Basorexia - J.MAGUIRE

[3.50] stars

"Woah what's with the glasses?" Chelle asked the instant that Chip appeared at her side in the hall. She had been to her secret bathroom that morning and decided to just bite the bullet and wear the glasses, instead of just hiding them away as she had for the past five days. She had pulled them out during the times where she really could not see the board but had quickly whipped them away when anyone would turn around - luckily she sat at the back of the majority of her classrooms. But she was rather sick of hiding them and having to squint at the board so she just gave in and ignored the stares she received from others as she walked through the corridors.

"I'm going blind," Chip shrugged, beginning to nervously rock her feet within her boots.

Orla, who stood at the very end of the line, poked her head out so Chip could easily see her face as she asked, "Can I try them on?"

"Sure Orla," she laughed before pulling the frames from her head. She handed them to Clare, who after peering into them herself, handed them to Orla. She, after thoroughly looking them over, placed them onto her face and started to chuckle. "Everything looks so funny," she announced as she pulled the glasses back off, handing them to Michelle as Chip was too far away to reach.

Michelle brought the glasses to her eyes and looked through the lenses, immediately scowling. "Christ alive, how blind are you?"

"Significantly apparently," Chip chuckled as she took her glasses back, beginning to clean them on her jumper. Once she had put them back on, she looked towards the front of the stage and found it particularly odd to see it without having to squint whatsoever. Ever since she had even begun at that school, she had to squint just a little to see it all clearly. Her attention was dragged away as Clare tapped on her shoulder then engaged in some sort of attempted broken sign language that she could not decipher whatsoever. Chip looked at Michelle and frowned, "What's going on?"

"Children in need, she's not talkin'," she explained with a vexed sigh, clearly already annoyed with Clare's hand gestures.

"Ach right I forgot about that."

"Hey, I passed! I passed!" James grinned as he proudly displayed his certificate to them all. Ciara instantly beamed, muffling her smile away to as not be suspicious. She however struggled more to hide and fight the sudden and completely overwhelming urge to hug him right then and there.

"What are you on about?"

"My driving test I... I passed," James repeated, the immediate joy in his eyes beginning to falter and despair completely.

"You were doing your driving test?" Erin inquired with a frown, clearly not remembering the dozens and dozens of times that he had bought it up over the past weeks. The fact that they all go clearly ignored  him half the time really aggravated her, given that he knew pretty much everything about them and cared to listen to whatever they were saying. He didn't seem too particularly bothered by it most of the time but now he just looked plain hurt and disgruntled. The seemingly unfightable urge to hug him got even stronger then, so much so that Chip began to crave the feeling of his arms around her and the smell that would envelop her because of it.

"You've seen my instructor pick me up at the gates a dozen times. What did you think was going on?"

"I just thought he was some kind of creep," Michelle answered with a soft, barely noticeable sigh.

"Yet you didn't try to intervene?" he asked sadly, all joy and pride falling from his face at an instant.

She shrugged, turning her attention to the front of the hall, "You seemed happy enough."

"I see..." James grumbled as he tucked away the certificate into his pocket and joined them all in the line.

"Well I'm proud and happy for you," Chip whispered to him as Sister Michael attempted to get the halls attention. She had to lean slightly closer to him so Michelle, who was at James' left, would not hear a word and catch on. Though it wasn't a particularly romantic thing to say. "And I would hug you but..."

He smiled brightly, the pride beginning to return to his face. The assembly was the usual thing really. Jenny Joyce and her friend danced at the front and Sister Michael almost instantly shut it down, not able to deal with the sight - many students would agree and were rather glad of it. Then Peter, the priest, made an appearance with his greasy eel like pony tail that made both Chelle and Chip physically want to boke. He mentioned 'the stars in their eyes' night but then added something that grabbed Michelle's immediate interest. The chance to perform their song live on tv.

After the assembly and much convincing from Michelle, the girls all agreed to partake in the performance and they were quick to choose a group to be. "Great, we'll practise tonight, sleepover round mine?"

Ciara suddenly snapped back to reality and out of her excitement filled giddiness. She physically recoiled and suddenly stammered. "Oh um, looks like I can't do it, therapy and all that," she cleared her throat and desperately fought the frown that pulled at her lips. She was slowly getting to the point where the therapy was taking over her life, instead of the eating disorder itself. Which Rosa again assured her was progress and that they were rather close to dropping her sessions down to weekly, instead of bi weekly as they were now.

"Can't you skip it just this once? This is important," Michelle asked genuinely, completely not intending to be rude or anything similar. Chip could just tell she was genuinely curious and wanted for her friend to be involved so she didn't miss out.

"Not really Chelle. They get a bit arsey, think i'm hiding things," she explained reluctantly, feeling marginally uncomfortable with divulging such info about her sessions even if it was pretty much the most broad thing she could confess.

"Well what are we gonna do now?"

The guilt was beginning to eat its way into Chip's brain, her shoulders sinking as a tell tale frown pulled the corners of her lips down. "I'm sorry I-"

"I'll do it," James interrupted, stunning everyone (including Ciara) into complete silence as they all stared at him with widened eyes.

"Sure you will," Erin laughed.

"I'm being serious!"

"You'll be a spice girl?"

James subtly glanced at Chip, who quite luckily sat next to Michelle so it didn't look too suspicious. He took one look into her eyes and instantly responded, "Yes."

-

Later that same day, as the group were walking down the corridor to their last lesson of the day and planning their act, Chip took one look around herself then grabbed James' hand. She pulled him behind something they could both easily hide behind, for a private conversation where they could for once act like they were together in school. It was quite a tight space though, with only a small gap between their torsos. "Are you sure you want to do this? I mean I could cancel, Rosa might be fine with it," she half whispered, not feeling it would be appropriate to talk at a usual volume given their close proximity.

"No love, you need to go. And it's fine, looks like fun really," he responded softly, briefly clearing his throat.

She, while believing him fully, just wanted to double check. "You'll have to wear a dress, possibly a wig, you know that right?"

"It's fine," he replied after a hesitation filled with an uneasy glance and wide eyes. His voice was at a slightly higher pitch than before.

She smiled brightly and leant up to place a kiss to his cheek. She whispered, "You're a grand person James Maguire." He smiled then wrapped an arm around her waist, gently pulling her closer before he pressed his lips up against hers, her stomach flipped and her legs somewhat weakened as she began to thread her fingers through the curls at the nape of his neck.