Anna had initially been quite supportive when her friend Sally said she was going into the Program. If that was what she wanted to do then more power to her; Anna’d seen some of the girls who’d gone through it and they seemed happier than ever, so why not? Sally had always been the type anyway, and who was she to tell her friends what to do anyway?
Then she did a little research. Or rather, one off-hand comment read somewhere planted the teeniest- tiniest little seed of doubt in her head. Nothing major, just enough to get her thinking a little more about it, which was all it took really.
Soon she was poring through forums and so on, reading through obscure lists of facts from sources no-one could really pin-point alleging that the Program had a nefarious element no-one was really willing to talk about.
Suggesting – for example – that the sunny, giggly disposition of those who completed it was not the result of positive thinking in action but rather hours upon hours of subliminal suggestion and aggressive brainwashing. Or else that their improved physical qualities – so to speak – were not simply the result of some diet and exercise but some rather more permanent solutions. Anna was stunned.
Worse, there was the occasional slightly worrying story about one girl going through the program and then, one by one, all of their friends eagerly signing up as well. Girls who up until that point had never expressed any interest in it. Some who, in fact, had sworn up and down they would never even deign to read the material giving themselves over to their have lives turned around. Anna always felt a little bit of a shiver when she read those stories.
Anna was so caught up in finding out all she could about the Program that she failed to notice Sally coming up behind her, failed to notice her now buxom and ditzy friend positioning some earphones just above her head. She noticed when they came down of course; noticed and struggled a little. A little, but not much. She understands that she’ll be a lot happier soon. In fact, she’s looking forward to it.
Wow. Change ‘Sally’ to a different name, and friend to sister, and it’s almost like this is a picture of, and a story about, two girls I know. Which makes it incredibly hot.