The car ride to Mac's apartment was silent. Mac and I, we never really had a deep relationship. Especially after Claire died, my dad and I only saw him during Thanksgiving or Christmas. "Hey Flyte. I guess we should talk about how things are going to work," said Mac. I was silent. I felt bad giving Mac the silent treatment, but I just felt so awful. "Tonight we're going to go out to Dinner with my team so you can meet them. They're all good people. The clinic said we need to keep up with your weight and meal plan. Someone on the team will weigh you after school. You can choose who when we meet them all tonight, they do have to be either female, or Dr Sheldon Hawkes." He said softly. His voice was sincere, you could here his worry.
"On Monday we're going to get you enrolled at South Brooklyn High. They have a special program called IB that I want you to look at later this weekend. Do you have everything you need?"
"No," I whispered softly.
"What do you need? I'm taking the weekend off to help get you settled."
"I need hygiene stuff, and school stuff, but it's fine we don't need to spend your money,"
"Flyte" he said taking his eyes off the road for a split second. "We're getting you what you need. You'll do great, if you ever need anything you can tell me. I know your father is having someone drive up all your stuff, including your furniture. But I don't have a spare bed so you can either sleep in my bed, and I'll sleep on the couch, or you can sleep on the couch. It's a pull out, queen size I think."
"I can sleep on the couch," I said.
"Okay. Just a couple rules, nothing too bad. Your curfew for now is 8, unless there is something going on then we can talk about it. Please try to stick to the meal plan. I know it's hard, but try. After school you need to come to the lab, so we can do your weight and such. I want you to carry some pepper spray with you, just a precaution. I think that's it, oh, please keep your room tidy. And no boys over without my knowledge." He said pulling in to his apartment complex. That's easy enough I suppose.
We got out of the car, and Mac pulled my suite case and duffle bag, while I had my backpack and purse. We took the elevator to his apartment. His apartment building was nice, not ghetto, not rich, pretty average. Macs apartment was very organised. But it was him. There were odd objects that I suppose were art, a nice pull out couch, a flat screen tv. There were forensic magazines on his coffee table, and his book shelf was filled. His kitchen was kept spotless, everything perfect. He took me to my room and set my bags down.
"We're going to go to dinner in a few, you might want to put on some jeans." He said. I nodded looking at my reflection in the mirror, which was also a closet door. My hair was black, and my side bangs blue, along with underneath. My skin was pale. I was wearing a black tank top and sweatpants. I sighed. I was short, 5'1" but I was fat. My stomach poked out through my shirt and my legs wobbled with my pants. My collarbones were barely visible. Down both my arms there were scars on each and every side, going in every direction. Most of them bulged into purple skin, some were scarred words like 'fat' or 'worthless'. They trailed everywhere from my wrist to my elbow to my shoulder, on the top of my arm, bottom, and sides. I placed my finger over a scar and rubbed it. I could feel it, and feeling that was a relief.
I searched through my bag until I finally settled on a pair of black jeans, and a band t shirt. But what do I do about my arms? I can't let macs employees see them. The hospital took away all jackets- if we were cold, we had to ask for one. I sighed and checked my phone. 5:52. I left my new room and walked into the kitchen where Mac was standing, writing something down.
"Hey,"he said looking up. I smiled at him. "I forgot how quiet you are. As a kid, I remember you talked constantly reciting everything. Books, things you heard on TV, you were non stop, full of information at such a young age. I guess you were always an introvert at heart though."
I smiles again. He slid a piece of paper in front of me. "This is just common stuff you need to know. I have everyone on my teams cell phone number there, along with my own. I have our address, the labs address, and how you can get there after school. We'll take the subway on Monday so you get a feel for it. The alarm code, wifi password, and your key." He said smiling
"Thanks Mac," I said. "Do you have a sweater?" I asked.
"It's 80 degrees out what do you need a swea... Oh." He put his hands on my shoulders. "Listen, I promise no one is going to judge you. We all just want to eat dinner and have a good time. I don't have one in your size, but I can get you one" he said
"It's fine," I said trying to not be a burden. "Where are we eating?" I asked smiling. "It's this kind of bar place that we all make a tradition to go to. It's called Sulivans, sort of like roadhouse." I nodded.
"Well I guess we better get going"

I took a seat next to Mac at a big booth in the corner of the restaurant. It looked like everyone was there. There were 7 numbers on the list, not including Mac, and there were 7 people here not including Mac. I looked down in my lap, trying to avoid any attention that might land on me. "So Flyte, this here is the crime labs finest," said Mac smiling. People started introducing themselves. Don Flack,who was sitting next to me, Danny Messer, Lindsay Messer, Sid Hammerback, Sheldon Hawkes, Adam Ross, and Jo Dannvile. They attacked me with questions, "how old are you?""16"
"Where are you from?" "Miami and Atlanta"
"What's your grade?" "Junior"
"Oh! Are you thinking about college?" "Yes"
That kind of thing, but over all, they were kind people. I think we all will get along. Soon the waitress came and took our order. This was Panic time. What had the least amount of calories? What is that divided by 2? Divided by 2 again? I stared at the menu and I didn't see words, all I saw were numbers. 1000 kcal $8.00 2400 kcal $7.00
I was the last to order. Everyone was staring at me. Of course Mac alerted them about my problems, infact, I don't blame him. He's just trying to help, but I don't want help- I want to be thin. "Can I have diet coke, with a salad" I whispered. "Dressing on the side." Mac looked at me. "And some fries," he added. I closed my eyes. 1000 kcal atleast. I opened my eyes and everyone was in there own conversations about sports, the latest case, the news, etc. I sat quietly, staring at the glass of water in front of me.
"So Flyte," began Adam. I looked up. "Do you play any video games?" He asked. I nodded. "What kind?"
"World of Warcraft, Second Life, GTA, Leagues of Legends. I like old school though too." I said softly. Adam smiled looking at Mac, "the next time you go out of town, I've got dibs on her coming over to my place." Everyone laughed. I chuckled a tad. It felt nice to feel wanted, important. And just in time to ruin it, our food came. A plate of lettuce and other vegetables were dropped infront of me, along with a basket of fries. I took a sip of my diet coke and picked up my knife and fork. I cut my salad, into small pieces. Everyone was busy with their own food, no one noticed me pretending to eat. "Hey Flyte, this steak is to die for, try some" said Flack waving a piece of meat infront of me. "I'm a vegetarian," I said. "No way," said Danny. "Why would you torture yourself with that kind of thing?" He asked. I looked at Mac and he laughed with me at Danny's comment. Atleast Mac understood. But that's not why I don't eat meat. "I think hurting animals is wrong."
Jo nodded, "I was vegetarian for a while."
"How long? 2 hours?" Asked Hawkes laughing. "No," she responded in her southern accent. "I lasted about a day."
"Then what?" Asked Flack.
"I passed a KFC." Everyone laughed together, even me. I was happy that I was getting to know the team, I think we'll do well together.

*again more introductory, but the next chapter we'll get into some real stuff ^_^ r&r please. Sorry for small errors- I'm writing this on my phone I haven't a computer.*