The NeverLand Kids

Chapter 22

Reece strolled to lunch, pulling up her (Dez's) sweatpants once more. Then, rolled up the sleeves to her (also Dez's) jumper. "I should've just gone home." She muttered. "Hey, Reece, wait up!" A voice called. She grinned, "Hey, Timmy! What's up?"

"I'm on my way to Trig. But I was wondering if I could ask you something."

"Of course! What is it?"

"Can I take to you to the movies on Saturday?"

"Are you asking me out?" Reece laughed. He looked at the ground, "...Yeah, kinda."

She giggled again. "I'm free after four, so I'll meet around five thirty?" Reece asked. "Yeah, that's great!" Timmy grinned. "So, five thirty at the Main Street theater?" He clarified. She nodded, grinning.

It started with an off topic discussion about college. That got Dez thinking. Wait, isn't Greg a senior? He thought. That's mean next year, he'll be at college. Next year, he won't be sharing a room with me. He'll be sharing with someone else. But I'll be okay. I'll be with Ms. Artolwiski. We'll be taking care of each other. I'll be okay.

No, you won't. Because you still that chubby, eight year old boy that needs his big brother.

Dez's health teacher says that people like Dez have anorexia. And that the nickname of the voice in their head is Ana. So, he guesses he should start calling it that. Dez grinded his teeth, No, I'm not. Ana laughed. If Dez thought she'd go away, oh boy, was he wrong.

She was there, constantly remembering him, that in reality, he was the same chubby, forgettable boy he was seven years old. This lead to Dez getting angry {read: hurt} and falling apart. Now, he was yelling at the boy. The overweight one that his parents constantly forgot to pick up. The round one that love hugs and cuddles. The happy one that always had his camera. The ugly one everyone made fun of. The weak one that spent more time crying in bathroom stalls than learning. The one that cried so damn much. "Why couldn't you learn to stand up for yourself? Always needed Greg to pick up the pieces! Always wanted food and cuddles. I hate you for that! Why'd you let yourself get so big? You'd cry as they teased you but still ate everything. You could never say no. Why couldn't you say no?" The boy's bottom lip began to quiver. Greg's name about to fill the air. Before he could, Dez threw the nearest thing. His phone. Shattering the mirror image of that little boy. Dez did the only thing him and that boy had in common. He hid in his closet and cried.

"Dez?" Greg's home. He was climbing the steps. He dropped his soccer bag at the top. Greg walked in their shared room. And gently knocked on the closet door, before opening it. Dez looked up at him with tear stained cheeks, "I got mad at him, again." Then, reached over and slammed the door shut. Greg sighed. Afterwards, he went downstairs to retrieve the broom.

Greg knocked at the closet door, once. Balancing a plate of pumpkin cake in one hand. Since the closet door habit hadn't died, maybe this one hadn't either. Greg set the plate down and opened the door. He put Dez out before sitting him on his lap. "What happened?" He asked, stroking his hair. "You'll be at college next year. And I'll be here. Needing my brother. No matter how much I pretend. Just like that little boy." Dez didn't start crying. Just curled into Greg. "It's alright. I made your favorite!" He stated, passing him the plate. "Food can't fix everything." Dez said, weakly. I..I like pumpkin cake. A small voice stated, weakly. Ana told it to shut up. It whimpered. Dez took a breathe and picked up the fork. After three plates, Dez would've ran to the bathroom...but Greg started rubbing his tummy and he fell asleep.