Not Quite Perfect

Meeting the Family

"Kristy, meet Matthew, Aiden, John, and Sam. Matthew's girlfriend is May, Aiden's is Sarah, John's is Lilly, and Sam's is Erica," Miles says, pointing out the couples. Erica steps forward and glares at Miles.
"I'm not his. I'm not property," Erica says angrily. I laugh.
"I like this girl," I chuckle. Erica smiles and holds out her hand for me to shake. When I shake her hand, she stares at me.
"You're so skinny!" Erica exclaims. I feel Miles's eyes on me so I answer carefully.
"Well, I wasn't always!" I say with a shrug. Sarah, Lilly, and May disappear into the crowd of Miles's relatives.
"Kristy, get some food, okay? I'm going to go meet up with my family," Miles says before leaving. I stand there for a moment before Erica talks to me.
"We've been abandoned. Want to go get some lunch?" Erica asks, pointing to the two tables filled with food.
"I had a huge breakfast. Maybe I'll have something later," I say. Erica nods and goes to get food. I look around and I see Miles staring at me. He glances to Erica and the food table and then looks at me for a few moments before his cousins start talking and he tears his eyes away from me. A chill runs down my spine. He doesn't know, does he?

"No, really, I have three older brothers that get straight A's and go to Ivy League colleges!" Erica exclaims. I wince.
"God, that sounds terrible! With the pressure you're under, if you were a piece of coal, you'd turn into a diamond!" I exclaim. She laughs and shakes her head.
"Yeah, but I have straight A's, and Mom and Dad said I could go to college anywhere I want for whatever I want. But there is pressure, especially when we meet up with family," Erica says. I nod. I'll bet. I have a cousin who's getting all A's and her little sister gets B's and her Mom always complains about it when we care over. Especially when she hears that I have all A's as well.
"Kristy, let's go," Miles says, waking over to us.
"But I wanna stay and talk to Erica!" I whine, clutching her arm. She makes a pouty face at him to help our case.
"Get her number. Let's go! Me, my cousins, and the girls are all meeting up tomorrow for lunch so you'll see her then," Miles adds. Erica and I give in and exchange numbers so I can go. On the way to the hotel, I gush about how his family is so nice and awesome. When we get to the hotel room, Miles changes the subject.
"Tomorrow we are all going out for lunch, so you realize that you'll be eating something, right?" he says.
"Of course I'll be eating something !" I exclaim with fake enthusiasm. I wasn't lying, I'll have soup.

Miles and I are going downstairs for breakfast. I'm so hungry...I haven't eaten for days. Well, I have, but I've thrown up everything. It's been almost a week since I've eaten a small sandwich and I didn't throw it up. As we walk down the stairs, I become dizzy and I steady myself with a hand on the railing.
"You alright?" Miles asks, stopping and looking up at me. I close my eyes for a moment until the dizziness stops.
"Yeah. Just tired, I guess," I say brightly. We go down and I have the same breakfast as yesterday before going and throwing it up. We go back upstairs and laze around until lunch time. I'm so dizzy and hungry. When we get there, I see Erica and I walk faster to meet with her. Miles laughs and remains walking at a steady pace. I went too fast. Black clouds my vision and I think I'm falling. No, I'm standing. Am I falling? I feel myself fall, but before I hit the ground, arms wrap under my shoulders and lift me up. Somebody is carrying me bridal style. I force my eyes open, but I'm so dizzy I have to close them again.
"What's going on? What's wrong with her?" I hear Erica ask.
"I don't know, she just collapsed," Miles's voice replies. I'm not so dizzy anymore and I can open my eyes. Erica's face is right in front of my face and I shriek. She does, too. I turn my head to look at Miles.
"You can put me down, now. I'm fine," I lie, giving him a reassuring smile.
"Okay, but take it easy," Miles says before gently setting me down on my feet. We walk in and the cousins are all sitting down. It's a Chinese restaurant.
"I'll have Chicken Fried Rice," Miles orders. The cousins get different things loaded in calories. The girls, as well. Erica gets Sweet and Sour Chicken.
"I'll have the Dumpling Soup," I order. Miles and Erica exchange a worried look.
"Is that all? Your blood sugar might be low," Erica says worriedly.
"I'm fine. I had a-" I start, and at the same time, Miles and I say 'big breakfast'. I blush and take a sip of water. The food comes and I take a few spoons of the soup, but I don't eat the dumplings.
"Excuse me, I'll be right back," I say to Erica and Miles. The others keep on talking amongst themselves. I go to the bathroom and make sure that it's empty before throwing up the small amount of soup that I ate.
"Oh, my God. I knew it!" Erica cries. Crap. I open the stall door and she stares at me with wide, tear-filled eyes. I silently fix myself up before facing her.
"Are you Bulimic?" Erica asks sadly. I lower my eyes.
"No, I'm on a diet. I hate throwing up my food, but Miles made me eat, and I never throw it up, I just don't eat. But I had to because Miles made me," I ramble. Erica bursts into tears and pulls me into a hug. The way she was acting, you'd think I was Anorexic or something. But no, I'm fat. Fat, fat, fat.
"Erica it's fine. Let's get back before they think that something's up," I say. She wipes the tears off of her cheeks and gives me a wobbly smile. We make our way back to the table and everyone else eats, but I don't. Once we finish, the cousins and their girlfriends leave, but Erica had taken her own car, so she stays back with us.
"Can I go to your hotel so we can hang out?" she asks hopefully. I look at Miles and he nods. After a few minutes, we're all in the hotel room. When the door is closed, she turns to Miles and gives him an awful glare.
"Erica?" Miles asks, sounding confused.
"How on Earth did you not realize what was going on? Do you still not know or do I have to spell it out for you?" Erica shouts at him. Crap, she's going to tell him about my diet.
"Erica," I say warningly. She looks at me sadly and wraps her arms around me in a big hug.
"Kristy, I'm not going to keep quiet about this," she whispers.
"It's not a big deal," I reply nervously. She laughs without humor.
"Not a big deal? You passed out earlier, Kristy," Erica says before releasing me.
"You're supposed to be her boyfriend! If you can't realize that there is something wrong, you need to fix that! You obviously don't pay any attention because I just met her yesterday and I figured it out in less than a day!" Erica shouts. Miles frowns and looks at me.
"Kristy, what is going on?" he asks. I shake my head.
"Don't listen to-" Erica cuts me off.
"She passed out today! She didn't eat anything yesterday! She threw up her soup today! She is Anorexic, Miles! Just look at her!" Erica almost screams. I shake my head.
"I'm not Anorexic, I'm on a diet and I'm still chubby!" I protest. Erica faces me and lifts up my shirt.
"Hey!" I shout, trying to pry her hands from my shirt. Miles curses.
"God, Kristy, you're so skinny. That...that isn't healthy! You're not chubby, Kristy," Miles says, eyes trailing over my body. Erica releases my shirt. Miles grabs my wrists.
"Okay, Kristy, if you're chubby, you must have some muscle. Pull away from me," Miles challenges. That will be easy. I tug on my hands...I pull...I use all of my strength, but I still can't pull my hands away.