Marco's POV
I walked into lunch completely forgetting my argument with Ellie. I know I had been a bit snappy, but she'd understand. Ellie understood everything. She was the sweetest girl out there. She'd totally forgive me. I looked around for her familiar red hair, but couldn't find her anywhere. There was Sean and his gang heading outside- no Ellie. Ashley was sitting with Paige, Terri, and Hazel- no Ellie either. No surprise there. Maybe she had decided to skip lunch or go outside and eat it. I walked over to Ashley.
"Hey Ashley. Have you seen Ellie?"
Ashley took a sip of her Coke and shook her head no. "She was called down to Ms. Suave's office and no one has seen her since. I was wanting to talk to her."
"Yeah, me too. We kind of had a little fight this morning. I wanted to apologize. Now that I think about it, I didn't see her in any of our classes we have together."
Ashley bit her lip and turned away from me for a second. When she turned back she offered me a shrug. "I don't know. But if I see her, I'll tell her you were looking for her."
"Thanks, Ash."
Hmm. Now what. I couldn't sit with Dylan- we weren't exactly on the best of terms right now. I didn't want to be the fifth wheel on Paige and Spinner and Hazel and Jimmy's "lunch date". It didn't matter if I could anyway. Ellie was the only person I wanted to sit with or talk to right now. I decided to go back to my locker and just sit. Maybe it would do me some good to be by myself for the lunch period, to clear my head out.
But as I passed the office, Mr. Radditch caught up with me and stopped me in my tracks. "Marco, I'm glad I found you."
"What did you want, Mr. Radditch?" I used my most polite voice although I was feeling anything but polite right now.
"Ellie went home sick and I was wondering if you could take her homework to her. She forgot to get it."
Ellie went home sick? It must be a big deal if she went home. She never missed school. "Sure, I'll take it to her."
I ran my hands down the legs of my jeans and rang Ellie's doorbell with a shaking finger. Even I knew that I had said some pretty terrible things to her. She might even carry a grudge for a while. I hoped not though.
The door swung open and Ellie stepped out in a pair of pajama pants and an oversized hooded sweatshirt. She appeared to be drowning in her clothes and dark circles outlined her eyes. She didn't say a word and only opened the door wider to let me in. I accepted the silent invitation gladly.
"I have your homework," I handed the books and papers over to her awkwardly.
"Thanks," she murmured and took the stack from my hand. As soon as I shifted the weight of the books over to her, they all crashed onto the floor.
Ellie knelt next to the pile and started to pick the books up again, but failed. Instead, she just knelt there, arms to her side. I knelt next to her and put a hand on her back. "Ellie? Are you okay?"
Her eyes were locked on some invisible object on the carpet. I noticed that she blinked her eyes a few times before averting her gaze towards me. "Yeah, I'm just... not feeling well. At all."
"Yeah, that's what the office said. Listen, Elle.... I want to apologize for what I said bef-"
"-Marco, it's okay. Really." She lifted the corners of her mouth in a sort-of smile and put a hand on my knee and squeezed. "I'm so over it."
I knew I should still try to apologize, but I also knew that Ellie would want me to just drop it. She preferred to just avoid this sort of stuff between us. I had to make it up to her somehow, though. I mean, I had said some pretty shitty things to her. Things I didn't mean at all. I cared about Ellie more than anything and I treated her like shit.
I grabbed the books up off the floor and placed them on a nearby end table. "So, how are you feeling sick?"
She pulled herself up, grasping onto the back of the couch for help. "Just... weak. And sick to my stomach."
"That sucks. Anything I can get you? Make you soup?"
She scrunched up her nose. "Nah. I'm fine, Marco. Really."
"If you say so... Well, how about I make you up a little bed on the couch so you can watch TV and movies all night."
She let out a little laugh and nodded. "Sure. Why not."
I jogged up my stairs to the linen closet and pulled out a sheet and some blankets and grabbed a pillow from her bed. She sat in an armchair as I set up her makeshift bed on the couch and put a few cans of Sprite on the coffee table next to the TV remote. "There. It's going to be the best couch-bed you've ever had."
"I'm sure. Oh yeah, this is perfect." She snuggled into the blankets and wiped a strand of hair away from her eyes. "So anything interesting happen at school?"
"Do I look like a gossiper to you?"
