Chapter Ten: Revelations

Taylor's POV:

Over the next few days, Jeff, Amy, and I did a lot of things around Cameron and the three houses. They showed me around the town, took me shopping for more clothes and for things for my new rooms, to get me ready to go back to school, and even start me on physical therapy. I had more fun just hanging out with them. Not that physical therapy was an issue for me, I had been doing gymnastics most of my life and working through pain was through that, it was just annoying. My motivation for that was that Jeff had promised to teach me motocross. To prove he was serious, he had even brought me out looking to get me my own bike.

Back at his house, Jeff, Amy, and me got my room decorated. It wasn't like anything I'd ever seen before by the time I was done. I don't know how it started, but one minute Jeff and I were talking about how to paint the room, the next minute we'd bought a bunch of different paints and painted the walls like murals. When it was done I was exhausted and we were all covered in paint, but I loved it. After the walls were done, we stripped down my dresser and repainted it to match the walls, which I thought was even cooler. Matt came over when the room was completed to help Jeff put my furniture back in place.

"Wow, guys. Was this really Taylor's idea or was this your idea, Jeff?" Matt asked as they started moving the furniture back into the room.

"No, it was my idea, Matt. The murals were my designs. Amy and Jeff helped me paint them, but this was all me," I said excited and still in disbelief Jeff let me decorate my room the way he did.

"See, she's creative. I didn't have anything to do with this except her DNA," Jeff said laughing.

I started laughing and stumbled a little.

"Hey, Kid, you okay?" Matt asked. "Jeff, how long have you guys been going at this?"

"I'm fine, Matt. Just tired," I said, uncomfortable that Matt was questioning Jeff.

"Come on, Taylor, you can rest in your father's room while these guys move your furniture," Amy said shooting a glare at Matt, who just glared back at her.

We walked away and Amy took me to the kitchen first. She sat me at the table and got me some fruit salad and water from the fridge. She sat down with some of her own.

"Eat, Taylor," she said looking at me.

"I'm not that hungry," I said, looking at the food.

"Taylor, I know I'm not the only one who sees this, but I didn't want to say anything in front of anyone. Why won't you eat?" Amy asked.

I looked up at her in shock.

"I eat," I said defensively, eating some of the fruit salad.

"Not enough. You're fifteen years old and you don't eat enough for someone your height. I know that it worries the guys, but they're scared to say anything to you. They don't want to offend you," Amy said.

I didn't know what to say. How could I explain years of conditioning from my grandfather, my coaches, and at times even my mother that I needed to stay thin? Eating had always been a topic of discussion and it was usually about why someone like me needed to eat less. Gymnasts needed to stay as light as they could to get height on their aerial tricks. Ladies should have certain figures. Ladies should never eat more than a certain amount, especially in public. I didn't how to explain, so I didn't answer her.

"I'm not trying to upset you, Taylor," she said, reaching out for my hand, which I let her do. "But you've already become so important to these guys and to me. I don't want to see anything bad happen to you because you're not eating."

I looked up at her. There was truth in her words. She did care about me.

"I'm sorry," I said to her.

"Don't apologize. Just help me understand so I can help you with this," she said to me. "Was it because of the gymnastics? I've heard about gymnasts having eating disorders."

I didn't want to lie to Amy. She'd been so good to me and she had been the only girl around me since we'd left Texas. I didn't want to make her hate me.

"Kinda. The coaches always said that I needed to lose weight otherwise I wouldn't get my tricks done right," I explained. "But they weren't the only ones. Lots of people told me that I needed to watch what I eat, keep a certain weight and never eat too much."

"Okay, first, you decided you don't wanna do gymnastics anymore, right?" she asked me.

"I never really wanted to do it to begin with, so yeah," I told her.

"Then forget your coaches. I know it's not gonna be something that happens overnight. But you need to think about you. As for everyone else who thinks you need to look or act a certain way, screw them. Be who you are, do what you love, as long as you're not hurting anyone in the process," Amy said. "You've been through a lot that nobody your age should have to go through, Taylor, but take it as a new start. No more hiding who you are, no more being forced to do things you don't want to do, but most importantly, it's time to start taking care of yourself. You get to reinvent yourself, be the person you've always been, but in order to do that, you need to be healthy, you get me?"

"I guess," I said.

"I'll help you out. Little by little, you eat more every day. For today, we'll start with you just finishing the fruit salad before you lay down. I don't expect you to eat huge meals every day, but you need to promise to eat at least something more than once a day," Amy said.

"I'll try, Amy. I promise," I said.

"Good," she said smiling at me, which lit up the room. "Now eat. I have a feeling you're just gonna end up sleeping in Jeff's room tonight."

"Are you gonna tell Jeff about all of this?" I asked as I started eating.

"I won't lie to you. Yeah, I am. He needs to know. It's the only way he can help you," Amy replied. "He won't be mad at you. Don't worry. I think he'll be more relieved that you were open with me and that you're gonna try eating more now."

