Routines \\ l.h [DISCONTINUED]

Chapter One

How Luke feels before going on the scale during his dietitian meeting.

Sitting in a doctor's office is always scary. But sitting in a dietitian's office is terrifying. There are pictures of food everywhere, a scale, and a bunch of healthy dieting tips and body posters scattered around the room. It was overwhelming. It was unnecessary. And it was making Luke self conscious. Shifting uncomfortably in his seat, Luke pulled the sleeves of his hoodie over his hands. He made his stepmum stay outside because he was getting weighed and he didn't want her to see how fat he was. But now as his appointment was nearing, Luke was regretting this.

Taking a very tiny sip of the vitamin water Julie bought him, Luke tried to calm his nerves by listening to some music. The second he placed in his headphones, the office door opened and his dietitian, Nancy, smiled at him. He forced one back, taking out his earbuds.

"Hello, Luke. How are you?" She greeted. Luke shrugged, awkwardly sitting on his hands.

"I'm fine," he whispered. Nancy started the check up, asking him a bunch of follow up questions since last month. How much has he been eating, has he been eating and what he's been eating. If he's gotten an exercise, and just genuinely, how he's been feeling.

"I've taken gym this semester," he said sheepishly.

Nancy smiled at him, stating, "That's good, a very good decision. Okay, now please take off your shirt, pants and shoes,"

This was the part Luke was dreading. The weighing. It wasn't just the issue of being almost bare naked in front of another person, but that he's going to see exactly how fat he is. The numbers were only rising, and Luke didn't like that. He hated the way he jeans were starting to feel as he took them off. He took off his sweatshirt, glancing down at his plain white shirt.

He looked up at Nancy pleading, "D-Do I have to take off my shirt?"

Nancy gave him a sad smile nodding. "Some kids hide little things underneath their shirts to make it seem like they've gained weight. Sorry, Hun."

Nibbling on his bottom lip nervously, Luke stripped of his shirt, shivering at the impact of cold air. Despite being shirtless in front of Nancy before, Luke still felt the need to cover his chest on embarrassment. He stared fearfully at the scale, walking slowly to it. He didn't want to see the numbers rise. He wanted to see them drop. Drop until he felt satisfied.

"Luke, I need you to step on the scale, please,"

Luke sighed, stepping in the scale, crossing his toes together as Nancy moved the weighs across the scale until they balanced out. Luke kept his eyes shut tightly, gnawing at his bottom lip. When Nancy tapped his shoulder, Luke felt his heart drop at the numbers he saw.

127 pounds.

He gained ten pounds since last month.

Forcing a smile to Nancy, Luke stepped off the scale, quickly pulling his jeans on. He felt his stomach flipping at his worry of not fitting into those jeans anymore. What had he eaten that made him gain so much? It was that stupid sausage and eggs from this morning. That orange juice was probably not one hundred percent organic either.

Feeling his chest wrap tight, Luke tugged his sweater further down his body until it passed his bum and stopped around his thighs. If I can't lose the fat, I'll just have to hide it, he thought.

"You're getting closer to the appropriate weight, you know," Nancy said, writing down Luke's current weight and giving him a new meal plan for the month. "And that's not a bad thing."

"I-I know," Luke lied. All he wanted to do was pull at his hair and scream, 'Of course it's a bad thing. I'm getting fat! No one will love me if I'm fat! No one will like me.' But as usual, he forced a smile, leaving the office feeling terrible about himself. So terrible, he didn't notice the petit girl in front of him.