"Come on Marco! I need some gossip!"
I smiled and put my hands up in a "I surrender" motion. "Okay... well... Heather Sinclaire sat on a bench that the school had just painted outside of school and walked around today with paint all over her ass."
"Go figure."
"That's what I said. Then, Paige got chewed out because she didn't have her project done for Family and Child Development. Mrs. Erwin was pissed!"
Ellie sighed with a huge smile on her face. "I wish I could have seen that!"
"Yeah, it was pretty amusing. Other than that, it was an unusually boring day at Degrassi."
"Well, that's good. I'm glad I didn't miss much."
She grabbed the TV remote and started flipping through channels. I decided to whine a little more about Dylan. "I don't know what he's thinking. We had something good. Now he's messing it up. I just have too many problems right now. How do you do it, Ellie? How do you stay so ... How do you get it so easy?" I threw my head back against the back of the chair and sighed deeply.
Ellie quit flipping through the channels. "Hey Marco...?"
"Hmm?"
"Um... Nevermind."
Ellie's POV"Bye Marco. Thanks for stopping by." I waved at him from the couch and returned my attention to the news.
I can't believe I almost told him about what had gone down that day between me and Ms. Suave. That would have been a complete mistake. Marco would have blown it out of proportion and would have taken her side. Not mine. I just knew it.
I can't believe I had told Ms. Suave about my problems. Well, some of them anyway. How embarrassing. How stupid! Why did I let myself do that? That was the worst mistake I ever made. Now she was going to track me down tomorrow, thinking she knew everything about me, waving that fucking file in the air as she chases me down the hallway. Telling me I'm too skinny or that I need to stop cutting. Who the hell does she think she is trying to control me?
I control myself.
Ashley's POVI walked into school a little later than usual. I had hit the snooze button on the alarm clock one too many times, Toby had decided to take extra long in the shower, and I couldn't find my right shoe. Could the morning get any worse? I stopped walking when I saw Ellie waiting by my locker.
Shit. She had found out. She found out that I told Ms. Suave my concerns. Why did I do that? I had no real proof. Except everything I had looked up on the Internet. But I shouldn't have told Ms. Suave. Maybe I should have confronted Ellie myself- but then she would have yelled at me and hated me. I couldn't do it. I'm not a professional. I can't pretend that I know everything that's going on anymore.
I was practically tip-toeing to my locker I was so scared of what Ellie was going to say to me. On second thought, maybe it was a good idea I told Ms. Suave... she did not look good. At all. She barely looked like she could stand up on her own without the support of the locker next to mine. I reached my locker. "Ellie? What's up?"
"Ash. Nothing much. Just sort-of bored." She ran a bony hand through her hair. It almost made me sick to look at her. Why did no one else notice around here? Was I the only one who had eyes?
I grabbed my books from my locker and then slammed it shut. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah. Je crois... Shit. Sorry. I think it must have been something I ate. Maybe food poisoning."
"Ugh. Don't remind me of French. I have a quiz today that is going to be horrible."
"Tres horrible."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know you can speak French fluently and make the rest of us look like idiots."
Ellie laughed. "Yeah, well, you're not the one who has to make a speech in front of your class on French culture. I was up till three this morning making note cards so I don't forget anything."
"No wonder you look tired. Maybe you should get more sleep."
"Yeah, maybe..."
Ellie's POVAhhh... Family and Child Development class. My favorite class. Okay, I'm not totally sarcastic when it comes to it. I do enjoy it. I like thinking about having my own little family someday. And plus it's easy. Too bad I had to miss the chewing out of Paige Michaelchuck. That would have made my day. Maybe even my year. Okay, let's not lie. My life.
Mrs. Erwin walked into class a few minutes late. "Sorry class. I had to take care of something. Okay, so today is going to be interesting. We'll be starting our lesson on newborn care. So, I bet you can guess what you'll be doing."
"Giving birth?"
Ohmigod. Did someone actually say that in the back of the class. I craned my neck around to see who had made that comment. Hmmm. Oh. Heather Sinclaire. That figures. What a moron.
Mrs. Erwin laughed as if it were a joke, although everyone knew Heather had seriously been concerned about this. "No, Heather. But close! You'll all be receiving your very own babies! For two weeks you'll be expected to take care of them for a grade. Now these babies are programmed to cry, wet, get hungry, sleep, whatever babies do. At the end of the two weeks, I will grade you on your performance."
