Just Another High School Story!

However, an unexpected thing happened, Ethan rushed into the bathroom, as the bathroom door and been left ajar, when he saw Leah sitting on the floor, he immediately understood her intentions and pulled her out of her reverie by yelling at her, "Have you lost your mind??" he asked, his eyes filled with rage, his veins protruded, he looked concerned, he made that face which you make when you caution a child against something, you feel childish yourself, and feel like the consequences of their actions must be impressed upon them by some cruel method, if that guaranteed no repetition. Leah lowered her head in shame, she was ready for a scolding, a 'you-loser' lecture by Ethan, the Ethan. Ethan was troubled as well, the burden of this being his fault weighed on him more than anything.

He pulled her up, and plopped her down on the bed, like she was a stuffed teddy bear, Leah was incredulous, what was he doing to her, not only was he angry he looked like he'd beat her. Ethan sat down next to her, and said, "Quit Volleyball for a while, Leah!" his eyes were earnest, his voice honest, she felt like she couldn't refuse... rather couldn't, wouldn't wrap her head around what he'd just said, "Quit VB????" she asked, mockingly, "Should I just kill myself instead?" Her retort wasn't just fierce, it was impertinent, unnecessary, she had also broken a promise she'd made to herself, how easy was it? By now Ethan was angry, he ripped her IV and dragged her along with him, "Let me go!" Leah yelled at him, everyone walk-in around them, was worried, they looked at Leah but couldn't do anything, after all, Ethan had signed up as her guardian in her parents' stead by asking a favour from a doctor he knew, the doctor who was working on Leah's case, he was E's dad's friend, Ethan called him "Gramps", Gramps' real name was Graham, he was older than E's dad but a very good friend to his father, their friendship was something that had made Ethan believe in the word friend, even when his parents were behaving like wild cats, out for each other's flesh, Gramps was the only one he could rely on, Graham was a renowned doctor, he had a Master's Degree in psychology, and gastroenterology, he was weirdly enough the only psychologist who liked the subject, often psychologist grumble about how their jobs are boring and suck but Gramps was in love with what he did while talking to patients, he seemed more like a parent, trying to understand his child, every muscle tensed but not superfluous, you couldn't see how hard he tried, he would never say it out loud either, but he was a rare guy, you don't often find people willing to do anything and everything in their power to better someone else's life. Gramps had made sure that everyone in the hospital respected Ethan's wishes and so no one dared to walk up to him. Leah looked frantic, though she trusted Ethan, she could feel like her brain was closing up, if she left volleyball, she'd have nothing left, nothing, she'd become nothing, she'd have nothing that defined her, what was she to do then, hop around like a clown, free all the time. Ethan dragged her to different rooms, he'd talked about this strategy with Gramps, though brutal, he'd assured him that he, as in Ethan, would make sure Leah wouldn't crumble, he'd hold her and be by her side until she got her head straight.

After talking to Ethan about Leah and her 'suicide attempt', that day at the rooftop, the one thing that was clear to both Graham and Ethan was that Leah's mental state was fragile, if they pushed her too much, she might end up hurting herself, but on the other side, her oesophagus had become messed up, in layman's terms, her oesophageal sphincter wasn't opening and closing properly due to vomiting repetitively and on top of that she felt like every time she swallowed, a rock went down her throat, she had Oesophageal Achalasia, which is a complication of Bulimia Nervosa, as a result of this, she'd stopped eating for a while and survived on water, but she'd felt like her throat was on fire, she'd held the pain in, but somehow she fainted today, of all days, and that made Ethan realise, he'd be responsible for her death if something happened to her, as Gramps tried to explain the pain that Leah was experiencing, Ethan's eyes had started to tear up, he tried to hide them, but by the time Gramps finished, Ethan was crying, like a baby, why did it have to be her, he thought and then he realised that, in mindlessly bullying the perfect Leah, he'd ruined her life, he hadn't made her imperfect, he'd shattered her, broken her in the worst way possible, of course, it was impossible for him to imagine the pain a bulimia patient went through but to better understand what she was going through, he'd spent days and nights, researching and watching videos of other girls, trying to see how they recovered. What he found was helpful, but every person's story was different, and he realised that Leah would have to find her own way of this darkness, he could only be a firefly, shining and giving her a little light, but this was her battle, when he saw how resigned she was and unenthusiastic about loving herself, his temper got the best of him, not realising that she'd still be feeling lightheaded because of the starvation, he started showing her different rooms in the hospital, he'd spent hours going around and talking to people, there was particularly one person, he wanted Leah to meet. A soldier, a marine who'd lost his leg on the battlefield. When they entered his room, he was lying on his side, reading a book, called "The Sun Will Shine Again", it was a book by another famous fallen soldier. Leah had never read the book, she'd felt scared after she saw it in the self-help section, any kid who went close to the self-help section was made fun of, all year round, once, in Middle School, she'd treaded lightly and made her way to the corner, then she'd slumped down and began reading a book about working out, it's essential, need-to-know things, and how to get started. But Ethan and his gang had caught her, partly because Ethan was always looking for her, but partly because a guy from their gang had just asked Leah out, Ethan had felt annoyed at the time, unsure, why he felt angry when Leah had said yes. He disguised his jealousy as anger and took it all out on Leah that day. He threatened the guy to stand her up. Then he cornered her in the library and laughed at her, saying things like, "If you did jumping jacks, jack would jump away because of an earthquake." Again with the mindless teasing, our words leave deep marks in memory. You always remember mean words, it is so weird, our brain's coping mechanism, you tend to store things that hurt you so that it can better protect you in the future, but Leah had a vivid memory, instead of protecting her, her brain was draining her strength, her mental fortitude was shaken.

Back then when the guy who'd asked her out, stood her up, she'd felt suffocated, she'd said yes, just because she wanted a friend, any one would work by then, she'd felt alone for so long. But even he didn't show. After asking her out. She'd felt worthless and after that never said yes to any boy.