Fast In My Car
Detour
TONY'S POV
'Oh, I forgot I need to go and see my English teacher,' I said, which was a complete lie - it was simply an excuse for me to slip away.
'Okay, we'll be in music when you're done,' said Vic.
I held back and allowed the group to advance before hurrying down one corridor and towards the PE department. Reaching it faster than anticipated, I slowed my pace as I approached the hall that Julie was usually in. Peaking through the glass, I watched her glide around the room. As I continued to stare I noticed that her movements did not flow as easily as they did before, her actions were choppy and slightly out of time - I put my hand against the door and carried on observing. Suddenly, she was crashing to the floor. It wasn't a dance move, it was her collapsing.
'Julie!' I blurted, bursting through the doors. She lay with her forehead on the floor, quiet sobs filling the room that momentarily echoed her name.
'Make it stop spinning,' she pleaded, slamming a clenched fist to the ground. I went on my knees and wrapped one arm around her body, pulling her in from the other side. 'Please,' she whimpered. I lowered my head so mine was hovering just off the ground and gently moved the hair that draped across her face away, revealing an exausted, unwell girl.
'Are you ill?' I asked, trying to avoid the question 'are you starving yourself?' She shook her head. I gulped. 'Are you starving yourself?' She nodded.
I had already told her not to, but she had gone and make herself sick again. I knew there was nothing more I could say. 'Would you be willing to go to a help group?' I suggested, knowing from countless lectures in SE that there was one in the next town. 'Please, I'll come with you?'
'Seriously?' she asked, sitting up. I placed my hand on her cheek and wiped away the last falling tear. 'Seriously.'
Pulling Julie to her feet, she guided me over to her bag and we exchanged phone numbers. It soon became clear that neither of us knew when these meeting took place, therefore a trip to the nurse's office was required.
'What's wrong dear?' said the nurse as we entered, my hand firmly on Julie's side. The nurse noticed and got completely the wrong idea, 'pregna-'
'No, no,' I interrupted, blushing slightly. I squeezed Julie's hip and she began, 'I was wondering when the eating disorder group that met in Campbell was?' The nurse paused, smiling weakly at the girl who had come to mean so much to me so incredibly fast.
'6pm on a Saturday, dear. May I as-'
'Thank you.' Julie hurried out of the small, clostraphobic room, and I followed. As soon as there was nobody in sight, she broke down. I pulled her into my chest and began to draw little circles on her back, trying desperately to comfort her. 'It's okay,' I whispered, 'you're alright. Shh.'
JULIE'S POV
After the horrible day when I had to confront the nurse, the rest of the time between it and the meeting flew by. My mind was constantly preoccupied with assumptions as to how the group would go. I imagined walking in and freezing at the sight of people I knew as the scoffed and laughed at my weakness. The thoughts were tearing my apart, almost literally.
'Jewls sweety, she's here!' shouted my Mum. Instead of telling her I was suffering from the early stages of an eating disorder and a young man - a very beautiful one - was taking me to a support group, I said that Sarah was taking me to the cinema.
I hurried down the stairs, planting a sloppy kiss on my mother's warm cheek before stumbling out of the hosue. I watched my feet as I made my way down the path and in the direction of the car. I opened the door gently, for reasons I am still unaware of, and slid in.
'You good?' he asked, a small smile sneaking from his lips. 'Mhmm,' I replied hastily.
The car ride was not as awkward as I had anticipated, the quietness being drowned out by the sound of Man Overboard. Every now and then I turned to Tony to see, to my delight, him saying the lyrics under his breathe as his fingers tapped in time to the drums.
'Just up these stairs I think,' he said, taking my hand and pulling me up a steep flight of stairs. I entertwined our fingers and scalled the remaining stairs with him. Once at the top, we followed the soft sound of voices through to a room that looked as though it hadn't been used in years - but then again, all rooms in community centres have that look about them.
'Ah, welcome!' exclaimed a woman in her mid 50's as she shuffled in our direction. 'I'm Carol, I run the group. I've not seen you here before, are you new?' We nodded. 'Ah, well, if you could fill in a form each that would be brilliant, sweet pea.' She handed us the forms and quickly received an odd look from Tony.
'I, uh,' it was obvious he didn't know how to word it, 'I don't have, uh, I'm not here for me.' He gestured towards me, squeezing my hand as he did so. The woman aknowledged it before handing over only one form. We took a seat in the circle of chairs and I filled it out as Tony stared down at the floor. I handed the form back before returning to him and taking his hand in mine as Carol began to talk.
'Welcome everyone, I hope you are doing well. Today, as you have probably noticed, we have a new member - meet Julie.' Everyone turned to me and I instantly felt out of place. Everyone else looked far worse than I did, bones showing and bags evident under their tired eyes. 'Hi,' I choked out. The woman proceeded to talk for around 20 minutes before we told our 'stories' and shared thoughts on a variety of things.
'Well, that's time guys, I hope to see you all next week.'
