Basorexia - J.MAGUIRE

[2.30] wee statue

On the morning drive to school, spirits were oddly high. Ciara however could not look James in the eye now that he knew her secret. She could not shake the feeling that he was watching her every move. It had been that way after they had left the bathroom and ran into the others. She hadn't asked him to keep it a secret yet he did but even then, she worried desperately that he would tell. Ciara hadn't slept that night because of it, even though the logical part of her brain knew that he would not tell. She also couldn't look him in the eyes in fear that it would make her even more guilty than beforehand. This entire situation made the bus ride, where they usually sat side by side, rather awkward.

She had headphones over her ears, music playing so loudly that he could hear the deeper beats and knew when the song was changing to the next. Despite the loud music, her sole focus remained fixated on the book in her hands. He had never seen her read so quickly, the book was clearly insanely interesting and he found reading the scrawled writing she put in the margins rather intriguing. James hated the awkwardness between them, he wished he had never brought it up. He would hate to think that this, well his knowledge of this, had ruined everything. But he was determined to act as if everything was usual, in the hopes it would give her some sort of reassurance that he would not say a word. Unless the time called for such a discussion but he would never, ever inform someone who wasn't already in the know. So he tapped her on the shoulder, gaining her attention in the way he always had. She looked up from her book, finger placed on the line in which she had been reading, then used her other hand to pull down her headphones. He could hear the music much more clearly as they lay against her shoulder yet she made no attempt to quiet them, needing the music as a distraction.

 "You knit, right?" he asked lowly after clearing his throat, not wanting the others to hear and make fun of him.

"Aye, I do," she responded with a soft smile covering up her furrowed brow of confusion. She was rather intrigued to find out where the conversation would go, even if looking him in the eyes remained to be something she was unable to do.

"Could you make me something? I'll give you some money for it."

"Depends what it is," she shrugged, finally reaching down to her pocket to turn off her music.

He hesitated for a brief moment, embarrassment of his request starting to heat up the tops of his cheeks, "A specific scarf," he eventually responded, her interest peaking.

"You got a picture or something?" she queried softly as the ruckus behind them had died down just a little. Neither turned to see why the girls had stopped talking but just hoped they were not listening in, she didn't think they would truthfully listen into their conversation like that. James pulled his schoolbag from his feet and went into the front pocket, pulling out a folded over page from a magazine. She gently took it from him when he passed it over and unfolded it, smiling in recognition of where the scarf was from. "Oh aye I can make that easy. I'll have to go to the yarn shop and make it so... is two weeks good?"

He grinned but fought to hide it but she could still see the crinkling of the corners of his eyes. "Perfect, thank you."

"You're welcome J," she smiled softly, beginning to feel the awkwardness slightly melt away. She went back to her reading, this time forgoing her headphones and from then on used the magazine clipping as her bookmark so she did not lose it.

-

Erin's joy for the day fell the instant she saw Sister Michael in the front of their English class instead of their usual delightful English teacher. Erin went quite ballistic, resulting in a plan that they concocted over lunch that same day. "What if she's in there?" Clare fretted as they stood outside the creaky door to Sister Michael's office.