We ride for a while and I could say I wish it'd never end but I'm super hungry and if I don't eat I might pass out. Literally.
My stomach growls again and due to how my body's pressed against Hernandez he feels the rumble so he glances back in a swift second.
"You hungry?", he asks and I don't even hesitate, nodding eagerly. "Let's grab some food then", I nod again to that cause it's a very fine idea.
We make a stop at a burger shack and I take my time to get down from the bike.. don't wanna fall, especially not in public. I've done that too many times.
As I take off the helmet, Hernandez gets down. I hand it to him and he takes it with a small smile.
"C'mon", he says and we walk into the restaurant. He leads us to a table and I'm glad when it's next to a window. I like window seats.
Hernandez puts his bag aside while I grab the menu. I sigh when I see there's nothing healthy on it..
"Can't make a choice?", he asks and I look up. Oh believe me I can but I'm too bent on not adding weight that I might actually starve and kill myself.
"Uh.. yeah..", I trail and he nods.
"Yeah me neither but I hear their onion rings are good", he says and I nod. That's gonna add so much calories to my system.
I drop the menu, "So what'd you decide on?".
"Uh.. water looks.. fine", I stretch and he raises a brow.
"Uh.. okay?", he stretches as well and then calls up a waiter to place our orders.
"So um, what's up with you and Noah?", he asks and I sigh. It's like everyone around me wants to talk about him. He's everywhere, school, home.. even here with Hernandez!.
"Nothing", I say and he nods, biting the bottom of his lip.
"What happened to your neck?", he asks and I hum in question but then realize what he's talking about so I slap my hand on my neck.
"It's uh.. it's nothing.. just a bad rash", I tell him.
"Oh should I take a look at it for you?", he asks with concern.
"Oh no, no it's fine", I assure him with a tight smile and he nods.
The waiter comes and places fresh good looking food on Hernandez's side of the table and then places water on mine.
He looks at me after thanking the waiter, "Are you sure you're okay with just water?", he asks and it reminds me of Asher. That jerk.
"Yeah",
"I thought you said you were hungry though", he points out and I shake my head.
"Uh no, ran out of appetite", I say and he nods.
"Okay", he says with a shrug and picks up his burger. I watch as his mouth makes contact with it, taking a big bite from it, his teeth sinks into the beef and lettuce and I can't help but drool at the sight of gloriousness.
Hernandez chews and when he catches me staring I look away gnawing at the insides of my gum.
"The um..", he stops to swallow, "Burger's good", he mentions and I can't thank him enough for the information. Note my sarcasm.
I smile, a strained one, "Be right back", I say then excuse myself from the table. I head to the restroom, I clench on to the sink.
I feel light headed, almost sick. I take a few deep breaths then splash some water on my face.
"You're okay", I tell myself although I wasn't sure.
I walk back to the table rendering a smile at Hernandez when I sit down. He was done with his burger now and his onion rings were the next target.
"So uh, should we leave or is this place good for you?", he asks and I'm lost in his slurpee, just one sip even if it's a drop. I'll take it.
"Uh Abby?", he asks and I look up.
"What?", I ask, resuming my normal thoughts and leaving the hungry one aside.
"I asked if you were good with this place?.. hey are you okay?", he asks in pure concernment. He's so nice, almost like he knew I was slowly dying here.
"I'm fine", I say.
"You sure? Cause you're looking very tired..", I don't know if he trailed from his speech but I can't hear anything anymore. Just silence, yeah that's it.. silence.
**
My eye lids lift up and I try to steady my gaze. "Where am I?", I ask trying to sit up but someone pushes me back down.
I turn to see my mum, "Mum?", I ask.
"It's okay honey", she coos patting my hair down.
"I'm hungry", I admit and she nods.
"I know, I ordered some food for you", she says with a small smile.
"What'd you order?", I ask. I have a feeling she'll order a meal with full carbs and everything to make me gain weight faster than you can call out Abraham Lincoln.
"Only healthy food", she assures and although I have doubt, I nod. I notice we're at the hospital and I'm on a bed with a drip connected to a vein on my left hand.