YES! More stress! I love this! I inched lower in my seat wishing to disappear. Why did teachers insist on giving us the most impossible tasks?
"Ellie!" Ashley nudged my arm. "Mrs. Erwin is calling you up."
"Huh? Oh!" I stood up quickly, causing all the blood to rush to my head. Causing me to actually fall sideways onto the floor.
Oh.my.god. I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me. Okay, it wasn't too bad. Except for the room full of laughter. Even Mrs. Erwin was laughing at me. That's cool. I reached up to the table and pulled myself up. Okay, let's try this again. I walked to the front of the class where Mrs. Erwin held a baby out to me.
"Okay. Now Ellie here is going to demonstrate how to properly hold a baby. Oh wait. Okay. Congratulations Miss Nash. It's a girl!" She held the baby out towards me and I carefully grabbed a hold of it, making sure not to let her neck fall back.
"Oh, Ellie! That's perfect! Okay, you can take your baby now and sit down. Hazel, pass out these packets of papers. These packets explain what your grade is based on, what to do with your baby, and so on and so on."
I cradled my baby girl in my arms and sat down in my seat. I decided I was going to name her Brynn after Brayden. I was planning on naming one of my real kids after Brayden anyway. A loud crash sounded throughout the room and my mouth fell open as I saw that Craig's baby had fallen to the floor. Miss Erwin flinched and stooped down to pick up the little doll. "Okay, I'm going to reprogram this one. It's dead."
Craig swallowed hard and walked back to his desk to take his seat next to me. Maybe it was a good thing that Manny and him didn't have that baby. Obviously, he didn't even know how to hold one. "How do you do it?" he whispered to me.
I laughed softly, "I think it's maternal instinct."
"Oh. Well, whatever it is, I don't have it."
I gave him a small smile and went back to reading the packet Hazel had placed on my desk. This project actually didn't seem too bad. We had to clothe our baby, bathe it, feed it, just take care of it. That was easy. Miss Erwin came by the table and presented Craig with a new baby girl. I helped him hold it for the first time, showing him where to place his hands at.
"Thanks, Ellie."
"What are you going to name her? Hopefully not something Spinner would name his kid..."
"Hey!" Spinner called from another table. "Buck is a cool name."
"For a girl?" I responded.
He shrugged and went back to his petting session with Paige. Gross. Craig let out a laugh and shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe I'll name her Ellie. Since you did show me how to hold her."
Ooookay... Was this some weird sort of stalker thing? I mean, I thought Craig was over me after I told him no way after that kiss. He had sworn he was all into Ashley again. Was he? He must have noticed the weird expression on my face because he lifted an eyebrow and replied, "Don't worry. I'm not obsessed with you. Just because of lack of another name."
Okay, I'd take that. Craig seemed pretty sincere. Anywho... Was it bad that I wanted to go baby clothes shopping after school? I think I'm going to be bordering on the line of psycho when I'm through with this project.
Sean's POVI reached for the phone. "Okay, so what do you want?" I asked Ellie.
She swung her legs over the arm of the chair and leaned back. "Hmm. Breadsticks. With cheese. And tomato sauce."
"Okay, so like the cheesticks?"
"No. The breadsticks. The sticks with the sparkly stuff on them."
Huh? I'd let that one go. I knew what she was talking about now. I quickly called the nearest pizza place and placed an order for breadsticks and a medium pizza.
"I don't want pizza," Ellie complained when I got off of the phone.
"I know. The pizza's for me. Okay, so I think Return of the Robots is on soon. We should watch that."
Ellie pouted, "Do we have to? Can't we watch something a little more... educational?"
I almost spit out my coke. "Educational? I get enough education at school. This is our free time. As in, fun time."
She let out the most dramatic sigh I've ever heard. "I know. But "Return of the Robots"? I'm a little roboted out. Let's flip through and see what else is on."
"Whatever." I threw the television remote over to her. Instead, the remote missed her outstretched hand completely and hit that stupid, little baby doll she's been carrying with her since yesterday. The baby started crying and Ellie gasped.
"Sean! You have to be careful!" She carefully lifted the baby out it's carrier and brought it over to me. "Now, kiss her head and make it all feel better."
