So I decided to do something a little different and this idea has been playing on my mind now for ages! I've put so much research into this story because, though it is a subject close to my heart, I have never fully experienced either of these issues though I'm often bothered with the mentality accompanying both sides of this; that is too say sometimes I feel slightly overweight and another time I feel very underweight.
It is all in my head, as I've come to terms with now, because I am a very active person and so have a high metabolism and a high muscle mass, but alas we're all plagued with thoughts that trouble us…
Anyway, as stated I've had this idea for a long time now and was suddenly struck with a bout of inspiration when I saw an ad for British TV series 'Supersized Vs. Superskinny' and decided to give this a shot and see how it pans out (:
The title of this story comes from the song "Eat that up, It's good for you" by Two Door Cinema Club, not merely because of its wording, but because to me, the actual song itself is about holding out a helping hand to someone which is going to be a theme in this story.
Enough boring you with the details…enjoy!
"But Doctor Stock said we have to help each other out-" "If Doctor Stock kept telling you to eat all the pies, would you?" Naomi refuses to accept her problem, but will a redhead with a condition so similar to her own help her move forward?
Chapter One
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'Bristol Restoration Clinic-Solutions for a new life'.
Doctor Victoria Stock watched the tall blonde roll her eyes as she clambered out of the taxi, those steely blue orbs flickering over the royal blue sign by the entrance as they always do, from her office window. She had seen many patients come and go from the archaic building, some cured for the better and others returning from relapses, but never had she come across someone as defiant and stubborn as the blonde whom she watched.
The blonde girl was no older than 16, tall and with the potential to be a spectacular vision were it not for her emaciated appearance. The girl has first showed up around a year ago, dragged along by her charming, bubbly and almost identical looking mother, completely oblivious to the fact that she was below average in her weight. What bothered the doctor the most was, upon hearing that she was underweight and promptly denying any such accusation with a long stream on profanities, the blonde's weight had subsequently plummeted.
She returned to her desk, having seen the blonde in question begrudgingly approach the doors, and began rifling through a drawer and pulling out the girls file. As she waited she began reading through it, to refresh her memory with the blonde's progress, which she was saddened to note, seemed to have an adverse effect since her therapy has begun.
There was a brief knock on the door, and before the doctor could even call out "Come in," the door was flung open and the moody blonde shuffled in.
Having had several years of experience, the doctor plastered on a smile; the one the patients hate seeing because they cannot tell if it's a genuine smile or not, indicated for the blonde to sit in the seat across from her desk and opened the file as though she had not been reading though it just moments previously.
"Well Naomi," the blonde simply stared at her, "How are you feeling today?"
Naomi shrugged, her thin shoulders hidden beneath a large jumper which both emphasised and concealed her tiny frame. The result was that her skinny body was no longer noticeable but the baggy clothing only made her face look thinner.
Knowing that non-committal shrug was as much of an answer as she was going to get, the doctor continued questioning Naomi on her well being, activities and, of course, diet since their last appointment. The blonde was as blunt as ever and the longer their one sided conversation continued, helped by only monosyllabic answers, shrugs and nods from Naomi, Doctor Stock became increasingly anxious about the bombshell she knew she was about to drop.
"Naomi, over the course of this therapy-"
"Therapy? I'm not in some loony bin for the mentally retarded" came the blonde's snarky answer, despite the occasional shout, muttering and groan that drifted through the walls from the Clinic's Psychiatric Ward. The doctor continued as if the girl had not spoken.
"Over the course of the therapy it seems you're condition has only worsened…" Again, she ignored Naomi's mumbles of "I don't have a fucking condition…"
"And we fear this may serve many problems for your health, not only physically but mentally as well."
Naomi was gripping the arms on her chair tightly, so tightly that the knuckles of her bony fingers stood even whiter against her pale flesh.
"I do NOT have a condition" she said through clenched teeth, "I'm fucking fine! Perfectly healthy…" her voice was louder now, borderline on shouting.
