Only Emptiness Remains

Breaking Point

Brittany reached into her pink purse. She hastily pulled out her mascara wand, eyeliner pen, and eyeshadow palette while in the tiny bathroom of her doctor's office. As the teenager was doing this, she took a look in the mirror to examine the damage.

Just as she had suspected, her mascara and eyeliner were smudged. The dark streaks running down her face were very obvious. But other than her messed up makeup, there was something else that was really bothering her about her appearance.

It wasn't a full-length mirror, so she couldn't get a good look at her body right now. But her face seemed to look even more fat than it did just a few days ago. How could this be possible?

She'd been consistently weighing herself in the mornings. While it was slower than she would have liked, her weight was steadily going down. It would give her a feeling of satisfaction that only lasted temporarily.

Brittany sighed, convinced that she'd see better results if she could just stop eating altogether. But she couldn't do that. And it made her feel so weak. A feeling she hated so much.

The auburn-haired Chipette was feeling so overwhelmed, her ice blue eyes were glistening with unshed tears again. She was experiencing the urge to purge right at that very moment. Except that there was literally nothing for her to throw up. She had emptied all the contents from breakfast out of her stomach this morning, skipped lunch at school, and went straight to her orthopedist appointment after school ended.

Brittany then shook her head and tried to focus on the task at hand. She finished freshening up her makeup and fixing her hair. Once done, she exited the bathroom with her head held high. She had to gather everyone together for a meeting to share the good news.

Later that day, the Chipettes went over to the Seville house. The three girls had gathered in the living room, along with the Chipmunks and Dave. Brittany wanted to make sure she had everyone together in one place as she made this particular announcement.

The teen Chipette smiled widely as she held up the clearance letter up high for the whole group to see.

"Guess what, guys?" Brittany started out in a cheery voice, hardly able to contain her excitement. "Dr. North finally cleared me to perform again! He did say I've got to be careful not to push myself too much, and start off with simple choreography. But still, I can go back to performing with you guys!"

The Sevilles' living room then erupted with claps and cheers from all corners. Everyone got up from their seats and took turns congratulating and hugging Brittany. Though the eldest Chipette had been avoiding eye contact with them all. She didn't want to fully reveal everything that was currently on her mind.

"That's wonderful news, Brittany!" Dave said as he beamed. "And to celebrate, why don't you girls stay over for dinner tonight?"

The three Miller sisters looked at each other, smiled, and nodded in agreement.

"Great, I'll go order a pizza then. Theodore also baked an apple pie we can have for dessert."

Although, despite her smiling and nodding along with her sisters, Brittany was having some serious reservations on the inside about staying for dinner with the Sevilles. Just like on Thanksgiving and Christmas, she knew it was going to be extremely difficult to hide her secret from everybody. She hoped that this time around, nobody was going to notice her barely eating.

"I'll tell you what else," Dave continued. "After I order the pizza, I'll make some phone calls and see if I can get a gig for a joint show. I know a few venues that would be so excited to hear that The Chipmunks and The Chipettes will all be on stage together once again!"