Kristy's Secret

One night Bugs and Lola were in their room getting ready to go out to a movie and dinner. They were going to see Inception and they were going to the fanciest restaurant in Los Angeles. Bugs had on some black slacks, a white button up shirt, and some shiny shoes and he was standing by his mirror fixing his tie. Lola had on a knee length blue dress, heels, and she was sitting at her vanity putting on her make up.

"Do you know where my wallet is?" Bugs asked.

"Um, I might be in the kitchen. I saw you put it in there," Lola replied as she put on her eyeliner.

"Thanks." He went over and kissed her cheek then went downstairs to the kitchen where Kristy was sitting at the table drawing. His daughter was an amazing artist. She'd put up her drawings and paintings all over the house and she just kept getting better and better.

"Dad, can Kimmy sleep over tonight?" Kristy asked.

"Sure she can. When's she going to be here?" He found his wallet on the counter. "Ah, there it is."

"In about five minutes."

Bugs raised his eyebrow. "She doesn't live that close." Then he realized what was going on. "What did I tell you about inviting your friends over without permission?"

"I knew you'd say yes. Why wait?"

"And what if I hadn't said yes?"

Kristy shrugged. "I couldn't just tell her to turn around and go home. And you already said yes so you can't take it back."

Bugs nodded. "You're right." He popped a peppermint into his mouth.

"Who's coming over?" Jacob asked as he came into the room.

"Kimmy," Kristy replied.

"WHAT?" Jacob exclaimed. "No, no, no! Dad, why did you tell her Kimmy can come over?"

Bugs shrugged. "Why not?"

"Cassie is coming over! I can't have them over here while she's here! Can't she go over Kimmy's house or something?"

"No, because Kimmy is having her kitchen redone and her parents don't want her to invite anyone over right now. She has to come over here," Kristy said.

Jacob looked to his father. "Dad please…"

"How about you just stay in separate rooms? No big deal." He knew he would feel the same way if he were Jacob's age but he'd already said yes to both of them. If they just followed his suggestion (although it was inevitable they wouldn't) everything would be fine.

Jacob sat at the table and crossed his arms mumbling to himself.

"Jacob you're sixteen years old now. You're too old for all of this 'I hate you, you're ruining my life' stuff. Suck it up, and get over it," Bugs said.

Lola came in. "Uh oh, who's getting the 'suck it up and get over it' speech?"

"Jacob is!" Kristy said pointing to him.

Jacob slapped her hand away. "Shut up."

Lola put her arms around Bugs' neck. "Are you ready to go sweet heart?"

Bugs kissed her lips. "Yeah I am." He ran his hand down her back which was mostly bare. "You look gorgeous." They kissed again.

"Mom, dad, please stop," Jacob said rolling his eyes.

Bugs and Lola looked at him. "I'm sure you do the same thing," Lola teased. She went over to them and gave them both a hug. "Behave yourselves. Remember not to answer the door or the phone unless you know who it is," Lola said.

"We know," they said.

"If anyone tries to break in call 911," Bugs said.

"We know."

"Call us if you need us," Lola said.

"Mom! Dad!" Jacob exclaimed.

Kristy took their arms and pulled them towards the front door. "Get out of here. Go have fun. We know what to do."

"Okay," Lola said. "Bye…!" Before she could finish the door was closed. She turned to Bugs. "Is it bad that our own children kicked us out?"

Bugs nodded. "Yeah, I think it is."

A few minutes after they left, the doorbell rang again. Kristy ran to the door and it was her best friend Kimmy. "Kimmy!" she exclaimed hugging her.

"Kristy!"

Jacob came downstairs combing his hair. "Alright you two listen up. Cassie's coming over her so we can have some us time. Stay away from us at all costs. I don't need you two dorking up the place. If you don't, bad things will happen, ya understand?"

Kristy looked up at him and they glared at each other for a moment. Then she gave him the finger and she and Kimmy ran upstairs laughing.

"I'm serious Kristy!" Jacob called after them. He went back into the kitchen and took out the chocolate strawberries he'd bought earlier that day. Then the doorbell rang again and he went to go answer it knowing it is Cassie.

