Finding Myself Again (Adopted by Markiplier)

~eight~

^Luke

~Go ahead and cry little girl, nobody does it like you do- The Neighbourhood

When I walked back into class, Maddie was sitting in the back, where we used the sit before we were forced to sit in alphabetical order for our exam. Being a normal person, I go sit back with her, she moved all of my stuff there as well. 

"Why is your face all red?" She questioned as soon as I plopped down. I reached up to feel my cheeks, they felt hotter than the rest of my face. 

"Oh, uh Luke and I are dating now, it's not that big of a deal. Just a label." I muttered out, not wanting her to freak out. There's nothing to freak out about, really. We were talking intimately months before this, and it didn't seem to bug her. 

Instead of bouncing up and down in her seat, she seemed to have the exact opposite reaction. Her face dropped, and so did my heart. 

"I don't have a good feeling about this, the shit he's done recently is inexcusable, Karli." I leaned back into my seat and sighed. "He apologized, though. I forgive him."   She stared at me for a second before dropping the subject. "Just be careful, okay?" I smiled up at her. 

"Of course,"

"What time is Mark coming to pick you up?" I pressed my home button on my phone which was laying on the desk. 

"About 20ish minutes? It depends on how busy traffic is- oh shit. He has to come inside the school doesn't he?" If other people end up seeing him, it's going to cause so much uproar. 

Maddie nodded, and as if on cue, the phone rang. The one time I needed LA traffic to be bad, it isn't. Mrs. Walton answered the phone, looked at me after a few seconds, and hung up the phone. 

"Karli? You're leaving, have a good day sweetie." 

"Thank you, you too!" I told Mrs. Walton in a fake cheery voice so it masked my scared tone. 

I picked up my things, gave Maddie a quick hug, and left the room. The halls seemed empty, but kids getting picked up right after exams were common. I'm not embarrassed by Mark picking me up and people seeing him, I just don't want that attention on me. I already have so much attention brought towards me because of the news of the crash and my parents, I don't think I can handle that much. Plus, it might send the wrong message. 

As I turned the corner and saw the office, my nervousness lessened a bit. The only people down here were some administrators and the janitor. 

Mark was standing outside of the office busy on his phone texting someone before he noticed that I was there. He gave me a warm smile, "Hey, are you ready?" 

"Yuppers," I looked around more, making sure there weren't any gossipers lingering around the halls. "Who are you looking for?" Mark gave me a weird look, which I brushed off. 

"No one, I just don't want people getting the wrong message," He chuckled at me, "And looking around is gonna help that?" 

"Shut up," I glared at him in a joking manner before gesturing to the door. 

When we got into his Tesla, the warmth of the car that set it from being turned off made my tiredness kick in, and I immediately rested my head on the window, the coolness calming me down. 

"Have you eaten yet today?" Mark's voice filled the car as we pulled out of the parking lot. I started watching the buildings and trees as they passed. "No, I can't stand eating breakfast and you picked me up right before lunch."

"Do you wanna stop somewhere?" I shook my head slightly. "Nah, I can just go by the cafeteria in the hospital." 

"Are you sure? Their food isn't that great." 

"Yeah, I promise it's fine," I shifted slightly in my seat so my head wasn't leaning on the window anymore. Mark stopped at a red light, I felt his eyes dart towards me. 

"Karli," his voice softened, "Within the past few days I've noticed that you barely eat. You know you can talk to me, right? Are you..?" His words dragged on, but I got what he was trying to hint at. I sighed. 

"No, not really. I skip meals sometimes but it's nothing serious. My meds make me lose my appetite, though. I've lost 20 pounds since I've gone on them. Before I got on my meds, I had urges to starve myself but I pushed through it. I've read stories about people with anorexia, and trust me, I don't wanna go down that path." I reassured Mark, but his face only filled with more worry instead, he was about to speak, but a car honked at him. He put his eyes back on the road and continued driving. 

"We'll talk about this later, okay?"

"Okay, Mark I swear if something was going on I'd tell you."  He briefly smiled at me but stayed silent. I guess I opened up a much bigger conversation because the atmosphere stayed silent and awkward for the rest of the drive to the hospital. 

Soon enough we got to the same familiar parking lot as a few days before. The walls seemed to glare at me as we approached the doors. Mark graciously opened the door for me. I smiled at him, "Thanks," 

Oddly the same receptionist was working there, and she immediately recognized me. "Hey Karli, how are you?" She said in a soft, sweet voice when Mark and I approached the desk. "I'm good, how are you?" 

"The Same Ol'," She chuckled, "Your parents are in the same room, let me or any other staff if you need anything!" We thanked her and headed down the hallways and into the elevator. 

The air still hasn't shifted from its awkwardness, so I decided to address the elephant in the room.

"I know hearing that I lost 20 pounds from my meds is alarming, but hear me out please?" I took a deep breath as Mark looked at me expectantly. "I started taking my anxiety meds like right at the start of volleyball auditions and conditioning in the summer. I noticed right away that I wasn't eating as much, even for an athlete. I've always been careful with what I ate, I never had too much fast food, and I watched my soda intake, but it's like the meds started something in my brain, I'm not sure how else to explain it." I pressed a button on the elevator to make it stop so I could get more time to explain. Mark looked surprised at this but he didn't say anything.

"I was eating one meal a day-at most two, and it was always after practice or after a game. I was never really hungry other than that. And the only reason I was hungry after practice was because I was putting out so much energy. My parents noticed how much weight I had lost and they took me to my doctor. He said it was pretty normal, especially in athletes. We're monitoring my weight, and unless I lose too much weight there's no reason to freak out. I promise, Mark." 

He immediately reached out his arms, "C'mon," he held me for a few seconds. "Everything is going to be okay," We pulled away, and I smiled at him before pressing the button on the elevator control pad once again to start the elevator.

When it stopped we walked down the familiar dim-lit hallways and entered my parent's room. 

"Holy crap, Dad!"