Everyone rose from their chairs and began to make their way to the small door. I glanced up at Tony who's big brown eyes were already focused on me. 'Wasn't so bad,' he mouthed with a smirk across his face. I nudged him in the shoulder, blushing furiously, as we made our way back down the tricky steps.
The crisp air blew through my hair as we stepped out on to the concrete. The sun had set and night had almost fallen. Everyone else form the group seemed to have vanished all of a sudden, leaving only me and Tony under the street light glow.
'I'm proud of you.' His words stole the cold air that had momentarily resided in my lungs.
'Thank you for coming with me,' I replied. 'I-I, I appreciate it.'
Making our way home, Tony took an odd detour I wasn't familiar with. At first I assumed he was taking a faster route, but I soon noticed we were heading in the opposite direction entirely.
'Where are we-'
'Shh, just wait,' he insisted.
Pulling up on to a grassy verge in the middle of nowhere, he turned off the car and smiled at me. Leaning over to the back seat, he pulled out two towels. 'A bit of paddling?' he asked.
'No way,' I said, mouth gaping. 'It's freezing!'
'It's fine,' he ensured.
Clambering out of the car, we both removed our shoes and socks before rolling our jeans up on our shins. We made our way through a dense pack of trees before finding ourselves in a clearing, a glistening lake directly on front of us. The water was the black and illuminated by the glow of the moon, trees hung over and let leaves dangle into it from the edges.
'Beautiful,' I said softly.
Tony took the first step in the water, one foot slowly following the other. I grabbed his hand and entered to the same depth as him, giggling as the cold liquid kissed my skin. He smiled at me furiously, stepping in a little deeper.
'Tony, I'll get wet,' I said, knowing all to well that my jeans could not roll up as far as his. He waded close to me before swiveling around, 'hop on!'
'No way, I'll-'
'Hurry up, I look weird standing like this!'
I took hold of his muscular shoulders and jumped on his back, instantly feeling his warmth against my chest. I wrapped my legs around his arms as he sloshed about, going further in. I looked down to realise he was in way above his knees, jeans soaking. He thrased one leg out on front of him, sending water us to hit us both.
'You made me wet!' I shouted, giggling but wet none-the-less.
'Hell yeah I did,' he exclaimed.
'You're sick,' I whipered into his ear.
'And you're hot,' he replied. At that moment I was more than thankful I was on his back, he couldn't see the deep red shade that had taken over my face.
'Oh, I forgot I need to go and see my English teacher,' I said, which was a complete lie - it was simply an excuse for me to slip away.
'Okay, we'll be in music when you're done,' said Vic.
I held back and allowed the group to advance before hurrying down one corridor and towards the PE department. Reaching it faster than anticipated, I slowed my pace as I approached the hall that Julie was usually in. Peaking through the glass, I watched her glide around the room. As I continued to stare I noticed that her movements did not flow as easily as they did before, her actions were choppy and slightly out of time - I put my hand against the door and carried on observing. Suddenly, she was crashing to the floor. It wasn't a dance move, it was her collapsing.
'Julie!' I blurted, bursting through the doors. She lay with her forehead on the floor, quiet sobs filling the room that momentarily echoed her name.
'Make it stop spinning,' she pleaded, slamming a clenched fist to the ground. I went on my knees and wrapped one arm around her body, pulling her in from the other side. 'Please,' she whimpered. I lowered my head so mine was hovering just off the ground and gently moved the hair that draped across her face away, revealing an exausted, unwell girl.
'Are you ill?' I asked, trying to avoid the question 'are you starving yourself?' She shook her head. I gulped. 'Are you starving yourself?' She nodded.
I had already told her not to, but she had gone and make herself sick again. I knew there was nothing more I could say. 'Would you be willing to go to a help group?' I suggested, knowing from countless lectures in SE that there was one in the next town. 'Please, I'll come with you?'
'Seriously?' she asked, sitting up. I placed my hand on her cheek and wiped away the last falling tear. 'Seriously.'
Pulling Julie to her feet, she guided me over to her bag and we exchanged phone numbers. It soon became clear that neither of us knew when these meeting took place, therefore a trip to the nurse's office was required.
'What's wrong dear?' said the nurse as we entered, my hand firmly on Julie's side. The nurse noticed and got completely the wrong idea, 'pregna-'
'No, no,' I interrupted, blushing slightly. I squeezed Julie's hip and she began, 'I was wondering when the eating disorder group that met in Campbell was?' The nurse paused, smiling weakly at the girl who had come to mean so much to me so incredibly fast.
'6pm on a Saturday, dear. May I as-'
'Thank you.' Julie hurried out of the small, clostraphobic room, and I followed. As soon as there was nobody in sight, she broke down. I pulled her into my chest and began to draw little circles on her back, trying desperately to comfort her. 'It's okay,' I whispered, 'you're alright. Shh.'
