Aria's Story

~ Chapter 2 ~

"Are you going to eat that, Aria?" Danielle, one of my friends, asks me while we sit down at our table in the cafeteria. We've been sitting at the same lunch table for as long as I can remember and it's great, because we have so many memories here.

Don't you dare eat. You're fat, you need to lose weight.

"Uh, no. I'm not hungry," I say as I fake a smile at her. "I'll just eat when I get home."

The rest of our group of friends comes and sits down shortly after that; Emily is the youngest out of all of us. Hunter and Michael are born in the same month, but Micheal is three days older than Hunter. Blair is the oldest and smartest in the group. Danielle and I are both older than Emily, Hunter, and Michael, but not by much. Our birthday comes a few months before theirs. Danielle is older than me by a month and eight days.

Hunter has light brown hair and gorgeous blue eyes. He's on the football team and he's amazing at what he does. Blair has dark brown hair and she has beautiful brown eyes. She's on the soccer team and she's been the goalie for almost four years now. Danielle has beautiful blonde hair and the most gorgeous blue eyes. Danielle and I are the only ones in our group who aren't in any sports. Emily has gorgeous blonde hair and pretty brown eyes. Emily is on the volleyball team and she's absolutely amazing at it. Michael has handsome brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes. He's also on the football team.

Danielle looks over at me and says, "Are you sure? I haven't seen you eat lunch in forever. Is everything okay?" Danielle has always worried about people when things don't feel right and when she sees them doing something not everyone does. She doesn't know about my eating habits and she doesn't know that I lie about eating.

"Danielle, I'm sure. I've just been eating a lot for breakfast,"

The more I lie about eating, the more I feel comfortable and used to it. It's been almost three months since I've chosen to stop eating and to throw up when I do eat. It's most likely not healthy, but at this point in my life, I honestly don't care. I hate eating, it just makes me feel guilty, because I'm fat.

Good girl. It's good that you chose not to eat again. Before you know it, you'll be skinny, and you won't have to worry about people accepting you for what you look like, because then you will be beautiful.

"Hey, guys. I have to go, I'll see you guys later." I say as I get up and make my way towards the exit.

As the day passes by, I feel more and more hungry and it's making it hard for me to focus. The final bell rung and I sigh in relief. I pack up my bag and head for the door and then to my locker. I put my books in my locker and close my locker right when I hear someone yell my name. I turn around towards the voice and find Hunter looking right at me with a huge smile on his face. He walks toward me, never taking his eyes off of me.

"Hey, Aria. How was school?" He asks. He has always been there for me when I needed him and he has never left me even when he had plans with his girlfriend. When I need some help or if I need someone to talk to, Hunter is always there. I love Hunter and he's a great friend.

"It was okay." I say

"Did something happen?" He asks when he notices that I don't look happy. "I mean, it's okay if you don't want to talk about it. I'm here for you, no matter what."

"Thanks. I don't feel like talking about it right now. Maybe later?"

"That's alright. See you later, Aria. I love you." He says as he walks off in the direction towards his house. 

Do you think he really cares about you? Please. If he really cared about you, he would have walked you home and made sure you were okay. 

"Shut up. I know he cares about me," I say to myself, trying to reassure myself that I'm right.

~~

As I get home, I can immediately smell fresh pizza coming from the kitchen and many laughs. "Was that the door?" I hear my sister ask someone and then I see her come running out of the kitchen towards me. "Hey! Are you hungry? I ordered pizza."

"Nah, I'm good. I'll eat later," I say while walking over to the stairs before looking back over to her and saying, "It looks like you're having some fun already. Who's here?"

"Oh, yeah. I invited some of my friends over. I hope that's okay with you. I'm sorry I should have asked you first." 

I shake my head and say, "No, no. It's totally fine. You don't have to ask me to have friends over. I'll be in my room if you need me, alright?" She nods and walks back into the kitchen without another word to me. I walk up the stairs and go straight to my room.

Your sister only invited her friends over so that she had an excuse to not be around you for longer than five minutes. Let's face it. She hates you and so does everyone in your family. 

I try my best to ignore the voice in my head. It's like no matter how much I try to ignore the voice, it won't stop and it keeps going on and on about how I'm fat and that everybody hates me. I hate it but it's been here for months now and it won't leave me alone.

"Everybody said she was a winner. No one knew the secret kept within her. Starving for perfection. Hating her reflection"  My phone starts singing Never Good Enough by Rachel Ferguson and I quickly answer the phone with a simple, "Hello?".

"Hey, Aria. It's Nicole."  Oh god, no. This cannot be happening.

Nicole Pope is someone who you don't want to talk to. She's a bully and she likes making people hate themselves. I've never said a word to her since she turned mean because I've always been afraid of what she might do or say to me so I just kept quiet near her. She scares a lot of people and she's just evil in every way possible. I have no clue to how she got my number and to why she's calling me. That scares me even more.

"Hello?" I say, my voice coming out as quiet as a whisper.

"I'm at the restaurant across from your house. Come over here now. We need to talk." She says as I start panicking. 

"Okay."

Nicole and I used to be friends when we were in the middle school but then something happened and she turned against everybody. She never told me or anyone what happened or why. She basically made two people be her friends by paying them and making them stand by her throughout the whole day so that she wasn't alone ever. She used to be a very nice girl, but now she's the exact opposite of that.

I don't know what she wants to talk to me about and I'm really terrified about finding out.