Kristy and Kimmy sat at the top of the steps and watched them. Kristy rolled his eyes. "Ugh, they're so disgusting. Why would anyone want to go with my brother?"

"I'm sorry Kristy, but Jacob's really hot," Kimmy said. She watched him and Cassandra for a moment. "What does she have that I don't have?"

"Let's look at this for a moment," Kristy said. "She's tall, she's pretty, and her boobs are a lot bigger than yours."

"So what?"

"That's what boys go for; boobs are the first things they see. If I had big boobs, I would have had ten boyfriends by now," Kristy said. Then she thought of something. She took the pencil from behind her ear. "Watch this." She threw the pencil down the stairs and it hit Jacob on the head.

He turned around. "What the…" He saw Kristy and Kimmy running upstairs laughing. He rolled his eyes at them and resisted the urge to yell something insulting at them. "Ignore them Cass."

"You're sister is so cute," Cassie said.

"You don't have to live with her." He led her into the living room. "I'll be right back Cass." He went into the kitchen and got the strawberries. "I've got your favorite."

She kissed him. "You're amazing."

Jacob shrugged modestly. "I've been told that." They sat back on the couch and ate the strawberries while watching a movie.

Kristy and Kimmy came back downstairs. Kimmy went over and turned the living room light on and they giggled.

"Turn the light off!" Jacob exclaimed.

They did but then turned it on and off really fast.

"Turn the damn light off!"

They laughed again then sat on the floor in the hallway laughing. They peeked into the living room and saw them kissing. "Ew," they laughed. Kristy went and got one of her shoes out of the closet then threw it in there almost hitting them.

That's when Jacob got mad. "Kristy!" He came out of the living room and chased them down the hallway hitting them with a pillow. "I swear Kristy, I'm going to stab you in the forehead and chop your arms and legs off. Then I'll bake you into a pie and feed it to Kimmy and I'll put poison in it. And then when she thinks it's good she'll drop down and die. And when mom and dad ask what happened I'll say you moved to Canada!" Kristy and Kimmy ran upstairs to escape Jacob's rage. "You'd better not come down here again or you'll wake up very confused tomorrow morning in Indonesia!" he shouted after them. When he was sure they wouldn't come back down he went back into the living room and found Cassie laughing.

"Jacob you're mean!"

Jacob sat next to her. "I am not."

"'I'll bake you into a pie and poison it and feed it to Kimmy'," she imitated him deepening her voice to sound like him. "You're definitely mean," she said regularly.

Jacob put his arm around her. "They deserved it. They've been ruining our night."

"They didn't ruin our night. I've been having fun," Cassie said honestly.

He kissed her. "I'm glad. So have I."

Later that evening when Bugs and Lola got back, the house was quiet except for the sound of the movie coming from the living room.

"I told them this would work out," Bugs said.

Lola went into the living room and turned the light on where Jacob and Cassie were laying on the couch half asleep. "Turn the light off!" Jacob exclaimed getting tired of having to say that. Lola turned it off them went upstairs.

"Hi mom," Kristy said.

"Hi Kristy. Did you have fun while we were gone?"

"Jacob threatened us."

"He said he'd bake Kristy into a pie and poison it and feed it to me," Kimmy said.

"After stabbing my in the forehead and chopping off my arms and legs," Kristy added.

Lola raised her eyebrow. "Um, okay."

"Aren't you going to do anything about it?" Kristy asked expecting a punishment.

Lola shook her head. "Look, I'm going to bed. Don't bother your brother. Good night." She went into her and Bugs' room. He was changing into his pajamas. "Your son's been threatening your daughter."

"What else is new?"

Lola laughed. Soon after she went to brush her teeth and Jacob was coming upstairs. "Mom?"

"Yes Jake?"

"I'm gonna go take Cassie home."

"Okay." She brushed his hair out of his eyes and put her hands on his cheeks. "Be careful out there." She kissed his forehead.

"I will." She hugged him and then he went downstairs. She went into her bedroom and soon she and Bugs went to sleep.

The next weekend Lola was in her room on the phone with Melissa.