JULIE'S POV
After the horrible day when I had to confront the nurse, the rest of the time between it and the meeting flew by. My mind was constantly preoccupied with assumptions as to how the group would go. I imagined walking in and freezing at the sight of people I knew as the scoffed and laughed at my weakness. The thoughts were tearing my apart, almost literally.
'Jewls sweety, she's here!' shouted my Mum. Instead of telling her I was suffering from the early stages of an eating disorder and a young man - a very beautiful one - was taking me to a support group, I said that Sarah was taking me to the cinema.
I hurried down the stairs, planting a sloppy kiss on my mother's warm cheek before stumbling out of the hosue. I watched my feet as I made my way down the path and in the direction of the car. I opened the door gently, for reasons I am still unaware of, and slid in.
'You good?' he asked, a small smile sneaking from his lips. 'Mhmm,' I replied hastily.
The car ride was not as awkward as I had anticipated, the quietness being drowned out by the sound of Man Overboard. Every now and then I turned to Tony to see, to my delight, him saying the lyrics under his breathe as his fingers tapped in time to the drums.
'Just up these stairs I think,' he said, taking my hand and pulling me up a steep flight of stairs. I entertwined our fingers and scalled the remaining stairs with him. Once at the top, we followed the soft sound of voices through to a room that looked as though it hadn't been used in years - but then again, all rooms in community centres have that look about them.
'Ah, welcome!' exclaimed a woman in her mid 50's as she shuffled in our direction. 'I'm Carol, I run the group. I've not seen you here before, are you new?' We nodded. 'Ah, well, if you could fill in a form each that would be brilliant, sweet pea.' She handed us the forms and quickly received an odd look from Tony.
'I, uh,' it was obvious he didn't know how to word it, 'I don't have, uh, I'm not here for me.' He gestured towards me, squeezing my hand as he did so. The woman aknowledged it before handing over only one form. We took a seat in the circle of chairs and I filled it out as Tony stared down at the floor. I handed the form back before returning to him and taking his hand in mine as Carol began to talk.
'Welcome everyone, I hope you are doing well. Today, as you have probably noticed, we have a new member - meet Julie.' Everyone turned to me and I instantly felt out of place. Everyone else looked far worse than I did, bones showing and bags evident under their tired eyes. 'Hi,' I choked out. The woman proceeded to talk for around 20 minutes before we told our 'stories' and shared thoughts on a variety of things.
'Well, that's time guys, I hope to see you all next week.'
Everyone rose from their chairs and began to make their way to the small door. I glanced up at Tony who's big brown eyes were already focused on me. 'Wasn't so bad,' he mouthed with a smirk across his face. I nudged him in the shoulder, blushing furiously, as we made our way back down the tricky steps.
The crisp air blew through my hair as we stepped out on to the concrete. The sun had set and night had almost fallen. Everyone else form the group seemed to have vanished all of a sudden, leaving only me and Tony under the street light glow.
'I'm proud of you.' His words stole the cold air that had momentarily resided in my lungs.
'Thank you for coming with me,' I replied. 'I-I, I appreciate it.'
Making our way home, Tony took an odd detour I wasn't familiar with. At first I assumed he was taking a faster route, but I soon noticed we were heading in the opposite direction entirely.
'Where are we-'
'Shh, just wait,' he insisted.
Pulling up on to a grassy verge in the middle of nowhere, he turned off the car and smiled at me. Leaning over to the back seat, he pulled out two towels. 'A bit of paddling?' he asked.
'No way,' I said, mouth gaping. 'It's freezing!'
'It's fine,' he ensured.
Clambering out of the car, we both removed our shoes and socks before rolling our jeans up on our shins. We made our way through a dense pack of trees before finding ourselves in a clearing, a glistening lake directly on front of us. The water was the black and illuminated by the glow of the moon, trees hung over and let leaves dangle into it from the edges.
'Beautiful,' I said softly.
Tony took the first step in the water, one foot slowly following the other. I grabbed his hand and entered to the same depth as him, giggling as the cold liquid kissed my skin. He smiled at me furiously, stepping in a little deeper.
'Tony, I'll get wet,' I said, knowing all to well that my jeans could not roll up as far as his. He waded close to me before swiveling around, 'hop on!'
'No way, I'll-'
'Hurry up, I look weird standing like this!'
I took hold of his muscular shoulders and jumped on his back, instantly feeling his warmth against my chest. I wrapped my legs around his arms as he sloshed about, going further in. I looked down to realise he was in way above his knees, jeans soaking. He thrased one leg out on front of him, sending water us to hit us both.
'You made me wet!' I shouted, giggling but wet none-the-less.
'Hell yeah I did,' he exclaimed.
'You're sick,' I whipered into his ear.
'And you're hot,' he replied. At that moment I was more than thankful I was on his back, he couldn't see the deep red shade that had taken over my face.
Notes
THANK YOU FOR THE SUPPORT, SERIOUSLY.I LOVE YOU ALL.
THANK YOU FOR READING.
HOPE YOU ARE ALL WELL.
<3
aw, haha:3 check out the sequel! It's not over yet...
6/27/13