"What happened to me?", I ask.
"You passed out", she says with a sigh, "Honey I told you, starving isn't going to solve anything. It's just going to mess with your mental health",
"I don't want to be fat", I tell her as she caresses my cheek.
"It's alright honey, we'll talk about this later. You should eat first", she says helping me sit up then gets off the bed to grab something from the table beside it.
She places a footed tray over my legs. I groan, although my stomach growls at the sight of the take outs. Knew she was lying.
"Please Abby, don't make this hard", she says and I sigh.
I peer into the bag and I swallow when I see the contents. It's everything I like, well not that there's much I don't like but.. she bought all my favorites.
She certainly didn't want me to have another choice. She knew I wouldn't resist. I mean c'mon.. there's no way in hell I'd say no to that.
I offload the bag, gulping as the sweet smell hits my nose. I pick up the cheeseburger first.
This is gonna make me add so much weight. It's gonna make me super fat and I'm meant to lose not gain. I'm already weighing so much, I don't need this. More weight equals more bullying, more shading, more snarky comments, more downgrading.
My mum notices me hesitating so she says, "It's just for today. I promise I'll cook only healthy meals and order healthy meals as from tomorrow. Just take it as the last time you'll eat junk.. so savour the moment, hmm?".
I nod then turn back to the cheeseburger. Due to my long contemplation, I unknowingly hold it for too long. My fingers press the buns and some of the cheese falls out and onto the tray.
I put it into my mouth, taking a rather big bite. Oh dear lord. I shut my eyes and chew, slowly and carefully, I want to get the whole taste, I wanna taste everything. From the beef, to the cheese to the buns even.. I wanna taste everything.
When I'm done with the burger, I focus on the fries and waffles at the same time. I nod as I chew, yup just right.
**
My mum and I wait out the door as the doctor slowly approaches us. Due to his scribbling on paper, he takes time to get to us.
When he finally reaches us, he looks up, "A miss Flenory?", he asks and we both nod so he looks between us.
"I suppose it's you", he gestures to me and I nod again. "Okay..", he trails then goes to his little clip board in hand.
"They say you fainted but I don't think there's anything wrong.. no ailment or whatsoever. I'm thinking it's probably fatigue or lack of food so I'll just give you some appetite boosters and-", I cut him off.
"No!", I exclaim and it takes them by surprise. I look around and notice eyes on us.
"Uh I mean, no.. I um.. I don't need that", I say stuttering and the doctor, Dr Sharma by his name tag, raises a brow.
"Why is that?", he asks and I look at my mum for help.
"Well you see, she's actually um..", my mum trails at a loss of words and I don't blame her. I'm sure she's trying hard not to let them know I intentionally starved myself because if they do they'll have the wrong idea in mind and by wrong idea I mean eating disorder.
"She was on an intermittent fasting.. something she wanted to try out", she says sheepishly and Dr Sharma nods then turns to me.
"Well that's fine but if you want to lose weight you'll have to do it in a more healthier way. I suggest healthy meals and exercise", he says then scribbles something on his clipboard.
He rips the paper then gives it to us. My mum takes it and I peer over her shoulder to see what was on it but the handwriting was not in anyway legible.
"I don't think I can see-", my mum starts but he cuts her off.
"Just give it to the nurse at the pharmacy. Have a good day", he says then struts away probably to his next patient.
After we got some drugs from the pharmacy we left the hospital and came back home.
I take my shoes off tiredly, slowly making my way to the stairs but then my mum stops me half way.
"Honey?", she asks so I turn around.
"Yeah?", I ask.
She hesitates with a sigh escaping her lips and with a tight smile she says, "Everything's gonna be fine, okay?".
I try to give her a smile too but it comes out strained, "Mhmm", I nod with a hum and she nods too.
I continue my walk upstairs, getting into my room. I fall on my bed, sighing heavily. My eyes hold a gaze with the ceiling and it stays that way for a while.
Just me and silence.
Author's Note
Thank you guys so much for 30k reads. Thanks for all the likes and comments as well. I love you guysâ¤ï¸