Mark's POV

I loved Maureen. I still love her, just in a different way. We're friends, and that's finally ok with me. I used to sort of be jealous of Joanne, but now that I've met her, I see that she and Maureen could be good for each other. Besides, it's exhausting to have Maureen's drama in your life 24/7.

Wait, that's not a fair thing to say. Maureen is an amazing person, and no one is perfect. The problem with Maureen is that she thinks she has to be. Unfortunately, to Maureen, perfect means beautiful (on the outside). And to Maureen, beautiful means thin.

Now, any guy who tells you that a girl's looks don't matter to him is lying. Guys do consider a girl's body type a fairly important factor. Of course, now Maureen is with another girl, but I'm assuming girls consider stuff like that to be pretty important as well. Maureen was beautiful to me. She was certainly skinny enough for me. But I'm starting to see that Maureen will never be skinny enough for Maureen.

I am a filmmaker. I watch people for a living. When we dated, I used to watch Maureen eat. Or, rather, I used to watch Maureen take the smallest possible portions of food and push them compulsively around on her plate. I don't think she noticed that I noticed her habits, until the one day I worked up the courage to bring it up with her. We fought horribly and loudly that day.

Maureen, why can't you just eat your damn food? There are some people who would be very grateful to have this food, including some of your roommates! So stop this nonsense, goddammit! Anyway, don't you see what you're doing? You're hurting yourself!

Mark this is not your business! It's my body and my life, and I can do whatever the hell I want! You guys have everything sooo easy! You just don't understand, you won't ever understand!

She screamed at me, tears streaming down her face and hands clenched tightly into fists. Then she ran into her room and slammed the door, jarring a picture from the wall. I heard the frame break as it slid down the wall and hit the floor. I knew which picture it was, too, because it was one of the few that Roger had allowed to remain hanging in the loft. April wasn't in it. It was just me, Roger, Maureen, Benny, and Collins.

I sighed deeply and went and knocked on Maureen's door.

Mo? I said softly. I tried the door; it wasn't locked. Maureen was curled on her bed in fetal position, facing the wall. I tried not to notice the prominence of her hipbone. I sat down next to her on the bed, and rubbed her back gently.

I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to offend you. Let's just… let's just go watch a movie or something, ok? Maureen?

She turned slowly to face me. Her face was still blotchy red and her cheeks tear-stained. She nodded, and got up off the bed. She took my hand and we walked back out to the couch, where we passed the night watching some lame movie on TV. She fell asleep on me, and the next morning, she behaved as if nothing had ever happened. I followed her lead. I hated to fight with her.

And now she's at it again; I can tell. But it's not really my business anymore, is it? She dumped me. I just hope Joanne can handle her. Before she gets any worse.