Chapter 10 ~ You Might Become Something I Need
Title: Need To Destroy, by THC (hugely obsessed and I don't care)
Again, big thanks to aznJEDI13 for R&R-ing every chapter. You're a star.
Julie rushed out of her last class of the day at high speed and ran straight into Portman.
"Thought I'd wait for you." He explained before she asked what he was doing lurking outside her class.
"Good." She replied.
"Good?" He asked in amusement.
"Uh-huh. Need to talk."
His face fell slightly. "And here was me thinking you enjoy my company."
"I do." She assured him. "Can we go and talk somewhere?"
"As always, my room is empty," he paused to roll his eyes. "Fulton's seeing Taz. Again."
She smiled at him as they started walking. "You're jealous because he has a honey and you don't."
"I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I don't need a 'honey' when I have you."
"You know, one day some girl is going to work out that you don't love me and come chasing after you." She said, only half teasing.
"Never happen." He said confidently.
"It probably will." She replied. Not that I want it to.
"Jules, you and I will single together forever." He grinned as he opened the door and let her in. "We'll be in the old folks home together, whinging about how we never met anyone."
"Thanks, Portman. That's really lifted my spirits." She told him, but in truth, it had. She took a seat on his bed, strangely he was obsessively neat. Fulton's half of the room was littered with junk and covered in pictures of his friends, Taz was in every single photo.
Portman's half of the room was well ordered. His books were filed by either subject or author depending on their content. His clothes were never on the floor. There were only three photos on his desk, all in frames. One of his family, one of the Ducks after their triumph over Iceland in the Junior Goodwill Games. The other was a picture of Portman and Julie, taken during the three days that they were actually happy together. They were sitting under the tree in front of school, she was half turned to whisper something to him and he was smiling at her, they were both cheerfully oblivious that Fulton was taking the picture.
She was pleased that he still had the picture, more so that he kept it on his desk.
"So what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked, noticing her staring at the picture.
Julie's mood turned serious once more. She took a deep breath. "I don't think Connie's eating. At all."
"What?" He asked, clearly shocked.
"I think she's starving herself."
"You mean, like… uh, what's it called? Anorexia, or is it bulimia? I can't remember which is which."
"Anorexia," Julie supplied. "Anorexia is when you starve yourself, bulimia is when you binge then throw up."
Portman was quiet for awhile, processing what Julie had just said. "While I don't doubt you," he said carefully. "Are you really sure? I mean, how do you know she's not eating?"
"I never see her eat." She sighed. "If she sits with us for a meal she only ever gets a salad, and most of the time she just pushes it around a plate. And she's so skinny now. She was getting changed yesterday and her clothes were really loose on her."
"Maybe they're old clothes." He suggested.
"No, they were her new clothes. And besides…" She took a deep breath. "I went through her closet while she was out. Her clothes are a size smaller than they were last year. I also found a care package full of food from her parents in the bin."
"You've been quite the detective." He said. "Have you tried asking her?"
"She got really aggressive when I asked. She nearly bit my head off. I did a bit of reading about it, and mood swings are also a symptom of Anorexia. I really want to be wrong, but I don't think I am."
Portman sighed and took her hand. "So what do we do?"
She shrugged. "There's more."
"Ok."
"Yesterday Coach Orion asked if there was something wrong with Connie. He's worried about her. I mean, I think I know what's wrong with her, I'm almost certain. And anorexia isn't a thing to be taken lightly, it could kill her."
"It's just the 'almost' bit that's bothering you." He deduced, squeezing her hand.
She nodded. "What should I do?"
"I think you should talk to Connie one last time." He said. "I mean really talk, don't start a conversation and let her yell her way out of it. Tell her you think she's anorexic and if she doesn't talk to you about it you're going to tell someone who will make her get help."
"You think that will do it?" She found herself close to tears, thinking about what might happen to Connie if she was right about this.
"I hope so, I really do."
"What if it doesn't work?" She asked.
"Then we go to Coach Orion and tell him." He stroked her face. "We'll help her."
More notes: If you think this chapter seems a little rushed, I'll do a rewrite. I was worried about it, but I thought I'd dropped enough hints in the previous 9 chapters! *grins*. Again, thank you aznJEDI13 for your continued support of this fic.