Welcome to the Family

Hot waves of extreme tension shot through my body. I felt my face starting to sweat even more, although it had been placed over the hot stove for the last hour anyway. I looked out of the window and watched the driving snow turn to rain as soon as it touched ground. It was the middle of January 2010, a year I would never forget.

I wasn’t sure if I had ever been this content with myself. Sure, I’d faced a lot of misery. It all had started early in my sophomore year at high school. Lawrence, my boyfriend of almost a year, leaving me for Monica Van Doyle, the skinniest, but unfortunately prettiest girl I’d ever known, had been my biggest trigger. From that moment on I had lost weight and never really stopped. During my remaining high school years I had been with a shrink, but she hadn’t really been able to help me anyway.
Also, my younger sister Kaylee had been killed in a car accident just as she turned 16 and drove to her friend’s alone for the first time. That had probably been the lowest point in my life. I remember how ashamed I was of myself and my thoughts when my sister’s funeral was being held and I read a passage from the Holy Bible, and all I could think about was how fat I thought I looked.
I eventually got over my sister’s death, although there were times where I missed her more than anything. I skipped school, tried drugs, and appeared to class drunk. My principal had been nothing but understanding and patient, and eventually she’d helped me to turn my life around.

When I finally graduated from high school, I was almost 20, and I dedicated a whole year to healing my eating disorder. The clinic I had been to had featured a cooking program, and I had found myself enjoying it, so after that year, I had started studying domestic and nutritional science as a major and psychology as a minor.
And here I was, taking my final exam, and still slowly gaining weight, I thought proudly, as I slowly cut the freshly made roast beef in thin slices and arranged them next to the caramelized carrots and the small portion of mashed potatoes. Done!

“Miss Victoria Harper?” About an hour later, Prof. McKenzie Stingold, head of the examining board, called me into the room again. The three professors were sitting at the table, all their plates cleared. They were joined by a man I had never seen, smiling at me. “Miss Harper, we really enjoyed your roast beef. Its color was just… perfect. The mashed potatoes could have used a little more of the grated nutmeg, but were still very enjoyable. To cut a long story short, you have passed this class summa cum laude and we will mail you your certificate by tomorrow. But now, I think there’s something else we should discuss”, Prof. Stingold said, smiling at me.
SUMMA CUM LAUDE? REALLY? I felt like jumping and doing a happy dance, but managed to look calm. I was curious, too. What else would they want to say to me? “Miss Harper, I want you to meet Mr. Larry Jacobson”, the man right next to Prof. Stingold stated. “Hello, pleasure to meet you, I’m Victoria Harper”, I introduced myself. “Hi Victoria, or do you prefer Miss Harper?” he asked, shaking my hand. “Victoria’s fine. My friends call me Vicky.”

He took a deep breath. “Alright, Vicky it is. I read your paper on nutrition and psychic traumata, and I would like to hire you as a dietician and chef, if that’s possible.” What? Did this man have some kind of hotel or why would he want to hire me? “I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of Avenged Sevenfold, but I’m their manager, and they urgently need someone to help them with their diets. They’ve been through a severe trauma, and, in my opinion, you’re the right person to do it. What do you think?” The four of them stared at me anticipating.
Phew. It took me a couple of seconds to process what I’d just heard. Avenged Sevenfold? As in… the metal band? I wasn’t much of a fan of them myself, but I did, of course, know their name. I’d only heard and liked this one song with the crazy storyline about this guy who kills his girlfriend, eats her eyes and heart and then rapes her remains, so I couldn’t possibly say I didn’t expect them to be creepy perverts. But then again, it was an opportunity.

“Uh… I don’t know what to say… I’m sort of… surprised”, I stuttered. „What to say? Yes! I know you’ll like it, believe me”, Mr. Jacobson tried to convince me. I just shrugged. I hated making decisions, there was nothing worse I could imagine. After sensing my hesitation, the manager offered: “Alright, Vicky, I’ve got a proposition for you. How about you come just for a week or two and then decide if you’d like to continue? How’s that sound?” Well… A week won’t hurt, right? “Well, it sounds pretty nice indeed. But I think you’re going to have to tell me some more about the band. What are they like? How many of them are there? And where am I going to cook? They’ve been through a trauma, you said? What happened?” I shot all of my questions in his direction.

“All right, I take that you’re interested. Why don’t we go to a café to sort out the details?” Larry offered, taking my arm and leading me toward the exit. While my former teachers shouted their goodbyes and good wishes in my direction, he was already talking about a nice café he’d seen just about two miles off campus. Gosh, that man was so bubbly and over-talkative, but I found myself quite fond of him.
After giving my order, I quickly excused myself to the bathroom. What on earth was I doing, I thought to myself. What happened to the anxious, timid Vicky, who took half an hour to decide just on a pizza topping? Now I was seriously considering making a life-changing decision just after a couple of minutes.

I looked at myself, this strange and so familiar-looking girl in the mirror. My make-up had mostly disappeared due to the sweating, so my much-hated freckles appeared on my nose and cheeks. There weren’t many, but I didn’t like them at all. Although also most of my mascara was gone, but my eyelashes were still long and black, just like they were without any make-up. They were a nice frame for my deep grayish green eyes, the only feature that I really liked about myself. My long, almost straight blond hair hung down in messy strands, looking like I hadn’t had a shower in days. I felt disgusted by my appearance, so I quickly pulled up my hair in a tidy bun again and applied some lipstick. Better. I took a step back. My clothes were tidily ironed, but still too loose on my skinny body. Gaining weight really took its time. I smiled at myself before returning to Larry.

“So, basically, after Jimmy, their drummer, died, we tried to help them grief together by putting them into a rent apartment where they are currently living, just the four of them. But all they did up until now was eating junk food and smoking weed. We’d really like to get them back to their original selves.” Larry began. Interesting. I immediately started feeling sorry for the musicians, I knew what it was like to lose someone very dear. But it would be a challenge getting to them. Everyone processed their grief in a different way. Thinking about myself shortly after Kaylee had died, I suddenly wasn’t so sure anymore. It would have been difficult for anyone coming into my life at that time. And I was going to be pretty close, I supposed.

Larry continued talking: “After that, we’d like to do a tour. Different from what we had so far. This time, I want them to be busy all the time, so they will be driving, putting up the equipment and helping with the stage, and again staying in vacation houses, not in hotels. I want them to spend time together, get to know what people used to do for them. Like you wrote in your paper, occupy their minds so their bodies can heal. And when their bodies are healed, the mind will soon follow, right?” He stared at me.
“So, I’d be traveling with them, right?” I asked. “Indeed. And to begin, you can either live in the house they have right now, or in the tiny apartment next to it. I’d recommend the apartment.” To this day, I have no clue what overcame me, but I heard myself mumble: “Interesting. I think I’m doing it.”
“Is that a yes, Vicky? I need you to say it”, Larry grinned, already noticing how tempted I was. Finally, I stated: “Yes. Yes it is.” And that was the beginning of my adventure.

Notes

Hey guys! I'm new here, and this is my first story so I'm glad about everyone reading it, and of course I'm going to appreciate every single comment, and of course I always have an open ear for any kind of criticism. But before that, there's one thing you must know about me:

I am not from the United States, so:

1. I'm sorry if there's anything that seems unlikely to you. For example in this very first chapter, I am not sure about the American university system, although I did some researches on it.

2. My grip of the English language probably isn't what you're used to, although I am really trying to avoid mistakes.