Your Nickle Ain't Worth My Dime (A Sleeping with Sirens fan fiction)

Tomorrow Will Be Kinder

*Jamie's POV* 

We were in the waiting room, taking up the whole thing. Jeydon was pacing anxiously while Kellin was tapping his foot. I had my earbuds in, drumming a beat on my knees and mouthing the words to Props & Mayhem by Pierce the Veil. Damon was half asleep next to me, his knees brought up to his chest and and his fingers tapping against his TOMS. I feel like we did this too often. How many normal groups of friends spent a ton of time in the hospital?

As much as I tried to pay attention to the lyrics of the song, I couldn't stop thinking. Did she collapse because she hadn't been eating? Or could there possibly have been another reason? Ugh, I needed some coffee. Sadly, here in LA, they didn't have Tim Horton's. That means I would have to get Starbucks or the gross hospital coffee. 

I stood up, stretched, then asked, "Coffee anybody?" 

There were a ton of responses, so I pulled Damon and Kellin out of their chairs and had them come with me. We were at the coffee machine, making sure we had enough for everybody when I heard something I really hadn't been wanting or expecting to hear. 

"Hey Jamie," Douche Bag said from behind us. How the fuck did he even get to LA?

I mentally groaned and turned around. "What exactly are you doing here?" I asked him, not really caring. 

"Shit happens," he shrugged. 

"Why are you talking to us?" Kellin asked, seeming like he would chuck this kid out a window if he got his hands on him. 

"Well, I was bored and I saw you guys. What happened? Did Mariah fall and break her foot again?" he asked. I couldn't tell if he was serious or just being an inconsiderate dumbass like usual. 

"No," I answered simply, grabbing some cups of coffee and turning to walk away. 

"What, Jay? We can't have a civilized conversation?" Douche Bag called after me. 

"Not since you showed up to Mariah's house with a gun," Damon replied, sounding more rude than I had ever heard him sound in his entire life. Hash tag plot twist. 

"Aw, c'mon!" Douche Bag said. "We were all such great friends once!" 

It took everything I had not to turn around and throw the steaming hot coffees at his face. I just bit my lip and walked back into the waiting room.

**

"So, do any of you know why she collapsed?" Kellin asked all of us, and I saw Jeydon flinch out of the corner of my eye. 

We knew why in every way he could have meant the question, but should we tell him? I could make it really to the point and just be like, "She wasn't eating." But then, wouldn't it seem like we were terrible people because we knew that our friend wasn't eating the way she was supposed to be, but we hadn't done anything about it? 

Instead of saying something, I just shrugged, but I could tell that it was really bothering Jeydon. "I'm pretty sure I know why," he said quietly. 

Everybody, except Damon and myself, stared at him expectantly. "She, um, wasn't really eating well." And that was it. Her secret was out, but she hadn't even told us. We had just taken it upon ourselves to psychologically analyze everything she did and then expose what she's been trying to hide to the whole world. I really felt like a terrible best friend. 

"What?" Kellin asked, nearly choking on his coffee. "Why?"

We all looked at Jeydon again. Would he really tell everybody this answer? "We think she was trying to impress people and maybe she was just generally really unhappy with the way that she saw herself."

I had to say that I was impressed. He had managed to say everything without really saying anything.

-----

*Mariah's POV* 

My eyes fluttered open in a hospital bed. Ugh, another hospital. I don't really remember too much of what happened, but it must have been pretty bad to land me in the hospital again. As the grogginess started to wear off, I was suddenly aware of the tube that was traveling down my throat. 

I knew it was only because I was thinking about it, but I started to freak out. There was a tube in my throat. I started choking and- even though I knew I really shouldn't- pulled the tube out. I threw it to the ground beside the bed, sitting up and coughing, trying to make it feel less disgusting. I heard the beeps and alarm sounds that I had caused my doing that, but I really didn't care. I was not okay with having a tube down my throat while I wasn't conscious. 

The doctors and nurses ran in, scolding me for taking it out. "Sorry," I mumbled. "Can I see people now?"

Reluctantly, the doctors let one person come in at a time. Of course, Jeydon was first, even though I had heard him arguing with Jamie and Damon just outside of the door. He gave me a gentle hug, like he thought that I would break if he held me too tight. "How you feeling, Mya?" He asked, sitting at my feet. 

"My throat hurts a little," I admitted. "Other than that, I'm fine."

He nodded and looked at me with sad eyes. "That's good. You know, that tube was force feeding you."

"I kind of figured that out." 

"You have to talk to me now," he said, moving up the bed. "You can't act like everything is fine, now. You're in the hospital for malnutrition. You can't lie to me now, hun. So just talk to me."

"I'm sorry," I said, sitting up the best I could. It was honestly so much easier to pretend that I was fine, even when I was kidnapped by some crazy man and broke my ankle. I complained to annoy people, and that was about it. Jeydon was right, though. Now that I was hospitalized for this, I had no way of going around it. 

So I told him everything. My voice cracked as I went and my throat only hurt worse when I finished, but I told him. "My mom texted me earlier, though, and told me that she bought the whole series of Gilmore Girls on DVD, so not everything sucks," I said at the end. I couldn't help it. Being so serious gave me a headache, so the joking came naturally at the end. 

Jeydon rolled his eyes and elbowed my leg. "Can't we have a serious conversation?" he asked.

I shook my head. 

"But every time I asked you something, everything I thought was right?" He hopped off the bed while talking and had to push my hand away from the wires and tubes in my wrist. "Stop that and answer me."

I just shrugged. I mean, he was right, but why did that matter right now? This didn't really feel like the ultimate "I told you so" moment. 

"Okay, sorry. Stupid question, but you'll get help now, right? Or at least let me and Jamie help you? And Damon?" 

"Sure, Jey, but all within reason," I told him. I wasn't just going to go home and eat a ton just because of this. I'd really lost almost all appetite I once had, but I would do my best to get better.

"Well, first step is admitting that you have a problem."

I nodded and instantly knew what I had to do next. "My name is Mariah, and I have an eating disorder."