time painting and relaxing. Beginning again. So, when she received the phone call, she could have said no. She was thinking nasty, terrible thoughts about how her sister was dumping her daughter onto her and she resented that but she still agreed to it. Through the chapter, she decided that maybe if she improved Sophie, she could rub in Geraldine's face because she brought her daughter up better than her actual mother. This sister-rivalhood was very apparent in the chapter.