Was she serious? I was not kissing a machine baby's head. Nothing could get me to do that. "No way. Nothing you do or say will ever get me to show signs of affection to a doll."
She arched an eyebrow and leaned in closer to my ear. My eyes shot up as she started whispering into my ear and a slow smile crept across my face. Okay, so maybe I would kiss the baby's head once. But that's it. I hurried and pecked the doll's head and then leaned back on the couch blushing. How embarrassing. If anyone ever saw me do that, my reputation would be ruined.
"Awww! That was so cute! Doesn't Brynn look adorable today? I made this outfit last night."
"I can't believe you made your fake baby clothes. That's almost sick, Elle."
"I know. But I want a good grade."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Start flipping."
I started running my lips from the corner of Ellie's mouth to her collarbone. She smelled so good and all I wanted to do right now was-
The baby started crying and Ellie shot up and leapt out of bed. Not again... This was the third time we had tried to have a little alone time and that damn baby had ruined it. If I didn't know how important this grade was to Ellie, I would have smashed the doll into pieces. I lay back on my bed waiting for Ellie to return. She was lucky I was so in love with her. I wouldn't be this patient with anyone else.
She came back into the room with the baby and a bottle. God. She was feeding it again. "Brynn's thirsty tonight!" She smiled and rocked the doll a little bit. "I think I'll just put her carrier in here. So I can reach her better."
Great. And while you're at it, invite the whole school to watch us. There was no way I could have sex with her with that baby in the room. Watching me. Critiquing my every move. It was just creepy. I like my alone time with Ellie. Not alone time with a mechanical doll watching. That's just wrong.
Even when Ellie started to fool around with me again, all I could do was stare at that doll. Did I really want to have sex now with the product of what could go wrong staring me down? Ellie noticed my uneasiness and kissed me again on the lips before pulling away slightly. "What's wrong?" she asked in her soft voice.
I stared into her warm hazel eyes and lost myself. Even with everything she has going on, she can still make you feel like you're the most important thing in the world. She always shows genuine concern for a person no matter what. I reached up and kissed her lightly on the mouth. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong at all."
I was about to go to sleep when I realized Ellie had left her math book here. It was no big deal if the homework was already done, but it wasn't. Looks like I'll be taking a long walk tonight. I grabbed the book and made sure she hadn't left anything else. Nope. Okay, out the door and off to the good side of town.
I knocked on her door, rang the doorbell, but she never came to let me in. So I decided I'd just walk on in. Maybe she was out- I'd just leave it on her bed with a note. I walked up the stairs and noticed that her bedroom door was open and the lights were off. Okay, she was out... or asleep. I'd have to be quiet, just in case.
As soon as I walked into her room, though, I knew she was awake. I could hear her. In the bathroom. Throwing up. Had she been sick earlier? She hadn't acted like it. I saw that the door to the bathroom was open slightly. I went to go push it open even more, but what I saw through the crack made me stop. She wasn't sick. She was shoving her finger down her throat.
I couldn't tear my eyes away. It's like watching a car crash or a train wreck or Heather Sinclaire tripping down the steps. You can't stop looking. She sat back on her heels and I saw that she was only wearing a bra and underwear. Each one of her ribs was sticking out. They were sharp. Bones in her legs and arms and everywhere a bone is located were practically ripping through her skin. Why hadn't I noticed this before?
She grabbed a bottle of some kind of medicine or syrup from next to her and took a few sips of it. What was it? A few minutes later she started gagging and throwing up again. I couldn't watch anymore. It was making me sick. I slid the book into her backpack so she wouldn't realize it had ever been missing.
I'm her boyfriend. I should know when she's hurting herself. Why don't I know these things? Am I so oblivious to it all? Each time we'd made love and I'd held her, why did I never feel her and wonder why she was so skinny? I hated myself for not paying closer attention. And for dismissing Ashley's concerns like they were nothing. Like they were false. And as much as I hated to admit it, I even hated her for doing this to herself. For being so messed up and not seeing how beautiful and perfect she already was. I hated the part of her that made her hurt herself. The part that punished herself. I hated everything right now.
Ashley's POVSo, Ellie's been taking this whole fake baby thing a little too far. She makes it clothes, she bought it a little stroller and carrier... pretty much, she treats it like a real baby. Kind of scary. Kind of cute. I mean, it's nice seeing her getting excited about something and I know how much she loves taking care of others and so she's been putting all her energy into taking care of this little doll. Although she swears that she's only doing it for a grade. Whatever, everyone knows she's really into it.
