vitreous / hs. (DISCONTINUED)

nothing is quite the same

V I T R E O U S - S I X
atlas











IT was lunch again, and I found myself eager to sit next to Arrow. I sat alone, farther from Ines than I was from the boy who yelled every lunch.


As if on cue, the boy stood up and pointed his arm forwards, a sinister smirk pulling at his full lips. "The Bones are back, everyone!"


The entire room burst into roars and laughter, and everyone stood up to point at Arrow and his group of anorexics who walked in through the doors.


All of the skeletal figures held their heads down low, not one even dared to look up. They all had their matted hair hung in front of their faces like a veil, a shield.


Two came towards our table, and I immediately recognized one as Arrow. The other was a bleach blonde boy whom I did not know.


Arrow sat down beside me, and the blonde sat beside him. Finally lifting his head, Arrow glanced at me with his pale eyes, and gave me an approving smile.


"Hi, Atlas." He said, his voice groggy.


"Hi, Arrow."


He rested his bone-like arms on the table, nudging his tray of food away from him with his brittle fingers.


The corner of his mouth lifted into a half smile, and he laid his head down on his arms. "I enjoy that name," he told me. "Almost makes me happy."


He picked up his fork with his fingers, and I was utterly surprised at the fact that he was going to eat his food. But instead of eating it, he only poked at it, frowning.


I only ate small portions of what they offered us here. I didn't need to gain weight again. I had to lose it, but I couldn't starve myself only because I was too much of a coward to do so.


I had tried purging like I did back home on the second day, but I hadn't noticed there were security cameras in every room. They saw me purge, and they came in immediately.


That was when I realized I was being watched every minute of every hour, and I soon became even more self-conscious.


"It's impossible here," I muttered before I could stop myself.


"I need to get out," Arrow mumbled.


"If you ever do," I said. "Take me with you."


"I promise I will." He continued to poke at his food.


The blonde boy kept his head in his arms as he had been since he sat down. I only saw his back move up and down as he breathed slowly, almost with difficulty.


Arrow seemed to notice me staring, and, without moving his head, simply averted his gaze over to the boy.


"Dawn," he hissed, and I noticed him poke the boy slightly with his knee.


The blonde boy lifted his head, sleepy eyes looking over at me. His eyes were of the coldest grey, they were hardly blue. They reminded me of my own, though his were even more drained.


"You're Atlas," he said blankly.


I nodded. "I am."


"I'm Dawn," he spoke without any sort of emotion; his face was blank. "That's all you need to know."


Before I could respond, he had shoved his head back into his arms. I watched Arrow take his bowl of soup, his eyes squinted in concentration as he lay his chin on the table.


He lifted the bowl only an inch off its tray, and quickly turned it upside down, causing the soup to spill all over his tray. He hardly reacted; only a small, childish smile spread across his chapped lips.


As he placed his plastic cup of pills on top of the upside-down bowl, I remembered to grab my own.


I dumped the pills into my hand, and shoved them one by one into the ankle of my socks. I put the cup back on the tray, and took one spoonful of my now cold soup.


When I pushed the tray away from me, I found Arrow staring at me. He furrowed his eyebrows and pursed his lips, never lifting his chin off of the surface of the table.


"How old are you?" He asked me.


"Nineteen," I stated flatly.


"You look much younger," he said. "You've got a youthful face."


I frowned slightly. "It's the freckles."


"And the big eyes," he added, seeming a little lost in thought. "It's okay though, I weigh about as much as a twelve year old should."


"And how old are you?" I asked him.


"Eighteen," he said, playing with his fingers in front of his eyes. "Nineteen in two weeks."


I was distracted for a few minutes, simply dwelling on the fact that a nineteen year old boy weighed as much as a twelve year old should, and on the fact that I was really stuck here.


I picked at my lips, ignoring the taste of blood that was present on my tongue after a bit. I quite enjoyed the taste, to be truthful. It was warm, and it reminded me that I was still somewhat alive.


I watched the clock on the wall tick for fifteen minutes before completely zoning out. I sat unfazed and completely oblivious to everything that was going on around me.


I had been blankly staring at the wall for quite some time until a sharp rattling noise was heard from beside me. It snapped me out of my daze, and I turned to see the boy who always yelled, slamming his tray down on the table.


He turned over to his left, his eyes on Dawn, who's head was still in his arms.


The boy looked at him, a glare in his eyes. I hadn't a clue what was wrong with him, but he scared me.


"Hey," he whispered coldly, his face only inches from Dawn's arm.


Dawn raised his head and jumped slightly at the close proximity of the boys face to his.


"You know what?" The boy said, his lips curving into a sinister smile.


I watched Dawn pick at his arms, like Arrow did sometimes. Dawn was very skinny, but not as skinny as Arrow was. Nonetheless, it was visibly obvious that he suffered from anorexia nervosa as well.


The boy moved his face closer to Dawn's, and Dawn backed away so far he was pressed up against Arrow's side.


"You're not skinny," the boy said. "You aren't near skinny."


"Stop it," Dawn hissed, his skeletal hands sliding up his arms. He was very easily affected by the boys words, and he flinched every time the boy spoke.


"You're getting bigger," the boy continued. "Farther and farther away from where you want to be."


The boy was taunting him; using his own demonic thoughts as a way to get to him and make him feel small. It was intelligently evil.


"Stop it stop it stop it stop it," Dawn's hands crawled up to his ears and he covered them as he continued to repeat those two words over and over again.


He looked so vulnerable, frightened by this boy who was visibly bigger than he was, but also seemed to be the one who was mentally in charge.


I wanted to do something but the boy was overwhelmingly frightening. He came closer to Dawns face and Dawn cringed; Arrow refused to move at all.


"You aren't close to your goal, you're far from it." The boy whispered, his eyes flashing with mischief and satisfaction.


It was obvious that his words were getting into Dawn's head somehow, and all I wanted to do was stop it. Dawn's pleads were of no help to him, and I didn't think I could help much more.


"Stop it," Dawn was rocking back and forth now, his bony hands still covering his ears as he trembled. "Stop stop stop stop stop,"


The boy chuckled, getting as close as he possibly could to Dawns face. He licked his lips. "You're fat."


"STOP IT!" Dawn yelled, his sudden burst catching everyone off guard. The boy simply started to laugh loudly, seeming very satisfied with the reaction he got from Dawn. It was atrocious.


The silence grew inside the cafeteria, and all that was heard were the soft cries of Dawn as he slowly crumbled into a crouched position on the bench, and the laughter of the sick boy who had taunted him so devilishly.


The psychiatrists quickly came and tugged a weak Dawn out of the room, as two more took the boy - who they called Xander - out of the room as well.


I turned over to Arrow, a startled look in my eyes. He shrugged his brittle shoulders ever so slightly and the corners of his lips tugged downwards.


"I'm only glad it wasn't me again," he said.