Chapter 21

The next night night Elena was lying in her bed waiting for her parents to come in and say good night. When the knock on the door came she put down her word search and invited them in, sitting up.

"Hey sweetheart." Sandy said with a sympathetic smile, sitting on the edge of her bed.

Right there Elena could tell something was wrong.

She tilted her head in slight confusion. "Hi...is everything okay?"

Kristen sat next to Sandy placing a gentle touch on Elena's hand. "We were actually wondering the same thing about you honey."

"What do you mean?" She furrowed her brow.

"Well Caitlyn's mom had told us that she saw you crying at the food court yesterday; she said you told her you just missed your brother, but we wanted to make sure nothing else is going on." Sandy explained his tone filled with concern.

"No, I just miss Trey. That's it's. Especially with my birthday next weekend." Elena answered quickly with a shrug.

Kirsten nodded accepting that answer for now not wanting to upset her by pushing the question.

"Okay baby, just know you can talk to us about anything okay." Kirsten kissed her forehead.

Elena nodded. "I know." She smiled slightly. "I love you guys."

"We love you too" Both Kirsten and Sandy said standing up from the bed so Elena can lay back down.

Once settled in bed both parents placed kisses on her forehead and left her room.

Closing the door behind him Sandy looked to Kirsten and asked in a hush whisper "do you believe her?"

As they walked down the hall towards their bedroom Kirsten answered him. "I believe she misses Trey, but I don't believe that that is the only thing that is bothering her."

Sandy nodded. "Me neither."

*Friday Afternoon*

Elena sat at the lunch table picking at her school lunch, not eating anything but the celery sticks.

She has really eaten much since the mall incident with Jenny, and when she does eat more than she'd like to, she gets rid of it. Elena had secretly been struggling with the way she looked but that comment at the mall set her over the edge.

Caitlyn looked at her concerned. "Why aren't you eating this time? The chicken parm at this school is your favorite."

Elena looked up. "My mom has been making big breakfasts Caitlyn, I told you that; I'm not hungry by lunch time. Besides I am eating." She waved the celery.

She hated lying to her best friend but if she told her that she hasn't been eating; she oils tell her parents and everyone.

Caitlyn rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean Elena. You have eaten nothing but 4 celery sticks for lunch the past two weeks."

"Like I said Caitlyn, it's because I'm not really hungry at lunch." Elena repeated sounding more annoyed.

Caitlyn didn't believe her; she knew something was up but she didn't push the situation and changed the subject.

"So are you excited for your birthday tomorrow?" She asked with a smile.

Elena nodded with a grin. "Totally! Ryan said he has a big surprise for me and you're sleeping over so I'm excited for that."

Caitlin chuckled with a nod. "I am too but I'm excited to give you your gift!"

Elena just smiled and the two just went on with conversation.

At the High School

"Ryan, Hey you okay?" Taylor asked rubbing his back as they ate Lunch.

He nodded with a shrug, "Yeah-I'm just-I'm really worried about Lena." He frowned looking down at his food.

"What's been going on?" She asked taking a bite of her sandwich.

"She doesn't eat breakfast anymore and she tries to get out of dinner a lot saying she ate a lot at lunch." He shook his head. "Elena isn't completely Elena anymore, and I'm scared for her."

Taylor frowned and put down her sandwich and hugged him. "Why would she think she needs to lose weight? She's already so tiny?"

"We were just talking about the same thing." They heard Seth's voice come from behind.

They turned around and greeted Seth And Summer who joined them at their table.

"Have your parents said anything?" Taylor asked.

Both boys shook their heads. "No, but I'm sure they noticed the change too, it's an obvious change in her." Seth answered.

"It's just, how do we say something to her? Tomorrow is her birthday, I don't want to ruin her birthday weekend. She's actually excited for her birthday for once." Ryan said looking at his friends.

"Well maybe just talk to your parents and see what they say." Summer suggested.

The boys nodded, concern still evident on their faces. "Yeah." They said quietly and continued to eat their lunch.

Later that Night

"Yes boys, we have noticed a change in Elena, and we've been keeping notes ourselves." Sandy said as the four of them sat around the kitchen table.

"I think she has an eating disorder-and I'm so scared for her." Ryan said.

"We both are." Seth chimed in.

Kirsten nodded to the boys. "We've made an appointment for her on Monday with a doctor, we will get to the bottom of this and get her the help she needs. We will tell her about it on Sunday, we don't want to ruin her Birthday."

"Don't worry boys, everything will be okay. We will make sure of it." Sandy said, trying to believe it himself.

The boys nodded silently.

"Hey shall we finish setting up your new room Ryan? That way the pool house is all ready for you know who." Sandy asked with a smile.

That put a grin on Ryan's face. "Yeah, we are almost done. I can't wait to see the look on Elena's face."

Kirsten and Sandy smiled with a nod as the four of them went off to continue to set up for their new arrival as Elena was asleep in her room.