Jeff's POV:

I wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but I was going to the kitchen for water when I overheard Amy and Taylor talking. Amy got Taylor to admit that she'd been pushed to get into the eating habits that she'd shown since I'd met her. It pissed me off. Quietly, I made my way back to her room and Matt.

Flashback: Nineteen years ago:

"Come on, Tammy. That really can't be all you're gonna eat," I said to my girlfriend of three weeks.

"I'm not that hungry, Jeff," she said, pushing her barely touched plate away and not looking me in the eye.

It was always like that with us. We'd go out to eat, she'd order a salad and eat maybe a third of it. She was so thin already, but she always insisted she wasn't hungry.

"Are you okay, Tammy?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I worry about you. We've been together for almost a month and I don't think you've ever finished a meal."

"I just don't eat a lot, Jeff. Don't worry about me."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said, giving me a smile that I could tell was practiced and fake.

"Just know I don't care if you think you should eat in front of me. I'd rather you eat," I said honestly.

Present:

"Earth to Jeff," Matt said waving his hand in front of my face.

"Sorry, did you say something?"

"Where'd you go, Bro?" he asked.

"Just thinking about Taylor and Tammy."

"What about them?"

I explained what I'd overheard in the kitchen.

"Do you really think Tammy taught Taylor those habits?"

"Those are the same habits Tammy had when we first started dating, Matt. The ones her father pushed on her."

"But Amy is right. Gymnasts are fanatics about their weight."

"So was Tammy's father. He taught her that it was wrong for a girl to eat more than a certain amount in public, to weigh more than a certain weight. It took me forever to get her to eat a full meal, which is part of the reason why it took me so long to bring her over for dinner. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable around Dad. You know how he gets about people eating."

"So you think it was a combination of family and sport that made her like this?"

"I wouldn't doubt it. I went through Tammy's things while Taylor was still in the hospital. Her father got to her after they left Cameron, Matt. There was nothing left of the Tammy I remembered, not really. Her jewelry was all expensive jewelry, her clothes were all prim and proper, no jeans, t-shirts, none of that. And none of her clothes were bigger than a size four. I'd bet my life that Tamara became a full-on anorexic after having Taylor again."

"What are you gonna do about this, Jeff? We can't let Taylor just keep not eating," Matt said, worried.

"I don't want her to know I overheard what she said to Aimes," I started.

"But she's your daughter, Jeff. You have to do something."

"She promised Amy she'd work with her to start eating more. I wanna let Aimes have a chance, since the two of them have gotten so close. If it works, fine, if not, I'll figure out something, just like I did with Tamara. But I'm not gonna just walk over Aimes after everything she's already done to help me with her," I finished.

Matt and I finished moving the furniture and ordered a pizza. Taylor was asleep in my bed. I decided to leave her there for the night. When he left, Amy and I were sitting on the couch having a beer.

"I heard what you and Taylor talked about in the kitchen tonight," I said to her.

"You were eavesdropping?" she asked, shocked.

"No. I was going into the kitchen but stopped because I didn't want to interrupt you two. Then I realized you had the nerve to bring up what I'd been trying to figure out how to talk to her about for a bit. Thank you."

"I'm just as worried about her as you, Matt, and Gil are. She's a great kid, she just got taught some really shitty habits," Amy explained.

"I'm sure I know where she learned them," I said.

"Her coaches."

"Not just them. Her mother and her mother's family."

"What do you mean?"

I told Amy about Tamara and how I had to help her with anorexia when we were teenagers.

"It makes sense that it would be so ingrained. If it came from everyone around her, it's a miracle the girl eats anything at all."

"So do you have a plan?"

"I got her to eat a whole bowl of fruit salad tonight," she said to me smiling. I loved her smile. "I figured get her to eat small things. Toast, yogurt, granola bars, cereal, things like that, and add a little more food to what she eats daily."

"Pretty much how I did things with her mother. But it was easier for me to approach it with her mother. I'd known her longer, I didn't feel like I had as much to lose by pressing the issue. Thank you for helping me with this. All of it."

"It's why I'm here," Amy said, smiling at me again.

I don't know what I was thinking. Actually, I don't think I was thinking. I leaned over and kissed Amy. When she didn't pull away from me, I deepened the kiss, both of us fumbling to put our beers down. Before I knew it, I had Amy pinned on the couch kissing her, touching her, wanting to do more, but knowing I wouldn't with Taylor in the next room.

Eventually, we got control of ourselves. Amy's face was flushed. I didn't know whether to be embarrassed or not. We'd always been close and I was worried I'd just destroyed that. Before she could say anything, I grabbed my cell, my jacket and made my way to the front door.

"If Taylor wakes up needing anything, call me. I'll be in the Imag-I-Nation."

She nodded at me and I walked out my door, wondering what the hell came over me.