Help Line

fifteen

The table occupied by Emily, Levi, and the Morrinson family was quiet, the majority of the occupants engaged in the menus sat open in front of them. Only Emily and Levi weren't completely focused on their copies of the menu, the two of them glancing up at each other every few seconds.

Emily hurriedly ducked her head behind her menu as she looked up, only to catch Levi looking at her as well. She could feel her cheeks heat up in embarrassment, and she stared fiercely at the words on the menu until they blurred into a mass of incomprehensible print.

She felt ridiculous. Levi seemed to be completely calm even after their unexpected meeting. On the other hand, Emily was ready to lose her shit. She had never imagined meeting the boy she had been talking to in person. In her mind, the scenario had been an impossibility.

Yet here they were, sitting across each other.

Their waitress came to their table carrying six cups of water and a tray of breadsticks. Everyone reached for the breadsticks as the tray was placed on the table, and even Emily couldn't help reaching for one as the tempting smell wafted over her.

You're already going to have to eat dinner. It's better for you to not eat the breadsticks. There's 140 calories in just one of those, a voice in Emily's head said, causing her to immediately retract her hand from the tray with a sinking feeling in her stomach. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Levi glance at her.

She swallowed hard, looking down at the table. Act normal, don't raise suspicion. She could still feel Levi's eyes burning into her, could imagine the pity and worry in his eyes. The image made her clench her jaw tightly, unwelcome to the sympathy Levi might have for her.

A sharp pain made Emily look down at her hands, only to see them tightly clenched into fists, her nails digging into her skin. She unfurled her fingers, watching as the crescent-shaped marks imprinted in her palms slowly started to disappear, wishing, in that moment, that she could do the same and simply cease to exist.

"Em? Hello?" Emily looked up at the sound of Phoebe's voice, only to see everyone looking at her expectantly. She blinked in confusion, disoriented from the thoughts that had just invaded her mind.

"What are you going to order?" Phoebe asked her. Emily silently cursed at herself for getting distracted, glancing at the menu hurriedly. She said the first thing her eyes landed on, and the waitress nodded, writing down her order and gathering the menus before walking off.

Conversation sparked immediately at the table, the Morrinsons and Levi engaging in friendly talk. Only Emily stayed silent, reaching for her water cup with a shaky hand. She didn't know why her hands were shaking so much, why she was feeling so light headed, and why she was finding it hard to get enough air into her lungs.

The only thing Emily knew for certain was that this dinner was not going to end well for her.

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Wow, would you look at that, I actually updated :) sorry this took so long, I've had so much stuff happening during the first few weeks of summer.

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed this chapter! More will come next week (hopefully)