Like today, Wednesday, for instance. She showed up to school, wheeling her baby along the hallways, talking to it. Telling the baby about every person they passed- that's Dylan, he just broke up with Marco. We don't talk to him. There's Hazel. She's actually pretty cool once you get her away from Paige. Speaking of Paige... There's our sworn enemy. Make note of that for when you grow up.- That sort of thing. Meanwhile, I'm lugging my little baby around like it's the most disgusting thing on earth. My baby boy is barely wearing clothes because I have no interest whatsoever in buying him any or making him some. Maybe... maybe I could ask Ellie to make him some. She'd probably jump at the chance. Maybe I should just let her adopt Walker. Then she could be twice as motherly.
But how can she take care of another "human being" when she can't even take care of herself? I know she thinks she is, but she's not. And I don't understand why no one else in the world seems to realize this. I mean, it's not hard to see just from looking at her. Even when I went to tell Ms. Suave my concerns, she told me that there had been other remarks or complaints made to her about the same subject. Who are these other remarks coming from? I'd like to know so I can talk to them!
"Hey Ash!" Ellie chirped. Of course, baby was in tow. Today, Brynn was wearing a little pink, fleece outfit- complete with little feet. A matching pink skull cap was placed on her head. I smiled. It really was cute. Ellie stooped down so she was the same height as Brynn in her stroller. "Look. We have the same eyes." She grinned and held her face against the doll's.
"Yep. You sure do. She's a spittin' image of her momma. So, who's the father?" I joked around.
Ellie twirled a piece of hair around her finger as she leaned against a locker. "Oh, I don't know. There's just too many possibilities."
I laughed and turned away from my locker so I could look at her. She looked deep in thought as she traced the letters on a huge poster hanging in the hallway. A bit my lip slightly as I glanced at her jeans. Definitely loose. Dangerously loose. I noticed her already tiny belt was set to the very last hole. God... this was hard to look at. Usually she did a better job at hiding her body. Today, though, she was wearing a tight black three quarter sleeved shirt and a light blue halter over it. As always, she had her trusty arm warmers on. I hadn't even thought about her cutting. Was she cutting again? Or was she just throwing up...?
"Well," Ellie pushed herself away from the wall and almost tipped over. She giggled slightly, "I have to go find Marco. See you in class."
"Bye..." my voice trailed off. I was too busy looking at her, watching her every move, to pay attention to what she was saying.
"Are you, like, totally crushing on her or something?" Paige's voice brought me out of my trance.
"Huh?"
"You've been staring at that little freak for like... ever... What's your deal?"
That was so Paige. Always wanting to know everyone else's business. I know she meant well, but still... wait a minute, hadn't Paige helped Ellie once when she found out Ellie had been cutting? I know the two avoided each other ever since and we're even more shitty towards each other, but still, Paige had helped her once. She could help her again. Paige always knew what to do in these types of situations.
I took a deep breath and led Paige over to underneath the steps. "I'm worried about Ellie."
"Uh... why? She seems fine to me."
Okay, this is it. "To be perfectly blunt- I think she has an eating disorder. A serious one. I mean, doesn't anyone notice how skinny she is?"
Paige looked around the hallway and quickly whipped her head back to me. "To also put it bluntly- yes. I've noticed. We've all noticed. It's so obvious, you know?"
I gaped at her. "Then why haven't you said anything or done anything?"
"Listen hon, I've helped her once. She didn't want it. She hates me for it. I don't even know if I helped, but there's not much more I can do about that. But seriously, if you have concerns, you need to tell someone like Ms. Suave or..."
"I already did. And she said I wasn't the first person. So, obviously, someone else is worried. I don't even know if it helped Ellie or not."
Paige took my hand in hers and squeezed it. "Don't worry, Ash. We'll figure something out. We'll bring it up today at lunch, okay? This is a problem everyone needs to talk about. We have to find a way to help her out."
Paige and I started to walk towards class, setting up a time and place for everyone to meet at lunch. I stopped outside of our classroom door. "Wait. Paige? Why do you care so much? I thought you hated Ellie."
