"Hi!" Pari smiled and gave me a quick hug before looking at me with a concentrated look, a gave a small shake of her head with an adorable pout, "Your eyes seem swollen. What's wrong?"
"I didn't cry." And that was the moment I realised I was dumb, like I could've said like allergies or dust getting in my eyes but that was what my intelligent mind came up with.
"Soph, what's wrong?" Cate walked towards us, her bag hung over her shoulder, a worried look in her eyes, "If you say nothing I have this self defense punch Pari taught me and I've been itching to try it on someone."
"I'm fine."
"Hey!" Layla came and gave a quick kiss on Pari's lips before noticing the mood among us three and pressed her eyebrows together, "Wrong timing, huh."
"No, it's noth-"
I mean I get that Pari was like a karate black belt and all but she's barely 158, barely 45 maybe and I'm 171 and 50kg but she pulls me across the corridor navigating through the crowd like a rag doll like it was the easiest thing she ever did and stopped when we reached the destination which was apparently inside the girls bathroom.
Once checking that no-one was inside, she talked again, "I know that we've not been friends for long-"
"It's not like-"
Pari raises her pointing finger, despite her adorable features she look pissed, it was then that Cate and Layla joined us, slightly panting.
"Soph, Sophia, I see what you're doing. And I want, we want you to stop."
My heart beating really fast. I was getting scared for some reason, so I did what was natural, I shouted. "Excuse me, what the actually fuck are you talking about right now. I really don't-"
"Not eating, and if you ate going to bathroom and vomiting it out, Sophia, this is unhealthy." It was Layla who spoke this time, saying it slowly and softly, as if choosing her words very carefully. While Cate looked like this was the first time she was hearing any of this.
"Layla and I were talking about this yesterday."
"Yeah, and we care for you, even if we have been friends for like a few months now. I really really like you. I don't want to see you get hurt."
I just stayed silent, not knowing how to react to this. My heart hurt, like a pressure was building on my heart, and I felt tears welling up but kept on blinking. I didn't wanna cry, I didn't do anything bad, I just needed to get healthy, yeah that's it. I needed to get healthy.
I was overweight after all.
I was fat.
I'm fat.
I'm ugly.
I'm still fat.
I'm still ugly.
I can't stop now.
But I lied to them.
"I'll stop."
And they believed it.