"Naomi," Doctor Stock began quietly, "You're ninety pounds, that's roughly six and a half stone, the average weight of a thirteen year old girl! Naomi, you're sixteen and you should weigh around one hundred and twenty pounds right now. Don't you see the problem? You're severely underweight…"
The doctor sat back in her chair, eyes never leaving the blonde. She didn't intend to be so short with the girl, but Naomi's stubbornness was going to get her into a lot of trouble with this issue. The blonde girl looked simply shell shocked, something Doctor Stock had not experienced before. She continued on gently.
"Now, this clinic is starting a programme; we will take two patients from our clinic, one who is overweight and one who in underweight and we will put you together in an apartment away from here. The aim is to allow you to help yourself and to help your new roommate and vice versa, do you understand?"
The quiet version on Naomi quickly disappeared and was replaced with her usual attitude.
"You you're going to kidnap me and lock me in a room with some fat person? Fuck off…" and she rose from her chair and made from the door. "I'm afraid your little 'programme' can count me out."
Doctor Stock began writing details on a page, "You're mother has already consented to it Naomi," and didn't need you look up to know that the blonde girl was now frozen by the door with one hand angrily gripping the handle.
The door was furiously fling open as the teenager stomped out, muttering profanities about said mother; "Fucking bitch, who does she think she is? Giving consent whether or not I want to…"
As Naomi left the room, Doctor Stock shouted "Next," into the hallway beyond before the door had a chance to close again. Before long, the exact opposite of the previous patient entered.
This girl was rather short and, opposing Naomi's thin structure, was substantially wider. Her hair was a mousy brown colour and she treaded heavily over the floor and sat in the same seat, panting slightly from the short journey with a rather red face. As physically different from Naomi as this patient was, their personalities were just as opposing; Naomi being a bossy, bitchy character with a severe attitude, this girl was quite and calm and a slight pushover as the doctor had encountered during any sessions where the girls family were involved. While Naomi would take shit from no one, this teenager would allow anybody to just tread all over her…
The doctor plastered the same smile across her face as she had with Naomi and retrieved an identical file from the same drawer.
"Now Emily, how are you today?"
The second interview passed a lot smoother than the first; Emily was a much calmer and much quieter patient than Naomi. She took the news of the programme a hell of a lot better as well, in fact she was quite open about the idea and very excited about the experience.
The doctor put this down to Emily's lack of self esteem and confidence, two issues that had cropped up numerous times in her therapy sessions according to her file, which she was currently flicking through.
Now that all the participating patients had been informed, and were willing to, or not so willing in Naomi's case, contribute to the programme Doctor Stock had the laborious task of pairing up patients and assigning them one of the apartments littered throughout Bristol. Careful consideration had to be taken in a vast number of factors. Sighing heavily and rubbing her sleepy eyes, the doctor closed Emily's file and set it aside, opening the next file beneath it and examining it just as carefully. Naomi was going to be tough to house with anyone, giving her attitude and behaviour towards her treatment and the doctor genuinely pitied anyone whose roommate the blonde became.
As she carefully assessed the blonde's behaviour and mentality a sudden stroke of genius seemed to strike her. She pulled Emily's file back towards her. The two girls were of the same age, both hoping to start Roundview College at the end of the summer, and what Emily lacked in attitude and self esteem Naomi made up for. And what Naomi lacked in calm and quietness Emily made up for. And as she checked through the list of apartment buildings the programme provided she spotted one near the campus of the school and in that instant her mind was made and another couple had successfully been matched.
She set the two files on top of each other along with the name of their building and all the details and set about finishing up for the night. She hadn't realised how late it had gotten or how dark it was outside of her office. She looked out the window, the same spot she stood earlier and allowed her eyes to roam over the grounds of the clinic.
She had a good feeling about this upcoming programme; as if the patients would do better without a bunch of doctors and people in white coats telling them what to do. Of course, there would be checkups on each patient, but over all a 'help yourself' approach was what she felt these patients truly needed.
