Staying Afloat

Chapter 13

!TW- ED CONTENT IN THIS CHAPTER!

I analyzed the bags under my eyes in my mirror. They had grown immensely over the past few days. I've been so stressed out about the whole Riley situation that I can barely sleep, eat, or think straight. I threw on another coat of concealer and hoped it would be enough to hide everything. Being around August seems to make him even more mad at me, so I've been biking to school instead. It's cold outside, but it's still better than having my own brother hate me. I hopped on my bike and worried about what Riley might do to me at school or practice.

———

"Cecelia!" My eyes flashed open to see my very angry English teacher in front of my desk. Oh crap! I had fallen asleep. Several boys in the back of my classroom snickered.

"Sorry, Miss Smith."

"Don't let it happen again." She warned, turning back to the front of the room. I picked up my book and tried to concentrate on the words, but I was so embarrassed. I've never done anything like this, I've always been a good student. Finally, the bell rang, and I headed to History class. 

We had a big test, and I didn't know half of the answers. I tried to study last night, but I could barely focus. I would reread the same page for 10 minutes and comprehend none of it.

"That wasn't as hard as our last test." Payton said to me as we walked out of the room.

"Yeah..." I trailed off as I grabbed my books.

"Are you feeling okay? You seem... out of it."

"Oh, yeah. I'm just tired. Up all night studying, you know?" I stammered, hoping he would buy it.

"Yeah, I totally get it. I'll see you later." He said, hugging me goodbye. I went to math class and immediately laid my head down on the desk. I was so disappointed in myself. I've never done poorly on a test and I'm pretty sure I just failed that last one. And apparently it wasn't even that hard.

———

The rest of the day went by fine. I couldn't stomach more than 3 bites of food at lunch, but none of my friends seemed to notice. They were so busy hearing about Megan's latest boyfriend. After cheer practice Riley pulled me aside to talk.

"So, I've been thinking about the good of the team, and I've decided that you need to lose some weight." My jaw dropped as she said this, she wasn't even trying to hide her rudeness any more.

"What? Are you insane?"

"Maybe. But the bottom line is you need to lose 10 pounds this week or you're off the team. And don't tell anybody about this or bad things will happen."

"That's crazy, there's no way I can do that."

"Well, fatass, you better figure out a way. You look terrible and you're literally going to break someone's back soon." She pushed past me, leaving me standing there in shock.

———

I've managed not to eat anything for 3 days since my talk with Riley, but I've only lost 3 pounds. I had no clue how I was going to make it to 10 by next Monday, but I guess I'll just have to figure it out. Luckily, there wasn't a game tomorrow because we had the week off. I couldn't handle one more thing going on.

I held my breath in History class as my teacher passed back our tests. I glanced over at Payton who was beaming at his nearly perfect score. Finally, my test was passed back, and I nearly burst into tears seeing my grade. I had never gotten anything below a B+ before, but I had received a D on this test. My mom was going to kill me. I tried to hide my grade, but it was too late. Payton had seen it.

"Cece, are you sure everything's okay? This isn't like you."

"Yeah, I'm fine, it's just been a long week."

"Are you sure? I'm worried about you."

"Payton, I said I'm fine. Drop it." I snapped back, a little harsher than I intended. He looked hurt, so I left quickly as the bell rang.

———

"A D? Really? Cecelia, I expect so much more from you than this!" My mom yelled at me, just like I expected she would.

"I'm sorry! It's a hard class!"

"There are no excuses. You shouldn't be getting anything lower than a B, but anything below a C is unacceptable. You are grounded."

"Mom, I'm sorry! I'll study harder for the next test, and we can drop our lowest test score for the semester. Please, don't ground me!" I begged

"No, you clearly have too many distractions. Until I come back from Las Vegas, it's school and cheer only. No phone and no friends." Crap, I forgot she had a business trip coming up this week. 

"Please, mom!"

"End of story, give me your phone and go to your room." I huffed, pulling out my phone and giving it to her before I ran up to my room. I threw myself on the bed . Great, now I've disappointed my mom. All I seem to do is let people down. Her, Payton, August. Who's next?

———

Today was the worst day ever. Payton wouldn't talk to me at all, even when I tried to explain that I couldn't text him. I went to the library instead of going to lunch, and nobody seemed to even notice. I only had 3 days and I still had 5 pounds left to lose or I would get kicked off the team. Luckily for me, August skipped school because my mom was out of town, so I was able to get a ride with Benny. Thank god, because it's even colder than it was earlier this week.

I entered the gym for cheer practice and began to do my stretches. Riley strutted over to me.

"Looks like you still have some work to do before Monday." she smirked and I rolled my eyes. I don't know why I can't lose the weight, I haven't eaten since Monday morning.

"Alright, ladies, today we're starting with running laps around the gym. I want 5 each!" Our coach yelled, and I started running.

We practiced several stunts, and I began to feel lightheaded. As we were taking places for the beginning of our pre-game routine, things got fuzzy and suddenly everything went black.

•••A/N•••
Finally, a new update! Sorry it took so long! Please vote, and comment any suggestions or thoughts! I love to hear them all!

I'm going to try to update more often, I've just been very busy with school. I'm aiming for either every week or every two weeks.

Lots of love!

Sara