Painfully Perfect
Author's Note: Sorry if this is short, but I think you guys are going to like this chapter and I really wanted to get this up! I'll try to update soon!! All of your reviews are amazing! Love you guys! Enjoy!
Chapter 11
Sharpay and her mother sat quietly in the waiting room of the local doctor's office. The family doctor, Dr. Peterson, had been the family's doctor ever since Ryan and Sharpay were born. Sharpay had her pulled her extremely large gray sweatshirt over her knees and hummed softly to herself. Mrs. Evans didn't like staying in the same place for a long time so she would stride up and down the large waiting room, occasionally sitting down in a different chair than the one before.
Mrs. Evans finally sat down again next to Sharpay and Sharpay watched her mother curiously. She was rifling through the many pamphlets they lay strewn about on the table between them. She picked up one with a large title across the front reading 'What To Know About eating Disorders.' "Ugh, Shar, look at this," Mrs. Evans started, showing the cover to Sharpay and then setting it back on the table, "I don't even want to read that. How could people possibly put their bodies through this harmful things to be skinny? That makes me so sad."
Sharpay shifted slightly in her chair so her body was turned away from her mom. After what seemed like forever, the receptionist called for Sharpay. The blond girl stood up slowly and followed the receptionist through the doorway, her mother patiently flipping through a magazine in the waiting room.
"You'll be in here. Dr. Peterson will be in in a moment," the receptionist informed Sharpay, before leaving the teenager in the small room. That morning, Sharpay shoved all the change and metal bracelets she could fit in her jean pockets, weighing them down, put on her three heaviest lockets, hidden discreetly under her sweatshirt and drank a gallon of water, making her feel bloated and heavy, but knew it would trick her weight.
Sharpay sat in the small room for a few minutes before the wooden door creaked open revealing Dr. Peterson. "Good morning, Sharpay," his kind voice spoke clearly. "How are you?"
"Fine Dr. Peterson. And you?" Sharpay asked quietly.
"I'm doing well. So, today you're in for a check-up I see. Well let's start out by weighing you. Step up on the scale please and remove your shoes," Dr. Peterson asked Sharpay politely. Hesitantly, Sharpay stepped onto the black scale and watched as her weight dialed up. Moments later, the wait was over and the scale read 111.8. The tall doctor wrote Sharpay's weigh down on is clipboard and then asked her to stand up with her heels against the wall so he could check her height. "Hmm, five three. Okay, sit back up here please," he directed to the small girl.
"Let's check your blood pressure," Dr. Peterson said, wrapping the cuff around Sharpay's upper arm. The cuff tightened slowly around her arm before slowly becoming looser. "Ninety over sixty."
Over the course of the next thirty minutes, Sharpay had her heartbeat, lungs, ears, nose and eyes checked, along with getting a sample of blood drawn to check her blood. After finishing the long series of questions that Dr. Peterson asked Sharpay, he talked to her a little more directly.
"I have a question for you. If you don't mind my asking, what is that bruise on your forehead from?"
Sharpay had forgotten to put cover-up on it this morning, but it didn't look as bad as it had. The bruise was slowly started to fade, but Sharpay knew she couldn't avoid the question. "Clumsy me, I ran into the glass deck door," she lied with a convincing laugh.
Dr. Peterson nodded and smiled slightly before moving on. "Sharpay, based on the BMI scale you aren't classified as underweight, but your weight is somewhat low for your age and height. Is there anything going on?"
Sharpay looked around the room, avoiding the doctor's gaze. "Like what?"
"Anything going on in your life now that could trigger a weight loss?"
Sharpay sat in her thoughts for a moment before responding. "Things have been a little stressful lately I guess. I've got the musical coming up and friends, family, school, homework," she told him, which was not quite a lie, but not quite the truth. "It's not like I don't eat or anything like that!" she added hastily.
"Oh, I wouldn't think you did. I've known you since you were a baby Sharpay and you've got a good head on your shoulders. I don't think you would take that path. Aside from your weight, you are perfectly healthy."
"That's great," Sharpay mumbled, standing up to get ready to leave the office and head back to the waiting room, Dr. Peterson behind her. "Dr. Peterson, with all due respect...could we not mention my weight to my mom? It's not a problem and I wouldn't want her worrying over nothing."
"That's your decision Sharpay. So when is your show?" He asked, trying to make conversation as they entered the waiting room.
"April 27th. A couple of months still."
"Well, I'll have to get some tickets for me and my family. You ladies have a good day."
"Thank you Dr. Peterson," Mrs. Evans called to the slightly older man. "Yeah, thanks." Sharpay added as they left the building.
Once in the car, Mrs. Evans tried to make small talk. "So how did things go?"
"He said I'm perfectly healthy."
"Perfectly healthy? There's nothing wrong whatsoever?"
"Nope," Sharpay said with a bored tone.
"You're sure?"
"Yes mom. Do you want something to be wrong?" The younger blond snapped to her mom.
"Of course not sweetie. Forget I said anything," Mrs. Evans responded, slightly hurt by her daughter's accusation and for the rest of the car ride, the two blonds settled into a stiff silence.
