Chapter Eight

"Shit!" Bridget stopped talking and looked at me in disbelief.

"Travis! I don't think I've ever heard you curse. What the heck happened?" I rested my head in my hands and stared at the table. After I let out a long lingering sigh I told Bridget what I had seen.

"Well what was Ray talking to Lily about?"

"When I was taking those books to my locker and I bumped into Ray. He saw one of the book titles and I think he told Lily." Bridget cringed.

"I'm sorry Travis. It's just…you really have been getting thin and, well, I'm scared for you."

"There is nothing to be scared of. I promise. Its just stress, that's all, okay?" Bridget looked at me for a while before nodding her head.

The only thing was I now knew I was lying to her. I knew in my mind that I did have an eating disorder. I had recently come to the conclusion that the stress had driven me to anorexia. Everything in my life has spun out of control and eating is the only thing I can really do what I wish with and not have to worry about someone screwing that up too.

After school I skipped RFR. I hung out on the Roscoe Observation deck watching the sunset and then the stars came out of hiding. When I finally got home at 10:50 Lily was sitting on the swing in my front lawn. When I walked up she got out and walked over to me. She gave me a tight hug and planted a fierce kiss on my unsuspecting lips.

"What was that for?" Lily gave me a stern look.

"It was a bribe. Maybe now you'll tell me what's really up? Ray told me about the books you had. What is going on with Bridget?"

Nothing is wrong with Bridget!" I snapped. Lily stepped back in shock. "It's me okay!!! I'm the one with the problem!" Lily looked at me wide-eyed and open-mouthed.

"Travis? You…your…" She let her sentence linger and I pitched in to finish it.

"Anorexic? Yah, I am! Big shocker! Bridget noticed before my own girlfriend. Look at this!" I tugged on the side of my pants showing that yet another inch was no longer filling my jeans. "I've lost fifteen pounds in the past two weeks!!! I haven't eaten since Bridget came." Lily backed away and took of running, legs pumping harder than I've ever seen.

The next few days flew by and Lily seemed almost scared to talk to me. Finally we got a week off from school. Our first day off I was hanging out with Bridget. I had finally started eating little by little. It started with a cracker and by the end of the week I was eating apples.

"Bridget, I just want to say thank you…for everything."

"You're welcome." Bridget smiled and then smirked. She suddenly flung a pile of leaves at me and took off running.

"That's it! You're dead!" We laughed and chased each other around trees and hopping over piles of leaves.

I finally tackled her and we wound up falling into a pile of scarlet leaves. We laughed until our lungs hurt and that's when I realized that I was still on top of Bridget. I moved to get up but Bridget grasped my neck. I looked back at her. She pulled my face closer to hers and tilted her head forward. When our lips touched I saw a mental image of Lily. I tried to pull away but Bridget still held my neck. I finally pulled my head back for air and attempted to get away but Bridget kept her arms around my neck.

"Don't resist Travis. I know you like it, if you didn't you would have kissed back." I looked into her eyes and saw a seductive look on her face. She pulled my face closer and this time I didn't resist. My hands ran through her hair as leaves crackled underneath us but we didn't notice. I didn't notice anything.