Days had passed since the party, the crew decided to go back to the swimming hole for a summer fun, welcoming summer break. They all took their turns jumping from the rope into the water. The others had already jumped off, it was only Eli and Jere left. Jeremiah glanced over Eli, noticing her arms wrapped around her torso, pulling on her bathing suit.
"It's almost your turn" Jere reminded Eli "oh..yeah I'm gonna go" she said as stood never the edge, watching Jeremiah jump. Her friends cheering her on, encouraging her to jump. Eli took a few quick breaths before finally jumping "fuck it" she mumbled.
She jumped, joining her friends. She forgot about her secret from all the fun she having, splashing in the water. Now, it was time for a friendly game of chicken they got settled and formed groups. On one side were Eli and Jeremiah, the other side? Carine and Hardin, who are already claiming their victory. The rest of the crew watched from up above, on the cliff Jeremiah knelt slightly down in the water so Eli could get on his shoulders.
As she settled in place on his shoulders, he suddenly paused, feeling something strange under her bathing suit. "Your suit feeling weird, almost like tape" his tone casual, completely clueless. Eli's heart raced for a moment, panic almost completely consumed her she couldn't let that happen so, she brushed it off "ah, what? I don't know what you talking about. Let's just focus on the game" she laughed. Jere gave her a questionable look then nodded.
"Alright, yall ready to lose?" Hardin shouted at the opposite team, hyping up Carine. The first few rounds were filled with laughter and banter. Eli usually very competitive, felt uneasy as they played, the tape around her body pulled tightly,making it very uncomfortable and hard to focus. She ignored the discomfort and let her competitiveness take over.
She stretched out her arms to push Carine, a dizzy wave hit her, making her light headed all of a sudden. She quickly got herself together before letting anyone realize she wasn't fine. Jeremiah, sensed something was off "hey, you good up there" he asked, concerned "yeah, yeah I'm good" Eli replied quickly. Eli tried to push Carine, but her arms got weaker and her vision started to blur Carine didn't think anything of it and pushed her. In an instant, Eli and Jere fell back into the water.
Jere swam up the surface "you guys cheated" Jere announced "we won far and square" Carine laughed "we won, we won, we won, you lost, you lost, you lost" Carine and Hardin chanted singingly, dancing. After a few seconds Jeremiah looked into the water and noticed Eli never made it up to the surface. "Guys? Where's Eli" Jere asked "Eli!" Jeremiah rushed to the middle of the lake.
All three of them called out for her. Jeremiah swam down to get her and got her out of the water. They all resurfaced to the cliff Carine told the group everything while Jeremiah did CPR. "C'mon Eli, breathe" whispered, scared that he was too late. What felt like an eternity, Eli coughed water sputtering her mouth as she gasped for air she saw Jeremiah worried face hovering then the realization hit her.
The tape.
The pressure of the tape was too much for her. The dizziness and headache it was only a matter of time before she collapsed. The weight of her secret caused her so much discomfort and stress she had to tell her secret. "I..ive been struggling with my body and..the way it looks" she whispered, her voice barely audible from the sound of the lake. Everyone looked at her confused, ultimately concerned "I've been taping her stomach" she admitted "in hopes to fatten it and i stopped eating because..i wanted to feel perfect, i wanted to be perfect" she admitted.
They all got back to campus and the crew went their separate ways. Jere and Eli went on a drive, suddenly Jere stopped the car. "I still wanna be with you" he announced Eli took a sigh of relief "i wanted to be perfect, like belly" she mumbled "stop, stop comparing yourself to her it's not healthy you need to focus on yourself and the things that matter, but honestly you've been bringing up belly a lot lately" Jere explained, holding Eli's hand "i think the last thing you need is a relationship you need to be surrounded by friends and family especially right now" Jere continued.
Eli sat back in her chair and sighed "but i want you, I need you" she pleaded "no Eli you don't understand you can't be your own constant reminder to better then my ex girlfriend it's not good for you, it's not good for us" Jere stated "wow, ok I get it" Eli's voice cracked, trying to hide her tears "I'm gonna go" Eli said getting out the car "Eli-" Jeremiah got cut off by the sound of the car slamming.
Eli started to walk back to the campus, Jere drove slowly following her "go away" Eli yelled "Eli we can talk about this" Jere in a calm "there is nothing to talk, we're done!" Eli yelled. Jeremiah sighed and respected her wishes and drove off. Eli got to her dorm room, belly and Josie were in the room she met eyes with belly "you stupid bitch, you ruined everything!" Eli yelled, slapping belly quickly a fight happened between the girls.
Josie grabbed Eli trying to restrain her from belly. "Eli, calm down it's ok" she assured "I had nothing to do with this" belly said confused "we broke up because of you" Eli said in her normal voice. "What?" Josie said "yeah, we fucking broke up because of this selfish bitch" Eli said. Eli walked out of the room to get some air.
A few days later, Josie, cam, dave and Luna were in study hall until they spotted belly wearing a hoodie, attempting to cover the scratch on her face. "Ouch, that doesn't look good" Dave laughed, referring to belly "I wonder how Eli is doing?" Cam questioned "I heard she's going to yoga therapy or something" Josie replied "I mean, wow Eli really did some damage that's for sure" Dave snickered with cam suddenly belly walked towards them.
"Hey guys" belly said trying to speak in a cheerful tone "belly, you look...fantastic" Dave said trying not to laugh. "Dave! I'm sorry what he means to say is you look..better" Luna said hitting Dave in his shoulder "it's fine guys, I wanted to know if you were going to the party tonight." Belly informed "yeah, it's actually Luna's birthday bash" Dave corrected as he kissed Luna.
