Quiet & Riot (Scomiche)

Chapter 42

It had been a week from hell.

At first I would just act like I'm okay around Scott, my friends, and my family. I would laugh at jokes, smile when posing for a picture with the kids at school, pretend I was excited when Avi called asking if I wanted to Skype-in to an interview. But nobody knew that I would lock myself in my bedroom at night and cry for hours on end.

And then it got worse... 

I wasn't eating as much. 

Mom was the first to notice, not-so-descretely giving me larger portions of food at dinnertime and even trying to cook some of my favorite meals and deserts to try and get me to eat. 

She never did actually talk to me about it though, so in turn I never talked to her about it.

Mike on the other hand either didn't care, or didn't notice. I didn't think much of it because I wasn't really expecting him to anyway.

The first few days after what I've now dubbed "The Video" went viral, I tried to put on a brave face and move past all of the hate. In fact, I don't even remember when food started to look unappetizing, or when I started to weigh myself on my parents' scale every night before bed, but it must have stemmed somewhere from the video.

Oh right, that one comment that would end up hurting me more than I ever thought it would:

"Everyone is saying that Mitch is unattractive but I think he would be really cute if he'd just like lose a couple pounds or something. Like he has a great bone structure and a nice smile. He's just a little chunky."

I guess that's when I started trying to lose weight. 

In addition, I slowly began to trim my bangs so that they would be shorter but not so drastically that anyone at school would notice and point it out. Scott of course noticed it immediately, complimenting my trim and telling me I looked gorgeous.

Before I would have blushed and thanked him, genuinely feeling gorgeous and basking in a compliment from my dream boy. But now, it just went through one ear and out of the other. I knew how people really felt about me, and I couldn't for the life of me understand why my poor, sweet Scott was still seemingly in to me. 

Unattractive. That's what they say.

And no matter how hard I pushed back, Scott still texted me every night before bed wishing me sweet dreams. He deserved better than me.

And then my poor friends.

Kirstie, Alex, Nichole, Naomi, Kate, and Jake. Bless their hearts for still wanting to be my friends and not thinking I was as gross as the rest of the world seemed to.

Kirstie was the only one who knew the video had upset me. I didn't even tell Scott, and I probably wasn't going to. 

Having Kirstie worry about me was enough and I didn't need my boyfriend to be so worried about me that all he ever asks about is how I'm doing. Hell, I couldn't even talk to Kirstie anymore without feeling like she's just worried I'll fall apart at any second. 

When I told her that Scott and I were in a relationship she looked more worried for me than she did happy. It was upsetting and I wondered if she just knew Scott was too good for me.

"I thought you weren't ready for a relationship though." She asked with an almost sad expression on her face.

"Well, that's what I told him at first. But I really like him Kirst, and I'm ready... I think."

"Okay, well I'm happy for you! When did this happen?!" She prompted, finally giving me a wide grin.

"A couple days ag-"