Under Control/Joshler

12.

Josh's pov:
"So, you really just... walked out of your own apartment?" Hayley questions me stupidly. "Yeah, I mean, I didn't want to make things worse, you know?". Hayley is the school nurse. She has a punk rock-y kinda style and I dig it. She's always dyeing her hair different shades of the colour spectrum, I think that's why the kids sneak out lessons to hang with her in the nurse room.

"I'll never understand you, Mr Dun" she rolls her eyes playfully with a quiet exhale. Her back turns to the sink to wash her mug, where the mid-day sun beams through the strands of her platinum blonde hair.

I lean my head on my hand, pushing my pasta round the box. "I never asked, what even caused the argument?" Hayley asks as she jumps up on the kitchen side of the staff room and reaches into her pocket for a mint. I sigh when I begin to recap it, "It sounds so dumb, but for a couple of months we've been arguing loads". I carry on telling her the story as I'm cleaning up my lunch. "He decided he wanted to take up exercising and going to the gym, and ever since he has, he's distanced himself from me, physically and emotionally" I check if she's still listening to me and she is. Now, she seems more intrigued and has tilted her head slightly.

"Like, he will never sit down for more than 10 minutes. He's always on his feet and-oh, and he's become defensive when I'd simply ask him if he's ate, but that wasn't the main issue-", "Are you sure that wasn't the main issue?" Hayley has jumped off the side and has pulled out the chair next to me. "Uh, no? I don't think so?" she narrows her eyes at me, then asks me to proceed. "He's always down for an argument. The last argument we had was because I put too much sugar in his porridge" I laugh quietly to myself because it sounds so silly when I'm explaining it aloud.

Hayley glares at me, as if I made a highly offensive joke. "Josh, I'd take this seriously. Stop by my room at the end of the day so we can talk about this further". She leaves the staff room before I can even question her...what?

~~~

Tyler's pov:
Resist, temptation, giving in, guilt, binge and purge.

This is the vicious cycle I've trapped myself in. But, it's been so worth it! I've lost an entire stone this week! It's great. Obviously, playing tonsil tennis with my fingers hasn't been too great. No pain no gain!

I've been food shopping twice since this week because I've ploughed through all the junk food in the cupboards. Also, I've found that soft foods like ice cream and porridge is the best for binging on. The results are amazing.

I glance at my fitness watch, it reads 4:08pm. Oh, yeah, I invested in one of these bad boys. Keeps track of my calories and how long I've exercised for so I don't have to! I examine my face in the mirror for the last time today after scrubbing my teeth and bleaching my mouth with mouth wash. Could it be too soon to start noticing my collar bones showing through? Of course not! Man, why didn't I think of this way of losing weight sooner?!

~~~

Josh's pov:
After my final class ends and all the kids have got on the bus or left with a guardian safely, I make my way across the school to Hayley's room with my back pack over my shoulder and a stomach in knots.

"I'm so glad you came, I was going to leave" she blurts out immediately. She pulls my jacket off my shoulders and hangs it up as soon as I step over the threshold. I appreciate the kind gesture.

"After all the things you've noticed in your partners behaviour, I've done a bit of research and here's a few things it could be..." she spreads out some papers like a pack of cards. They're screenshots from websites she's looked at. "I know what you're thinking, a nurse should know this stuff, bla bla- but you need to match up what sounds more like him" she explains as she pushes her wavy hair behind her ear.