Thin Line

Chapter 12

Winter break could not have come at a better time.

For the past two weeks I have ignored all of Justin's phone calls and messages.

However, tomorrow school comes back.

Great, now ignoring him will not be as easy.

Not talking to him is already hard.

And I know how hard not talking to him while he is sitting right next to me is.

I step on the scale.

The number is actually one I am not too upset with.

I have managed to get this far.

"Sierra!" My mom calls me downstairs.

I just need to tell her that I have a stomachache and cannot eat, that is an excuse I have not used in a while.

"I will be right there!" I call down to her.

I sigh before grabbing my phone and heading downstairs.

I walk down the stairs and see all my family at the dinner table.

I stare at my messages, I have fifty unread messages from Justin.

Before I can even open my mouth to tell my mom why I need to skip dinner, my vision goes slightly blurry before getting worse, the quickly fading to complete black.

And that, is when my body just gives up.

Next thing I know, I hit the ground.

•    

When I wake, I notice everything around me is white.

A needle is stuck in my right arm.

My parents and sister all sit in chairs to my left, all three asleep.

Why am I in a hospital?

"Mom?" I ask, waking all three from their slumber.

"Sierra." My mom says, getting up and hugging me. "We thought we lost you." She says, tears leaving her eyes.

"What happened?" I ask her.

Why am I even here.

"Sierra, you nearly died, they said you probably haven't eaten in over a week, is that true?" She asks, pure heartbreak in her eyes.

Justin was right.

He was right.

I did almost starve myself to death.

"Yes." I admit.

There is no point in lying now.

"Sierra, do you even know how much you weigh?" My mother asks me.

I respond without thinking, telling her the number.

"Sierra, why?" Hannah asks me, she is crying too.

"I don't know, I guess, I was just trying to lose a little bit of weight." I tell her.

"But why, Sierra, you have always been perfect." My mother tells me.

"You are my mom, you are supposed to tell me that, Mom, I know I am fat, you don't need to try and tell me otherwise." I tell her.

"Sierra, that isn't true." She argues back.

"Yes it is mom, stop lying to me." I demand.

I am tired of continuously hearing all these lies.

"Sierra, what happened? Why are you suddenly thinking like this?" She questions me, continuing to cry.

"Mom, it isn't sudden, it's been months, it just took until now for anyone to notice, I guess." I admit to her.