Paige shrugged, "I don't hate her. It's a strong dislike, you know? We're two totally different people, but... we're alike in one way- we both care about our friends more than anything. I help people and she helps people. It's just what we do."
I smiled. Paige was right, except for one thing. "You're right, except... you and Ellie do have more alike than you think."
"Ew! What's that mean?"
"Oh Paige..."
"Come on Ash! What's that mean? Ash! Tell me!"
Paige's POVI set my tray down on the outside table we had claimed under a grove of trees. It was more private than other tables so we wouldn't be bothered. Everyone else was already there- looking completely serious and worried. This is something I've never seen before at lunch... "So you all know why we're out here?" I asked as I took a seat.
Jimmy was the only one to speak up, "Yeah. Ellie's in trouble."
Marco cleared his throat and leaned forward. "I just want to say thank you because I know you all don't particularly like Ellie, but it's nice to know that you'll help my best friend out. That means a lot to me."
Hazel reached over and patted Marco's arm before returning her attention to her plate. Okay... so where did someone start with a topic like this? Maybe I'd let Ashley lead- she knew more than anyone.
"Hey Marco."
The whole table snapped back to attention and looked at Ellie as she stood next to Marco, a little baggy of carrot sticks in her hand. Is that all she ever ate? That's all I ever saw her eat. As if to prove my point, she bit down on a little stick and started to chew slowly.
Marco licked his lips. "Hey Elle. What's up?"
"I just wanted to ask if you wanted to do math homework together tonight? I might need your expertise."
"Okay, if you promise to help me with my thesis statement for Ms. Kwan."
"Of course. Okay, I have today off of the station so just meet me at my locker, okay?"
"Sure."
"Okay, bye everyone."
I noticed that she made sure to give me a glare as she turned away. I had half the mind to return it, but looking at her, I realized it was she was so pathetic I couldn't get angry with her. She looked like a skeleton. Like I could break her in half if I wanted to. Sometimes I do.... Okay, but off-topic here...
"She looks so horrible!" Terri whispered. We all shook our heads in agreement.
Ashley sighed, "So what are we going to do about it? We can't let her hurt herself. I've tried telling Sean, but he doesn't believe me."
"You'd think Sean would realize," Spinner replied.
"Well, he doesn't... He laughed it off. So, I think first we need to convince him and then maybe he'd have an idea of what we could do."
"You don't have to convince me. I know now."
We all looked up surprised to see Sean taking a seat at the table. He pulled his hat lower of his eyes and hunched over the table. He looked absolutely distraught. Like he was carrying something around with him. He clenched his fists together and placed them in front of him on the table. "I caught her making herself throw up. It wasn't pretty."
I gasped. Everyone gasped. He had actually caught her? "What did she say?" I asked.
"Nothing. She doesn't know I saw her."
"Oh."
We all sat and stared at each other for a while, trying to think of something to say. But no one could think of anything. A heavy silence hung over our table for the first time ever as we all contemplated what was going on with our classmate. And to some of us, a friend. There weren't any words we could say to ease each other. We hadn't dealt with this before. This was new to us. And it wasn't about someone in our little circle. Ellie had always been out of our circle. And because of everyone's general concern for her, we were bringing people into the circle- like Sean. I've always known what to say in times like this, except for now. It's not easy trying to save someone you barely know, who you torment everyday, who you love to talk about and bitch about. Who you think is one of the most vile persons on this earth. Who you are secretly jealous of sometimes because she always seemed to have it together- perfect grades, perfect best friend, perfect boyfriend, teacher's pet. And even though people say that about you too, she's different because she's soft-spoken and gentle and independent and in a whole different world. I didn't have any words of wisdom to share with the group that day. I can't give hope or encouragement.
I can't give anything because this is Ellie. This is the girl who was always so damn perfect to the point that it made you sick. Who always spent her time talking about things that mattered, writing editorials that actually said something, helping every fucking person in the world out when she needed help herself. Who was always fifty steps ahead of everyone else and who made you consider whether you yourself were a good person or not because everyone knows she is. She'll never completely let you into her world no matter how hard you want to be. And although everyone acted as if they never noticed her, everyone did. And everyone cared for her. Even her "enemies" were scared for her.
So today at lunch it was our group plus Sean. But Ellie's physical condition couldn't be hidden forever. Even more people would notice. And who knew how many people would be at our table tomorrow.