The Ballerina & The Devil

Sixty. One More Lie

I walked back out onto the porch, pushing aside the guilt the resided in my now empty stomach.

Aidan looked up from his phone and smiled. "Did you get the water for the roses?"

"Yes, I did," I smiled and sat back down on his lap, winding my arms around his neck. "And they look even better in the intricate vase I placed them in. Of course, I had to dump my mom's petunias in order to use the vase, but she'll live. Plus they were yellow, so if anything she should thank me."

"Yellow isn't that bad of a color."

"I'm going to pretend you didn't say that," I patted his cheek.

He chuckled. "You hungry? We can go back to my place, and I can cook for you. I know it's early, but Briella is usually just waking up at this time so..."

"Oh," I paused. "Sure. Yeah, I'd love to have breakfast with you guys. I mean, I can't say I'll eat a ton since I already ate-"

"Demi," he cut me off, giving me a look that clearly indicated he didn't believe me.

"I did! You can even ask Kenzie if my word isn't good enough for you...which, you know, it should be."

He ignored the last part and studied me intently. "And did you keep it down?"

"Of course I kept it down," I lied easily. "What kind of question is that?"

"A good one considering your past and how skilled of a liar you suddenly become whenever the topic is brought up."

"It's called a past for a reason, Aid," I shrugged. "Because it happened before. Not now."

"Demi, I'm really not interested in your lies so-"

"I'm not lying," I stood up and folded my arms across my chest. "But it's nice to know you believe in me."

"It has nothing to do with believing in you, and you know that," he said calmly, giving me a leveled look. "You're sick-"

I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

Well, that was a tad melodramatic. I wasn't sick. I was fine. Perfectly fine.

He ignored me and plowed ahead. "You're sick, and I understand the need you feel to protect your secret, but I can't help you if you start lying to me-"

"Aidan, just stop," I held up a hand to halt his words. "Stop."

"No, I'm not going to stop," he stood up. "You cannot throw a fit about me lying to you about what I'm doing in my life, and then turn around and do the exact same thing. That's called being a hypocrite."

"Yeah, it would be if I were lying," I planted my hands on my hips. "Which I'm not."

"Dem, come on-"

"I'm not! In fact...," I hesitated. "In fact, I haven't made myself throw up in two weeks."

He faltered, clearly backtracking. "Really?"

"Mhmm," I nodded. "I'm two weeks clean."

"No offense, but I'm not really sure if I believe you."

"I wouldn't lie to you, Aidan," I said, keeping my eyes steady as they gazed into his. "I wouldn't. You're the only person that I've been honest with about my eating disorder, and it's literally kept me from going off the deep end. Why would I ruin that?"

"I...I guess you make a good point," he said slowly. "I mean, you seem to be doing well."

I nodded. "I am."

Aidan smiled looking almost excited. "You're really two weeks clean?"

I nodded again. "Yeah. I mean I know it's not a super long time or anything, but-"