"Will you please go to the mall with me Lola?"

Lola sighed. "Okay fine. Let me take Kristy to ballet class and I'll be right over, okay?"

"Yay! You're the best."

"I've been told that. Now, let me go, she's going to be late."

"I'll be waiting."

Lola hung up the phone then headed to Kristy's room to see if she was ready. On the way down the hallway she heard what sounded like throwing up coming from the bathroom. She knocked on the door. "Kristy, are you okay?"

"Yes…" her voice croaked.

"Are you sure? Are you feeling okay?" She didn't say anything. "I'm coming in there."

"No, mom, don't…"

Lola opened the door and found Kristy standing there with her hands behind her back trying to look innocent. "What are you doing?"

Kristy looked down. "Nothing."

"It looks like a whole lot of something to be nothing. What's behind your back?" Lola said suspiciously.

Kristy threw it into the corner. "Nothing," she said again. She looked so nervous she was practically shaking.

Lola saw that she'd thrown her toothbrush into the corner. Then it all came together. "You're not making yourself throw up, are you?"

"No…" her voice cracked like she was about to cry.

"You are aren't you?" Before she could say anything else Kristy threw herself into Lola's arms and cried.

"I'm sorry mom."

Lola wanted to yell at her, and demand to know why she was doing this to herself. But instead she just held her and comforted her. "Shh, Kristy, don't cry." Like when she was really young and she'd hurt herself Lola would hold her in her arms this way and say those exact words to make her stop crying. "Come here." Lola took her into her room and sat on her bed with her.

"Mom, I have to go to class…"

"You're not going today. You're going to sit here and tell me what's going on. Why are you doing this to yourself?" Kristy shrugged. She didn't exactly know why, she knew it was wrong, but she just did it. "How long have you been doing this?"

"Three months."

Lola's eyes widened in surprise. "Three months?" Her daughter had been doing this for that long and she hadn't noticed it at all. "Kristy do you realize you could have seriously hurt yourself?"

"I've passed out before," Kristy said still not looking at her. She felt ashamed of herself. How did her mom feel knowing that her perfect daughter had practically starved herself too death?

Lola felt overwhelmed by this. "When?"

"A few weeks ago, daddy and Jacob were at Acme Loo and you went to the store. And when you got back you thought I was asleep."

"Kristy you could really hurt yourself that way. People die from doing that, do you realize that?" Lola said. Kristy didn't respond. "Can you stop?"

Kristy shook her head. "No…I've tried."

"Then we need to get you some help for it. Okay?"

"Mom, don't tell dad, or Jacob."

"Why not?"

"Dad's gonna be mad at me and Jacob's gonna laugh at me."

"Fine, I won't tell Jacob. But I can't hide it from your father forever. He needs to know. How about I don't tell him right away?"

Kristy sighed. "Okay." Lola hugged her. "I'm sorry I'm not your perfect daughter anymore."

Lola kissed the side of her head. "Nobody's perfect sweetie. And I never expect you to be."

Later that night, Bugs and Lola were in the basement sitting on the couch. Bugs was playing Call of Duty on the play station, and Lola was thinking about Kristy. She was so surprised that her daughter had done this and more than anything she was extremely worried about her. She knew Kristy didn't want her to tell Bugs, but she had to.

"Damn you!" Bugs shouted at the TV.

Lola laughed. "Bugs?"

"You sure you don't want to help me kill these bastards?"

Lola shook her head. "Pause the game for a minute, I have to tell you something."

Bugs paused the game and looked at her. "Is something wrong?"

Lola nodded. "Kristy…has an eating disorder." Bugs was shocked into silence. He didn't exactly know how to respond to that. "I caught her making herself throw up today," Lola continued. "She said she's been doing this for three months and she's passed out before. I'm worried about her."

"Why the hell is she doing this?" Bugs asked.

Lola shrugged. "I don't know."

"So, what do we do?"

"Just watch her and make sure she's eating right. And she needs help to stop doing this."

Bugs noticed she looked like she was about to cry. He pulled her close to him and kissed her. "She'll be alright Lo. We'll help her with it. She'll be okay."