SKINNY LOVE, PETER PARKER

1 | tragedy over love

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CHAPTER ONE
' loop de loop '
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Studies show that most people enjoy rollercoasters due to the structure of the ride, the predictability, the ability to control the fear, to feel danger and face fear without actually meeting real harm. Basically, they like the feeling of being close to death without actually having to die.

        What do roller coasters have to do with eating disorders? Genna had no fucking clue. But it sounds poetic, right? Almost like an introduction to a coming of age book about eating disorders. All bullshit, Genna thinks. Life wasn't some perfectly put together, Nicholas Sparks bullshit. Life was messy and dirty and fucking painful.

         Genna preferred the tragic end with a deafening twist over a watered down romance novel about love being the answer to everything. She didn't enjoy wasting her time fantasizing about a type of love that could only happen in someone's dreams, not hers, but someone's.

        All romance novels had taught her was how much you could truly tell about a person by the books they enjoyed and Genna found that she was often annoyed by those who preferred the fantasy books about love.

For example, Michelle Stephens, seemed like a psychotic arsonist who wouldn't hesitate to take your children but Genna had found the Nicholas Sparks and Judy Blume books buried beneath her bed. Michelle hadn't been in the clinic as long as Genna had but it seemed like she'd been getting onto every last one of Genna's nerves since birth.

        And Stella Walters, the youngest patient at Veritas, seemed the exact opposite of a psycho but enjoyed the gory and vengeful sort of books someone might give to Michelle, or Mickey as the heinous small child preferred.

Genna wouldn't have been able to breathe within the ugly beige wallpaper that covered the clinic but having learned what others liked to read, surprisingly lead her to knowing more about people than she would have guessed.

And Jacob Norton, her famed best friend, who enjoyed the scientific, boring non fiction, makes-you-want-to-fall-asleep type books. Genna could tolerate his non fantasized view on life and his realistic input, one of many reasons why they were so compatible.

"You gonna eat that?" A wave of blonde haired brushed over Genna's shoulders as Madeline bent over beside her face, eyeing her bland breakfast. Genna could care less about the clinics strict rule to respect others disorders and always follow whatever regimen the nurses had given them, so she did the same as she always had. Sliding the plastic tray away from her, allowing Madeline to snatch it and bring it to her side of the table.

        Madeline Moore was unique, her book type was actually true to her personality, she preferred the tales about a bitchy female lead character who you later find out was actually the first female serial killer.

Propping her head into her hands and shifting her focus onto the boy beside her, who seemed to be constructing a picture out of his food, never taking his gaze off of his plate, "You'll be stuck with her forever if you keep feeding her your breakfast, she'll never get better .... and you'll be dragged to her midnight binges for the rest of your life.

As Genna had said again and again, she didn't give a shit, "I could care less whether Madeline gets better or not and she hasn't dragged me on a binge in months."

Despite her constant bickering with almost everyone in the clinic, Madeline had always taken a liking to Genna, in her own way. It was a relationship built more on mutual respect rather than tender love and kindness. Madeline was still a bitch, even to Genna.

"And you'll never get better if you keep making dumb images out of eggs. What's that suppose to be anyways?" Jacob stopped moving his fork and stared down at his work, his brows furrowing as he tried to make out what exactly he'd been constructing. Finally settling on an airplane. Genna shrugged as the boy stabbed his meal and took a bite out of the planes supposed wings.

The boy seemed unfazed by her antics and took another bite of his meal, Genna staring down at the cleanest plate she'd seen from the boy in a while. Not wanting to trigger anything and set him back from reaching his potential health she left the small victory alone and allowed her mind to be taken else where.

Often times the clinic allowed Genna the time and space she needed to let her thoughts roam, one thing she loved and hated about the place. Her mind could be a perfect blue sky without a single could in sight but if she stayed there for too long she was more than likely to run into a thunderstorm at some point.

         And Mickey Stephens would be considered a thundercloud, a big fucking ball of gas that ruined your entire day by existing. It was a harsh truth but a truth nonetheless.

        "Have you seen my scissors?" Genna was honestly amused most of the time by the freckle faced girl, she had a pitiful facade that attempted to broadcast her as terrifying when she in fact couldn't even put her hands on anyone. Her only defense was her dumb scissors that she decorated, which she began making after 'Edward Scissorhands' was played once in the clinic's movie room about three years ago.

       Genna pursed her lips and shook her head slowly, placing her hands onto the table, facing the ceiling to show she had nothing in them. Mickey scoffed and rolled her eyes, marching across the room to harass someone else, someone who did find her intimidating. The boy beside her laughed to himself as he pulled a pair of crafted scissors from his friends coat pocket, Genna rolling her eyes and grabbing them back, Natalia strolling by the pair seconds later. Genna placed the scissors in her hands, the dark haired girl smiling and handing Genna a worn out book.

        It was basically a drug deal for paper thin kids who couldn't visit the outside world. Natalia was given a chance to annoy the hell out of Mickey, something everyone at the clinic enjoyed doing, while also keeping the tools away from her and away from Natalias hand, where they had once landed after one of Mickey's tantrums. And Genna, she got books. Where Natalia got them from? Genna never knew.

Genna had been so wrapped up in watching Natalia orchestrate yet another hand off, her breakfast the trade, that she'd failed to notice Jacob taking hold of her book. He flipped the novel in his hands, brows raising as he read the cover, glancing at the girl beside him. Genna could feel the stars being placed on her and turned her focus to the boy, noticing his confused expression, "What?"

He shrugged as he spoke, "Nothing, just never pegged you for a romance novel type of girl."

Genna felt insulted, brows furrowing as she reached for the book, taking in the cover. Sure enough, Natalia had handed her an overdone, sappy romance novel. Genna never had the choice to pick her books, how could she? The clinic didn't allow internet access, so she couldn't exactly search up the perfect novel. Instead she asked Natalia to 'surprise her' and well, she had.

Genna hadn't delved too deep into the book before the plot became evident to her. Two clinically ill patients, at first completely cold hearted and distant, meet each other and fall in love. But in the end one of them dies, typical romeo and juliet type shit. Genna would honestly rather stare at a wall before she indulged in a overdone, sappy archetype such as the one in her hands. But it had been her first book in months and she never knew when Natalia would be able to get her hands on another.

A sigh escaped her lips as she plopped the book in her lap, preparing her self for the cliche, 'i would die for you' shit. Which fortunately, would never be the case for her. It's a horrible plot hole and quite honestly more predictable than heart wrenching.

authors note
lmaooo the ending of this is too mf funny ... anyways i apologize for this horrible chapter and the big gap from however long ago i published this. some of the shit in here makes no sense but ya know .... way too lazy. but i hope you love genna and jacob and my other characters as much as i do :))))