After signing the final document with an exaggerated flourish she set it on top of the neat pile of papers and files and packed up for the night. Ensuring to place everything into a filing cabinet and lock it up securely, she scribbled a quick note to herself reminding her to post everything first thing in the morning and with that, Doctor Victoria Stock left the Restoration Clinic for the night.
"Oh fucking hell," Naomi stared at the white door for several minutes, unable to find the will power to enter and actually take part in this stupid little programme. Her gaze alternated between the page clutched in her hand, given to her by the Clinic with all the details of this 'experiment', and the white door in front of which she stood.
She pushed her key into the keyhole but her hand froze on the door handle, unwilling to actually open the door. If her mother hadn't dumped all her crap in this tiny little hall by the door she didn't want to be standing in front she would have left already. But seeing as it would probably take several bus trips back and forth laden with luggage to return all her belongings to her bedroom in the little yellow house she lives in, Naomi found herself standing helplessly in the hallway looking forlornly at the place that was to be her new home.
"It helps if you turn it you know…" A dreamy voice sounded from behind her and Naomi spun around to face a strange girl staring at her; more so, staring at her hand on the door handle. The girl had blonde hair like hers, though this girls was more of a fair colour, and was tall, maybe an inch or so shorter than herself, and was very thin but Naomi noticed with a sigh that this girls weight looked much more healthier than her own did.
Before Naomi could even think of a sarcastic retort to the girls comment, the girl spoke again in an excited voice.
"Oh wow," she took a minute to stare at the logo printed at the top right corner of the page and the slogan beneath it before her eyes raised to Naomi's face, full of wonderment and awe, and dropped back to the page again. "I used to go there," she pointed to the logo with a long finger. "At first I cheated and then I got worse but they helped and I talked about it and I actually began to eat again and then I didn't and then I did but you should totally do what they say 'cause I'm all better now and…wow you're really pretty," the strange girl lifted a hand to gently trace her fingers along Naomi's face; across her forehead, down her nose, across her cheeks and round to her chin, "But you're really skinny yeah? Listen to the doctors 'cause they'll make you all better and then we can be friends, I'm Cassie by the way and I live next door but I'm totally in a rush so…" She said most of it without taking a breath and spoke so fast that all the words seemed to blend together yet the girl, Cassie, turned and left Naomi standing alone in the hallway once more.
Cassie seemed friendly, and her advice echoed inside Naomi's head for another moment before she turned the doorknob and began the task of moving all her possessions inside. The apartment's other occupant, it seemed, had already moved in entirely and Naomi made a mental note to scold her new roommate for not being around to help her haul her stuff from the hallway to her new bedroom.
Having previously been a lazy sod at home and doing sweet fuck all while her mother, Gina, ran circles around her, Naomi found the task extremely difficult and exhausting and blamed it on her lack of muscle mass, or general mass at all. She was sure some of these boxes weighed more than she herself.
It was with a final heave and a heavy sigh of relief, coupled with a clichéd wipe of her brow that Naomi finally cleared the hallway and shut the door of her new apartment. The inside was actually pretty nice; an open plan space with white painted walls and wooden floors. The living space was furnished in red; a red fabric sofa with looked extremely inviting, red shelves, red mats on the floor…all very chic. The kitchen was composed of white cupboards and black marble countertops and was separated from the living room by a large kitchen island. Beyond this there was a small hallway at the end of which was a bathroom. The two bedrooms were identical and their doors faced each other.
Whilst Naomi didn't exactly look forward to coming face to face with her new 'roomie' every morning she decided she liked her bedroom. Three of the walls were plain white while the wall on which the window was located was a bright sunset yellow. She decided that this room had the potential to be made her own, that she could inflict her personality upon every inch of this room until it simply screamed 'Naomi's Room'. Seeing as she had to share this apartment with a complete stranger, she figured it was the least she could do to make herself feel at home.
