Thin (boyxboy)

Ice Cream

James stopped eating when he got called fat at an audition for a new ballet company.

"You're very talented... James, is it? You have so much potential and we believe you could work for the company... someday. But right now we're looking for someone with a bit less meat on their bones."

"Oh." Was all James could manage to get out without bursting into tears. "Well, thank you."

"We look forward to seeing you in the future, James."

"Thank you," James said, his voice breaking. He quickly walked out of the room so nobody could see him crying.

James was not fat. But this world was a competitive place and if losing weight was what he needed, then James would lose weight.

At first, it wasn't bad. He skipped a few meals here and there. He watched the pounds drop off. Eventually, the weight kept falling off. 5, 10, 20, 30. He would spend hours working out, and looking at his body in the mirror. "Am I skinny enough yet?" He wondered. His friends started to notice.

"Hey James," said James's best friend Alex said. "You're looking like... much skinnier than usual dude. Your thighs are like half the size they used to be!"

"I'm trying to lose weight for an audition Alex. It's no big deal."

The shrill sound of the bell rang, reminding they boys that they had to get to class.

"Hey I'll see you at practice alright Alex?"

"Yeah, okay." Alex replied. He felt defeated. He really didn't get much of an explanation from James. James was extremely athletic playing 2 school sports along with ballet. Why did he think he needed to lose weight?

His mom caught on. She didn't see her son much, but after getting home from her overnight shift in the ER one night, she was surprised to find her son asleep on the couch. She gasped softly. His shirt was on the ground. She could see every bone in James's chest. His ribs were protruding from his body, and his legs were the size that a young child's should be. How could she not notice? If she had spent more time with her son, would this still have happened? But she reminded herself, she probably could not have prevented this. Eating disorders didn't listen to reason.

Before she could say anything to James the next morning, he was gone.

"Hey dude, you excited for the game today?" Alex said as he walked up to James.

"Of course, man. I'm starting center today." Said james excitedly.

"Well done. You're the best player on the team, even as a freshman."  Said Alex.

"No I'm not." Said James. He hated complements.

"Dude no need to be humble with me. We're best friends remember? You're the shit man."

James laughed. "Thanks dude."

"Alright boys, huddle up!" Yelled the coach of Alabaster Academy's boys varsity lacrosse team.

James and Alex stopped warming up and ran to join the huddle. James's head was pounding. He hadn't eaten since the night before. Why didn't he remember to bring Gatorade? The coach gave a pep talk and James decided he could suck it up. He needed to be good in the game.

"Break!" Yelled their coach.

James got into position. The center for the other team was his height. But double his weight.

The whistle blew. At first the game was going well. Then the biggest player on the team checked James. James fell to the ground, with the player on top of him. The other player got up. James made no move to. His arm was twisted in a position he thought it couldn't. His breathing got heavier. His head hurt. He was too weak to stand. Everything was fuzzy. He heard someone call for a stretcher....

"He's severely underweight. He should weigh over 50 pounds more than this."

"Oh my god..." his mother said.

"How could we let this happen?" His father asked.

"Eating disorders are not something that you can just control. It takes over them. Sometimes it takes extreme force to make them stop. Sometimes patients with anorexia can't stop. He's lucky to be alive."

And that's how James ended up in a feeding clinic. Luckily he was only an inpatient for 2 weeks. He was there everyday over the summer. They told James to get a job. Something that could occupy him before he was allowed to go back to sports . The doctors at the clinic said they might not allow him to dance again.

So he got a job at an ice cream shop. He might as well face his problems head on.

Evan walked down the street of Alabaster's downtown area. "Oh! Ice cream!" Evan said. He walked into the shop to recognize a familiar face.

"Hey... James?" Evan said as a question. He couldn't quite remember his hot new neighbor's name.

"Hi Evan. What would you like?" James asked, smiling.

"I'll take a small blackberry chocolate chip in a cone, please." Evan said, smiling back.

"That's the best flavor we have. It's my favorite." James said.

"That's what I always ordered back home," James said shyly.

Evan paid for his ice cream and left.

"So what school are you going to anyways?" James called to Evan before he exited.

"Alabaster Academy." Said Evan.

"Well I guess I'll see you in Monday."

Hey yallllllllll!!!
Sup?
So idek how long it's been but it's been a while. I'm sorry I haven't updated but I've had school and sports and when I don't have that I'm in the school play so basically I have no time woooooooo!!!!

But I'm procrastinating my homework until tomorrow anyways, so I decided if people were actually reading this, I'd update. So I hope y'all like to story so far. Sorry I kinda went out of order in James's story because I didn't realize I should have probably put his whole lil backstory part in his first chapter. But anyways, how are y'all? Comment and vote if u wanna! Love you guys!

-E