Hattie isn't anorexic... at least she thinks she isn't. That is until Cole comes along and points out the error in her ways. Can Cole save Hattie before her time runs out or will she just become a skinny love lost right before this bad boy's eyes?
Walking into school on Monday, I keep an eye out for Cadie or Harper. If they catch sight of me I won't be alive to see the next day. My eyes are drawn to the ground, my head hanging low. Today I wear a red, cropped t-shirt, ripped blue jeans and my Adidas trainers. Normally, I wouldn't wear this but I need to stay hidden from my hunters. I finally make it to my locker but when I see it, it's covered in something. What is that? When I get closer I can see that "FAT BITCH" is painted on my locker in red. I can't ignore it because the books I need for first period are in there. Out of the corner of my eye I see Cadie snickering to Harper. So, instead of letting it show that this hurts me inside, I simply approach my locker, take my books out of it and walk to class. I don't turn around to see their reactions but judging from the looks of everyone's faces around me, they aren't happy.
I still have 10 minutes until class so decide to walk the long way round. As I turn the corner next to the science block I hit into someone. At first I thought this was Cole again but as I look up, I see a different face. Brody Baxter, aka Cadie's on-again-off-again boyfriend... and he doesn't look happy to see me. I try to run before he says anything to me but he grabs my wrist and forces me against the wall. "Hey Hattie. How are you? Haven't seen you since my girlfriend was beating you up outside school on Friday." I ignore his venomous voice and try to pull away again but he simply slams my head against the bricks once again. "Aren't you gonna answer me?" He is now too close for comfort and I can't breathe. Tears threaten to spill from my eyes. If Cadie sees me this close to her boyfriend again she will kill me. As his hands grab my waist I have a flashback of the last time this happened. What is wrong with him, didn't he learn the last time he tried something with me that it never ends well? His face moves closer to mine but I turn my head to the side to avoid his lips. However, before I feel any contact he is pulled off of me. I open my eyes and see Cole shoving Brody to the ground and punching him and I get a major case of deja vu again as I remember him pulling Cadie off of me just a few days ago. Why does he always happen to be around to save me? Before I have the chance to ask I sprint off to class, hopefully there I will be safe. I can't face Cole and his questions right now.
Luckily, I didn't have any classes with Cadie, Harper, Brody or Cole all morning and now it is lunch and I can just go to the photography room for a bit of peace. As I am speeding through the corridors, I hear a voice calling my name but choose to ignore it. "Hattie! Stop running!" I finally recognise the voice as Cole but instead of stopping to hear him I speed up even more. Unfortunately, this doesn't work. Cole catches up to me and grabs ahold of my wrist to stop me but I yank it away in pain. I look down and see a bruise starting to form from where Brody had grabbed me. "Hattie, you okay?" Cole asks as his eyes look down to see my wrist. Immediately his eyes darken in anger "Did Brody do that?" He asks. I shrug my shoulders. "What do you want?" I ask "Oh yeah, I wanted to know if you'd come eat lunch with me and my friends today? I know it isn't my place to feel this way but I don't want Cadie, Harper or... Brody getting to you again so I thought it would be safer." My palms begin to sweat, I haven't eaten in the canteen since year 7 and the last time I went in there was year 8. I'm about to say no when I look up and see the confusion in Cole's eyes. If I say no he will ask questions. So, I say yes just to avoid Cole's probing. His eyes light up and he starts to walk away, leaving me to follow him.
The canteen hasn't changed much since year 8. There's still the rotten wallpaper and the smell of gone off food. Cole leads the way to his friends and I stay behind him. As he approaches, his friends start calling out "Hey Cole, where you been? Your late." He replies "Sorry, I had to get someone. Guys, this is Hattie. She's gonna be eating lunch with us today." They all eye my up and down before a chorus of heys greet me. Cole sits down and pulls out a chair, gesturing for me to sit down next to him. As I sit, the girl next to me says "Hey, your from my chemistry, aren't you? I'm Lola if you didn't already know." She seems nice and has a different taste in fashion. She is wearing a little black bralet with black and white checkered trousers and a rainbow striped puffer jacket on top. I wish I was confident enough to wear something like that. "Ummm.. yeah. You sit in front of me I think." I say shyly. "So Hattie, why you sitting with us today?" A different boy shouts from across the table. This one I recognise as Tyler Jenkins. I don't really know how to reply to that but before I can Cole answers "Because I asked her if she wanted to." As he says this he sends Tyler a look telling him to shut up. Everyone then pulls out their lunches but I just sit there awkwardly. "Aren't you gonna eat something Hattie?" Lola asks me and all eyes go to me. "Uh, no I'm not really hungry. I had a big breakfast this morning." I lie. Lola shrugs and continues eating her sandwich as does everybody else except Cole. His eyes stay glued on me as if he is trying to work out a rubix cube but I just turn away and join in on Lola's conversation with a girl named Emma. I can't wait for lunch to end.
