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BPOV

—

I slipped into a chair at our lunch table, glancing behind me and making sure he wasn't anywhere close by. Once I spotted him still in the lunch line, I felt comfortable enough to speak. "Did you tell Edward to follow me around after the whole incident with Mike last week?" I whispered-yelled at Rose.

She rolled her eyes at me in response. "Bella, I love you, but no. I have no control over what my brother does or doesn't do."

I turned toward Alice. "Was it you, then?"

She threw her hands up in defense. "Wasn't me! I'm pretty sure he just deals with me because I give him a ride to and from school."

A cafeteria tray slapped down onto the table as the chair beside me scraped across the floor, followed by Edward falling into his seat. I glanced at him for a moment, noticing the dark circles underneath his eyes for the first time. He looked exhausted.

Looking between all of us, he raised his eyebrows in question. "What'd I do now?"

"Why have you been following Bella around like a weirdo?" Rose glared at her brother.

"Oh my God, Rose!" I hissed.

She whipped her head in my direction. "What? Isn't that what you said?"

Dropping my head into my hands, I nearly screamed into my palms. I'd never told Alice or Rose how hot I thought Edward was, mainly because it would make things weird. Especially for Rose. No sister wanted to hear their best friend gush about their twin brother. But now, on top of thinking I was fat, he was going to think I was some sort of whiney bitch. "No! Oh, my God. I—"

"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, Bella, or for you to think I was stalking you like some freak."

I peeked over at Edward from between my fingers. "I didn't say that, Edward. Rose did. I only asked her if she told you to do it."

He snorted, looking away from me. "She's not my mom, she can't tell me to do shit. I didn't like how Newton talked to you, and I know you have English and math with the prick."

"See!" Rose yelled, slapping her hand on the table. "He wouldn't have even if I told him to."

I glanced over at the table where Mike sat with his girlfriend, Jessica, along with most of the other football players and cheerleaders. Unfortunately for me, he caught my eye and started making rude gestures about my weight.

Alice turned to see what I was looking at, rolling her eyes. "You know what I think his problem is, Bella?"

I pushed my tray away from me, no longer hungry. Folding my arms on the table, I laid my head down. "What's that, Alice?"

"I think they're all dicks because they wouldn't know what to do with a girl with a body like yours. You're all huge boobs and round ass with a gorgeous face. Mike's used to fondling lemons, while you're carrying around hot as fuck, juicy melons."

Beside me, Edward went to take a drink and ended up going into a coughing fit.

I reached out to pat him on the back, but he pulled away. He jumped out of his chair, trying to speak between coughs. "I—I gotta go," he finally choked out.

"God, he's so weird," Rose huffed.

The bell rang a few minutes later, and as Mike passed our table he leaned into me. "Looks like Cullen would have rather choked to death than let you touch him."

I pushed out a deep breath before standing. I couldn't wait til we fucking graduated next year. I was so done. I'd miss Rose and Alice, but honestly, getting out of here would be worth the misery of not having them beside me.

—DC—

As I walked through the door, my mom called out to me. "Bella?"

"Hi, Mom." I walked into the living room, sitting down beside her.

"How was school? Was it a good day?"

I shrugged, trying not to think about the words Mike had uttered, or the way Edward had acted. "It was fine, just a typical day."

"That's good. Look, we need to have a talk. I was doing some cleaning today, putting away laundry and…"

I immediately knew what she was going to say. She'd found it all.

"And, well, I found...these chips, and cookies—cookies, Bella!" She let out an exasperated sigh. "I work hard to make sure you have good, healthy food and reasonable snacks, and this is what you do? You hide food in your room? You negate everything I try to do for you."

I didn't know whether to scream or to burst into tears. Between school and home, there was nowhere I could just be. No one realized I wasn't choosing to be this size, I just was. Sure, maybe I could have occasionally made better choices. But I binged at night when everyone was asleep, because I'd hardly eaten that day. Who could eat when everyone around you stared at you, watching everything that slipped past your lips?

I stared at the floor, not knowing what to say. There was really nothing that could come out of my mouth that would appease her. So, I went with what I knew best. "I'm sorry," I whispered.

Mom patted me on the back in what I was certain was supposed to be a caring gesture, but it just felt empty. "I made us some salads with grilled chicken and a few croutons—"

I closed my eyes for a moment, trying to regain my composure. I pushed out a deep breath. "Thanks, but I'm really not very hungry and I have a lot of homework tonight. I'm going to go to my room."

I dropped my backpack on the floor as I walked into my room. My eyes once again filled with tears as I looked around at the one spot in the world I'd called safe. Sure, I'd find a new spot to hide food, I couldn't starve myself, but I'd constantly be on edge.

Maybe if she took the time to realize that depriving me of certain foods didn't work, her meals wouldn't feel so much like a punishment. Maybe if she had preached about moderation and not that everything I put in my body was bad, I wouldn't have felt like such shit.

But that night, she'd won. I couldn't face her again, so instead of leaving my room, I went to bed painfully hungry.

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