MAE HAD a long discussion with her parents on the phone after the nurse contacted them. It was actually the first time they had spoken for this long since Elio was born.
Louisa thought the nurse was worrying for nothing. 'Everyone has already skipped a few meals, it's nothing serious,' she assured her daughter. Mae had tried to explain to her that she had restricted herself and that she had not skipped a few meals but several. Too much.
Her father seemed to understand the seriousness of the situation, her mother not so much. She said it was normal to watch your weight when you were athletic. She didn't see that Mae's behavior was dangerous.
Even though Louisa didn't understand, Mae realized what situation she was in and she really wanted to get better. But it wasn't that simple. She quickly realized this when she went to the dining room the next morning. The girls waved at her in excitement and she went to sit with them.
"Are you feeling better?"
"Is everything okay?"
"I'm fine, thank you. I was just tired." the brunette replied.
She looked at everything on the table. Pastries, cereals, cakes. Everything disgusted her. Just looking at all this made her feel like she was getting fat. She grabbed a kanelbulle and cut it in half. She forced herself to eat half of it before pointing to all the flowers placed everywhere in the room.
"What's all that?" she asked her friends.
"It's for Valentine's Day." Fredrika explained. "It's one of Hillerska's oldest tradition. It starts during like the 18th century with students who were writing love letters or peoms to each other. During the week, the guys write love letters to the girls they are interested in, but they are sent out anonymously. And then, it ends with a masquerade ball. If you find your secret admirer, you go to the ball together!"
"We wear real 18th-century dresses and wigs." Stella added.
"That sounds fun." she nodded. "Can we write letters too?"
"Why? Do you have someone in mind?" Stella asked with a smile.
Mae immediately shook her head. "No, I was just wondering."
Her friends shared amused looks that were showing they didn't believe her. "Okay, whatever you say."
★
When Mae opened her locker, she found a letter there which seemed to have been slipped inside. She frowned in surprise and opened it.
Mae,
You have no idea how many words you inspire in me every day, how many emotions pass through me every time I see you.
These words would describe to you everything you make me feel and they would teach you that even the grayest of days seems sunny to me when you appear.
These words would tell you how much I want to hold you in my arms and how much I hold myself back from doing so, fearing that you will stop for a moment lighting up everything around you with your smiles.
I would have liked to give you this letter in person but it have to be anonymous, that's the game. So I put it in your locker hoping that you will like it, as much as I like you.
A giant smile appeared on her lips. She didn't know who sent her this letter but it was the sweetest thing she had ever read. She looked around to see if she could catch the author but there were only people studying or chatting.
The bell rang and the young girl grabbed her notebook before closing her locker and running to class. She arrived just before the teacher closed the door and entered the classroom. She sat in her place next to Madison who leaned over to talk to her.
"Why are you smiling like that?"
"I received a letter for the ball."
"Really?" Madison exclaimed and her friend signaled her to be quiet.
"Want to share anything with the class, girls?" the teacher called out to them.
Both girls shook their heads innocently. "No, miss."
"As I was saying." the teacher continued, giving them a look. "You are going to prepare a presentation in pair for next week. I want mixed pairs so I prepared a bowl with all the boys' names so that the ladies can come and draw a name one by one. Layla, please start." she said, pointing to one of the girls in the front row.
The girl stood up and put her hand in the bowl. She took one of the piece of paper and looked at it. "Simon."
A few other girls went to do the same and the teacher then called Mae. She stood up and grabbed a paper. She read it and smiled. "Henry."
She looked up at the table where he was sitting and he gave her a big smile. She returned to her seat and Madison gave her a knowing look that Mae decided to ignore.
When all the pairs were formed, the teacher explained to each of them the themes on which they would have to work and then let them go to work. Mae and Henry decided to go to the cafeteria. Henry told her he had something to get from his room so she took out her computer while waiting for him to come back.
When he returned a few minutes later, he handed her a box. Mae looked at him in surprise and opened the box. Inside, there were lots of little pieces of cut-up fruit.
"I thought it would be easier for you to eat than a full meal. And since it's fruit, I figured you wouldn't feel guilty eating it." he explained.
She felt her heart sink. She stood up and hesitated a second before taking a step closer to hug him. "Thank you." she whispered. "This is so sweet of you."
He hugged her back with a soft smile and she then pulled away, trying to hide her cheeks which were red again. "Shall we start working on the presentation?"
"Yeah, sure." Henry nodded.
The hour passes quite quickly. Henry was very funny. Mae had rarely laughed that much. Only, they had laughed so much that they hadn't really made any progress on their work.
"I think we're going to have to work on it this weekend." Henry pointed out.
"Yeah, what about Friday night?" Mae stated.
Since there was the ball on Saturday evening, she wouldn't go home to her parents that weekend, so on Saturday afternoon, she would go into town with the girls to find accessories to complete their outfits.
"Yeah, Friday sounds nice." Henry nodded.
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