Deciding a good cup of tea was in order, the blonde flicked on the kettle and pushed herself up onto the counter as she listened to the whistling noise the appliance made in the silent apartment. Halfway through boiling the silence was interrupted by the lock clicking and the door opening. Naomi jumped and slipped off the counter and landed on her backside on the floor with a thud. The blonde glared up at the newcomers.
Two identical humans stood before her, looking confused as to why she was sat on the kitchen floor when there was a perfectly good sofa a few meters away. At least, they would be identical was one not twice the size of the other; outwards not upwards. It was clear they were twins; same shaped face, same nose, same eyes, yet it could not be more clear how incredibly different the two girls were. One stood with an arched eyebrow, staring directly at Naomi with a manicured hand placed on one hip. The other looked to the ground, nervously shuffling her feet and fidgeting with her plump fingers. A moment passed where neither the newcomers nor Naomi said a word before the first twin, the obviously more confident one, spoke to Naomi in a sharp voice.
"What you doing down there?"
"I fell over," replied Naomi, scowling at the girl.
"Why'd you fall over for?"
"I didn't do it on purpose!" Naomi defiantly struggled back to her feel, pleased to see that she towered over both girls by at least a couple of inches.
The girl huffed in reply before striding over to the counter and snatching up the details letter Naomi had received from the clinic before prising an almost identical letter from her twin who was still examining the floor.
"…'Kay, this is my sister Emily," she pointed to the other girl, "And apparently she is you new roommate. Now listen here, I won't take any shit from you. You be nice to her or else we're going to have problems, uh…" her eyes scanned Naomi's letter briefly and her face contorted to a scowl, "Nay-oh-mee," she turned her scowl back from the letter to the blonde in front of her.
"It's Nai-oh-mee" the blonde corrected.
The bossy girl shrugged, "I don't care."
It was Naomi's turn to scowl as she zoned out the other girls rant, only briefly noting that the other girls name was Katie. Instead her attention turned to her new roommate. Her eyes had rested upon the shy girl for several long minutes before Emily lifted her eyes to examine Naomi. The blonde was temporarily taken aback by the deep brown eyes that bore into her. She didn't know why, because they were almost exact replicas of her sister Katie's but there was a depth to Emily's eyes that Katie's lacked and Naomi was suddenly in the mood for chocolate.
Remembering the reason she had left the sanctuary of her room in the first place Naomi pulled a mug from the third cupboard she looked in, noting that it was the cupboard located directly above the kettle, and a tea bag from a new packet her mum had dropped off and made herself a cup of tea, begrudgingly refilling the kettle and boiling it once again for the other two girls present.
Tea was an awkward affair and Katie left shortly after, muttering several threatening words to Naomi before her departure. Dinner was even worse, with neither girl being accomplished enough to cook anything with the little food they had. According to the details of the programme, take away and fast food was only allowed once a week and Naomi was hoping to save that for the weekends when she would happily get shit faced, eat a lot and throw it all back up later that evening. Giving up trying to plan a meal with a huff of frustration, Naomi retreated to her room. She had gone without eating before, probably what got her in this situation in the first place, so one more night without food would make little difference to her. And, a cruel voice sounded in her mind, that Emily girl could probably do without eating as well.
She quickly banished the thought and reprimanded herself for thinking such a thing. The best she could do to make this programme as enjoyable as possible was at least try to get on with her fellow inhabitant. But Naomi knew she was a bitch, and genuinely felt sorry for the girl in the room opposite hers. As unintentional as it truly was, Naomi new she was going to make living with this girl extremely difficult.
Stomach empty as it had been for the most of the past week, and feeling thoroughly exhausted and slightly cranky, Naomi collapsed into her bed, having changed into a baggy t-shirt and just her underwear. She fell into an uneasy sleep, miserably noting how unusual this bed felt rather than her old one…
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I'm actually quite nervous about the response this story might receive, but as always your thoughts, comments and advice will be greatly appreciated! I'll try to respond to any comments made and stuff :)
How do you think this story will fare? Should I continue?
REVEIWS? :D
