"Hello?" I said.
"Demi?" I heard from the other line.
"Selena?" My heart stopped. I haven't heard from her in AGES. I pictured the sweet little girl who used to dance and sing with me on Barney, the girl who I used to make rice crispies with, the girl who gave up on me when I gave up on myself.
"Yes, its me," her voice cracked. Was she crying? I heard she was dating that Bieber kid now. I wonder if…
"How are you Dems?" she sniffled. Oh shit she was crying.
"Why are you crying Sel?"
"Because… b-b-because you-you… I'm soooo sooor-rrreee!" she choked. God I forgot how much I loved this girl.
"I'm in a Treatment Center, and you're the one who is crying? Typical Selena," I said with a smile.
"Shut u-up!"
"To answer your question, I've been better. How are you?" She was still sniffling.
"I'm good, I just… wanted to make sure you're okay and safe." By safe, I knew she meant alive. She knew parts of my past. I inhaled heavily and said
"I'm safe Selena." Though I almost didn't believe myself. At that moment Tami told me that I needed to get ready for a group meeting. I was relieved but I also wanted to talk to Selena. Selena must have heard Tami because she said
"Would you mind if I call you again?"
"I'd love that," I answered.
After we got off the phone I exhaled greatly. I remembered the previous events before Selena called. I looked up at Tami and she smiled.
"Demi, I won't mention this, if you PROMISE it will not happen again." I nodded and was relieved. It would also look bad on Tami's part for keeping the cabinet open, but I would have gone for anything at the point.
That night I got another call. It was from my parents. These calls have been short and sweet. I didn't like to talk about my treatment and they never forced me to. Thanksgiving was this coming Thursday and they were going to come visit. I was against the idea. Honestly, I was ashamed. And the thought of my baby sister coming to a treatment center? I didn't want her to see me like this. She always thought I was so strong. How wrong she was.
"Mom, are you sure? Don't you want to spend Thanksgiving with grandma or something?"
"I want us to be together for Thanksgiving, as a family. We all miss you and Timberline Knolls invited all the families for a big dinner. Wouldn't you feel alone if we didn't come?" She had a point. I guess my family was coming to see me after all.
Thanksgiving
The schedule was mostly clear today. There were a few group sessions in the morning, but we had most of the afternoon to ourselves. I spent my afternoon in my room. I didn't want to risk being tormented by the new girl again. I wasn't ready. I paced my room back and forth thinking about my family. They had gotten me a life coach when they noticed my eating habits. But the sessions were irregular and with the excuse of work, I was able to get out of most of them. They didn't know how serious it was until the day my secret was shown to the world.
FLASHBACK
I picked out a simple plaid brown dress. I bought it a while ago, but haven't worn it because it shows my arms and shoulders. I hated wearing shirts and dresses without sleeves, my arms were so large, but tonight I was going to get over it. It was Miley's sweet sixteenth birthday party. Mine just passed a month ago. I finished getting ready and walked out the door.
The day after.
I woke up to my step dad yelling on the phone, something about wrists. Saying they were photoshopped, that it couldn't be true. I got up out of bed, put on some pants and went into the kitchen.
When I walked in my step dad got off the phone, and my parents begun to look at me with concerned faces.
"Demi is there something you'd like to tell us?" said my dad (I called him dad though he was my step dad). I hate it when parents ask this question. My mind was scanning through all the things they may not approve of when my dad pointed at the computer screen. I went to look. I saw the pink banner on the website, it was Perez Hilton. Oh, how I hated him. There was me in my carefully chosen brown plaid dress. Looking cute as ever. I decided to give the paps a little curtsy, holding on to the edges of my dress and lifting my foot up a little. I was quite pleased with the photo until I saw my wrist circled in red. I sank. I thought I covered it with makeup. How many people have seen this? Did my parents know? Would I be fired from Disney? My whole entire world came crashing down at that moment. My mom took my wrist and she started to cry. The same cut marks were there. I couldn't believe how careless I was.
"Demi, explain yourself," my dad said. I remembered that a fan once saw a cut mark on my wrist and asked me what happened. I told her that it was my bracelet.
"Dad calm down! It was just those bracelets, you know the rubber ones that I wear on stage." He looked convinced and went to call the press. My mom however didn't. She was still crying. But she never said another word about it. No one did.