𝙎𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮|𝙍𝙞𝙣𝙞 𝘼𝙪(𝘾𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙙)

Seven

"Why are you eating that Nina? You're big enough as it already is! You don't need that!" Nini's mom said as she was about to stuff a piece of a pancake in her mouth.

"I haven't eaten all day though. You never buy dinner and I don't have a car so I have no way to get food myself"

"Because you're gaining weight! Lose a few pounds and maybe you'll be able eat what you want. Here try this" she said grabbing a granola bar placing it in front of Nini.

Nini looked down at her body not only feeling ashamed of the scars that covered it but also the way it was shaped. She became ashamed of her weight and started thinking of ways she could lose weight.
Flashback over

"You know what. Maybe I shouldn't eat these pancakes. Im not really hungry anyway" Nini said pushing the plate of pancakes away from her

"Nini we're not going through this again" Gina sighed "I know you're hungry, it was your idea to come here and eat, so eat"

"I'm not hungry Gi. I can hold off for a few hours, I'll be fine. Promise"

"You don't have to hold off Nini. You have a plate of pancakes sitting right in front of you so please eat them"

"Gi-"

"Nini" Gina said matching Nini's energy "Eat" Nini realized that Gina wasn't gonna give in on the topic so Nini decided to eat the pancakes.

That didn't mean that Nini didn't feel bad about eating the pancakes. The calorie count of the pancakes loomed in the back of her mind and she regretted ordering them in the first place.

She thought she had gotten over all the comments her mother made about her weight but they were constantly in the back of her mind.

It came to a point where she didn't want to eat anything in the efforts to lose all the weight that her mother insisted she gained.

She came to school noticeably pale and she looked super sick. Gina noticed her appearance and made her eat something.

After that day, Gina stayed by Nini's side making sure she had something to eat for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Gina refused to let Nini head down that path again. It was one of the scariest times of her life, just seeing Nini like that. She had to protect her best friend as much as she could.

"I'm not letting you go down this path again" Gina grabbed Nini's hand. "I'm here for you. Always" Gina smiled and Nini smiled back at Gina

Gina was really all that Nini had due to the fact that she was her only friend. The only person she was really comfortable around.

Gina was the only one who knew the real Nini. She made Nini to feel safe being herself rather than what others wanted her to be.

•••

After Nini got home she dropped her book bag off in her room and headed into the bathroom that attached to her room.

She took her shirt off and looked in the mirror analyzing every scar, every wound, every mark that her mother left on her body.

She tried so hard to get rid of each and every one but nothing worked. They were each a constant reminder of what she'd been through. How she was never enough. How she many never be enough for everybody.

Although none of them were physically painful anymore, each of them held emotional pain that Nini just couldn't wipe away.

Tears became to stream down Nini's face. She couldn't figure out how she ended up in the situation she was in. Why her mother never showed her affection.

"Nini! Your friend is here!" Lisa yelled up the stairs and immediately knew it was Ricky she was referring to. She headed downstairs and guided Ricky up to her room.

"So uh- we left off talking about the sticky note in your book that said did love drive george crazy or was he just crazy in love. I think that statement is so complex it can be taken so many different ways so while I was in class this morning I wrote down some of my ideas. I guess I'll get those now" Ricky said as he reached for his book bag and gave Nini the paper he had been writing on earlier.

"I like them" was all Nini said before handing him his paper back

"Thanks. We haven't decided on a theme yet but I figured that for each theme we can come up with a few ideas. That we we can pick based on which one we can more effectively make the board for"

Nini hated this. Ricky was being extremely nice to her but working in groups was always uncomfortable for her.

She constantly feared that whatever she said would come out wrong or just sound completely stupid causing her partner to judge her.

She also was always partnered with someone new so talking wasn't exactly something she was very comfortable with doing. She felt bad because she could tell that Ricky was really trying but she just couldn't bring herself to talk to him.

Especially considering that Ricky was one of the smartest students in the class.

"I actually think I left the paper with all the themes we brainstormed in my car. I'm gonna run outside to get it and I'll be back" Ricky said and Nini nodded before he headed out the room.

When he left out the room the smile he tried to hold on his face while with her faded. He was really trying and nothing was working. He couldn't get more than 3 words out of her.

Part of him questioned if he was the problem. Why was she so quiet around him? He's seen her talk to Gina in the lunchroom engaged in a full conversation so why was she always so quiet with him.

He grabbed the paper out of the backseat of his car preparing to head back into her house hoping they could make some progress.

A/N
Poor Nini :( this chapter is super close to my heart because I really relate to a few aspects of it. So I really hope you guys enjoyed and tysm for reading!