Aria's Story

~ Chapter 9 ~

Look at you, listening to Hunter and trying to get better. That's pathetic. You're never going to get better, you are always going to be fighting this stupid eating disorder and you are never going to see another day of brightness without it.

"Shut up," I say to myself, trying to drown out the voice in my head. It's been a week since I agreed to try to get better, and it's been one of the hardest weeks of my life. Hunter has been helping me to; he calls me literally every five hours, making sure I eat and making sure I'm okay.

I get off of my bed and walk downstairs, instantly smelling delicious pancakes. As I get closer to the smell, I notice that it's coming from the kitchen. I swing the door open, and walk in. I look around and see pancakes and a note sitting on the table with a glass of water. I walk over to the table and sit down. I smell the food, and it smells absolutely delicious. I start eating and before I know it, it's finished. I quickly drink the glass of water as I get up off of the chair. I put the dishes in the sink and decide that I will wash them when I get home from school, or maybe Reagan will since she gets home before I do.

I look back over to the table, and notice that I never saw what the note said or who it was from; I walk back over to the note and start reading it:

Good morning, Aria. I came over and made you pancakes this morning. I decided it would be nice since you've been working so hard this week; I was going to stay but I had to get ready for school. I love you, and I'll see you at school.

-Hunter

I smile at the note, and then get up. I grab my phone and decide to say thank you to him in a text before getting my stuff and going to school. After I sent him the message, I make myself a turkey sandwich and a few cookies for lunch. I put them into my lunch box and then quickly grab a water bottle and put it in there too. I put my lunch box in my bag and then I put my bag on me.

I walk outside and decide on walking to school.

~~

I walk through the halls at my school; people look at me and gives me such mean and disgusted looks, and then most of them push me out of the way. I look down, not wanting to see anyone else's face, I don't want to see another disgusted look.

"Don't let them get to you," I chant to myself, trying to fight the tears that are threatening to fall.

"Hey, Aria," I hear someone say. I look up and see Hunter running towards me. When he notices my sad expression, he says, "You alright?" He looks at me with so much concern that it's hard to look at him. I look away, looking down. "Come on, you can tell me anything."

"I'm just perturbed. Just leave it at that, okay? I don't want to talk about it," I say, a little too harsh. He nods, and gives me a tight hug before walking with me to our first class. "I'm sorry, I just don't want to be here, at this school, anymore. It's too much."

He nods. "I understand that and I'm not leaving your side at all today, you won't have to fight this battle alone, okay? I love you, and I'm going to be here when you need me the most. I promise."

And he didn't; he stayed by my side throughout the whole school day. When people gave me mean looks, Hunter gave them one back and told them to back off. They listened, probably because they didn't want to get between anyone. This is one reason why I love that boy; he's the best thing that has happened to me this year and I hope he stays with me for the years to come.

~~

Hunter has called me about four times, asking me if I'm okay and if I needed him to come over. I told him I was okay and that I didn't want him to come over because I was probably just going to take a nap. He kept calling, though. He knew I wasn't going to go to sleep, he knew I was probably just going to sit on my bed and think about anything that's bothering me.

I wasn't fine, though. I was dejected, and I could hear my sister fighting with one of her friends about a guy who was supposed to call her last night but didn't. I look through my phone and delete all of the old messages I still had on there, which took about forty minutes. I look around my room and decide to organize a little because it was starting to get a little messy in here. 

I look through my phone once again, but decide to read an article I found on the internet about how easy lying is to some people and how it's not so easy for other people. As I get further through the article, I hear someone walking up the stairs with the sound of high heels on, and then a soft knock on my door came after that. "Come in," I say, wondering who was at my house. I don't think anybody would even bother talking to me, except Hunter. My door opens, and Nicole appears behind it, with a huge smile on her face once she sees me. "Hey!" She sits on my bed and I follow her, sitting right next to her.

"Hunter told me you agreed to get better, and I think that's amazing! I'm so proud of you," She says as she gives me a hug. "You are such a strong and brave person, and I look up to you so much. I know you're going through a lot right now, and I just want you to know that I'm here for you and I'm never going to leave you. Hunter and I are never leaving, whether you believe me or not."

"I believe you," I say more to myself than to her.

Maybe I'm just a girl who's trying to find her way back to being normal and happy. Maybe I don't need to be healthy and get better. Maybe I just need to find a way to pretend to be getting better but just be getting worse, so I don't actually have to gain any weight and I can really lose more weight. I would love that, oh my god.

I just want to show everyone who I really am and what I really want in life; I want to be skinny, thin. I want to be beautiful and see myself as just that. I want to stay with Hunter forever and be with him until we leave the world. I want to stay friends with Nicole because she's my best friend and I love her so much. I want to be happy and skinny. Why does everything I want never come true?

"Hey, I have to go though," Nicole tells me an hour after she came over, breaking my train of thought. "My mom wants me home for dinner and I think Hunter said he wants to hang out with you tonight so get ready. Love you!" She exits my room as I jump up and get ready before Hunter gets here.

I hear Hunter talking to my sister downstairs and I walk down the stairs to find them talking about books and movies. Hunter looks over at me and instantly smiles, and he says, "You look absolutely beautiful, Aria." He walks over to me and gives me a peck on the lips and a giant huge, whispering that he loves me in my ear. After that, he took me to a fancy restaurant and we spent the whole night together, enjoying each other's company and showing one another how much we love the other with so much passionate kisses.