--
The following Monday at lunch, Sharpay sat at the red circular table listening with barely any interest to her friends conversation. Her stomach was growling like crazy and drinking water wasn't helping. It had been a while since Sharpay had actually eaten a real meal. After thinking about, Sharpay decided to go get a bowl of hot chicken noodle soup, a bag of chips and an orange.
It was delicious. All the ingredients went perfectly together and Sharpay's bowl of soup was empty within minutes, leaving Sharpay more hungry than she was before. She quickly devoured the chips and the oranges and leaned back in her chair. Had she really just eaten all that food? It had only been eight minutes and it was all gone. "Come on, Shar. It was your decision. You know the consequence," that voice in her head spoke up. "Hey guys, I'll see you next period. I've gotta run to the bathroom."
"Okay, see you in drama Shar," Gabriella called as she walked away, Ryan and Troy mumbling the same thing. Sharpay went up the stairs as quick as she could, which was surprisingly fast for her state. The click of her shoes on the polished hallway floors echoed as she made her way to the girl's bathroom. Upon entering the room, she scanned the row of stalls to make sure the bathroom was empty before securely locking herself in a stall.
Sharpay dropped to her knees and took a couple of deep breaths before raising to hands to her both. But she quickly pulled them back down again and whispered, "I just can't do it."
"Yes you can Sharpay. And you will," the nagging voice in her head demanded. Sharpay raised to shaky fingers and forced them down her throat, feeling her lunch come back up and land with a splash in the toilet. The sight made Sharpay gag, causing a bit more bile to rise in her throat before falling in the toilet. Sharpay grabbed a piece of toilet paper and wiped her mouth with it, threw it in the toilet and flushed.
Sharpay exited the stall, washed her hands and mouth and then popped a piece of mint gum into her mouth. With the turn of her heel she left the bathroom and headed to drama.
And that was the pattern that week. Sharpay would eat lunch with her friends and then go to the bathroom and get rid of it. By the time Friday came around, Sharpay was down to 102 pounds and had thrown up everyday that week. The gang sat around the table and Sharpay watched everyone eat before getting up to get her own food.
Ryan, who had stopped worrying about his sister, but was becoming concerned again, turned to Gabriella and Troy. "Why does Sharpay keep going to the bathroom after lunch everyday this week?"
"I was wondering that, too," Troy told his friends, a hint of worry in his voice.
"If something was wrong, I'm sure she'd tell us. If you ask me, I'd say it's that time of month," Gabriella told the two boys with a giggle.
That was enough information for Troy and Ryan, so they quickly dropped the subject. Both thought it was a reasonable explanation, especially considering that she had been rude to Ryan last week and her emotions had been kind of back and forth.
"Hey guys. What's up?" Sharpay asked happily as she sat down between Gabriella and Ryan and dug right into her piece of pepperoni pizza.
"Not much. I'm kind of excited for drama today, though," Troy said honestly.
"Me, too! Yesterday was really fun. Hopefully Ms. Darbus will just let us finish that movie instead of actually having to take notes and stuff," Gabriella added.
"Yeah, I hope she let's us, too," Sharpay laughed, eating a forkful of her salad and taking a swig of chocolate milk.
For most of the lunch hour, the conversations were normal and the gang sat around laughing and talking. "Hey, would you guys wanna come to our rehearsal after school and then we could all hang out at my house?" Troy offered.
There were murmurs of excited agreement around the table and they all decided that would be the plan for the night. "Hey, I'll see you guys in drama," Sharpay said to Gabriella, Troy, Ryan and Kelsi as she stood up to go to the bathroom.
"Hey Shar. I'll come with you," Gabriella offered happily and walked up the steps with a shocked Sharpay.
The two friends entered the girl's bathroom and Sharpay stood in front of a sink and looked at her reflection. Gabriella entered a stall and went to the bathroom as Sharpay scrutinized her face in the mirror, hoping Gabriella would leave. After a minute or so, Gabriella emerged and turned on the faucet to wash her hands. "Want me to wait?" Gabriella asked politely as she dried her hands on the brown paper towel.
"Nope, that's fine. I'll just see you in drama," Sharpay flashed one of her famous smiles and watched as Gabriella left the room before entering a stall.
"Hey guys!" Gabriella called as she saw Ryan and Troy walking in the hallway in the sea of students. Gabriella fell into step with them and started making small talk before quickly realizing something. "Oh shoot! I forgot my bag in the bathroom. I'll see you guys in drama!" Gabriella turned around and slowly made her way back to the bathroom she had been in minutes before. She spotted her bag quickly and almost left before hearing a voice.
"You can do better than that," Sharpay whispered. Gabriella was about to call out Sharpay's name, but stopped when she heard the distinct sound of her best friend throwing up. Gabriella quickly exited the bathroom and ran through the school, trying to catch up with Ryan and Troy before they got to drama.
Author's Note: OHMYGOSH!! What's going to happen now? Bet you wanna know. :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Review!