Just Another High School Story!

After kissing for a while, when they both let go, their breaths were ragged. Ethan smiled at Leah and kissed her forehead, "Live for me, will ya?" he asked sweetly, and she answered him, without a doubt in her mind, "Always!"

True love isn't easy though. Blind faith, forever promises, insatiable desire, passion, and fire, these things are so complicated, can their love stand the test of time. Will they fall apart and become strangers like most lovers do? You can't guess what's about to happen next, so don't even try. Let's watch the slippery threads of their fate unwind, what cruel or cute conclusion do they hold?

Just like most lovers, they were both nervous, now that it was out in the open and both of them knew what they felt for each other, they had to start dating, but Leah had never dated and Ethan had dated too much. He didn't want to be insensitive, or touchy, or make her uncomfortable, while she didn't want to be a bore, or too strict, she didn't want to draw too many lines, or be too fidgety. Even though, she was pretty, like everyone is, in their own quirky way, she had never believed it, but now she could work on herself. Not without but with Ethan. They were walking at night, lost in each other's thoughts, some unspoken, others communicated through beautiful, sparkly, freshly-in-love eyes, when Ethan started the conversation, "I want you to tell me why you think you're not good enough." Leah was taken aback by this question, obviously, she'd never put it into such clear words, she'd never admitted it to herself, not out loud, that she felt she wasn't good enough. When Ethan said those words, they echoed in her ears, like morning bells, the sound didn't seem to die down, and that bothered her, how was it, that he'd got a clear conviction, when she herself wasn't sure. They say, as a teenager, you face a lot of emotional turbulence, that your mood-swings can give people whiplash, ask the most famous novelist or musician, they'll tell you, you're off balance when you're teenager, but that doesn't mean we can't try to control our mood, our brain is the most powerful tool we possess, if we want to command our reactions, and analyse situations, no one can dare to stop us, why did Leah feel so angry all of a sudden, one moment she'd feel okay, and suddenly, she'd flare up, she didn't like company but solitude wasn't gratifying either, what did she want? She calmed herself, and replied, "Uh...", she hesitated and then said it, "I haven't really even thought about it, I just don't know who I am. I know people are envious of me, of how put together I seem, but really, I'm a crumpled mess, and no one can tell when I'm shivering, taking it all alone, really breaks you... destroys you!"

Without realising it, they'd stopped and were standing on a bridge, Leah was a few steps away from Ethan but he closed the distance between them and wrapped his arm around his shoulder, he didn't wipe her tears, or look at her, he knew she didn't like crying in front of others, but he wasn't included in 'others', he was her boyfriend, and she had every right to soak his t-shirt with her tears. She continued, "I feel like I'm unhappy because I don't like how I look, I don't recognise the girl in the mirror, she's different from who I am in public, with other people, I want to love myself but I..." and then she just did not know what to say, she was unsure of what lay next, was she supposed to become someone else, or was she supposed to change herself? E replied, as calmly and maturely as possible, "You don't want to be someone else Leah. Not because I love you but because you're you." he then turned her face towards him, and said, "You're the only Leah in the world, who has your qualities, advantages, privileges, weaknesses, strengths, your situation is different from others, so how can becoming someone else be the solution. The you that you love lies inside of you, you just need to find her, what do you like, if you don't like your body like this, why? What don't you like about it? Why do you throw food up? And then cry? Why do you hurt yourself? Why do you have to be slim? To me, you're super thin, let's say, to you, you aren't. Then do you have a goal in your mind, if you're not happy with this body, are you sure you'll be happy with someone else's. Let's say God changed your body, what if, that body doesn't meet your expectations and standards either, will you go on switching bodies, or are you prepared to work for the body you want. Exercise, eat healthy, stay fit, not thin and dying, but healthy and flying?"

Ethan looked like a gorgeous greek god, a mythical character in the moonlight, Leah carefully went over his words and said, "I get what you're trying to say. So let's work on it. I promise to become the girl I'll love." They crossed pinkies on it.

Leah got up early the next morning, and instead of waking up late, and wallowing in self-pity, she poured herself a glass of fresh water, Snuffles who'd woken up with Leah was sipping on milk, when Leah clinked her glass to his bowl, and said, "To the new me!" Then she tied her shoelaces and left for a run. Wearing her black sweatshirt, that hugged her body, she looked pretty, but she was feeling conscious, all her thoughts flew away at a million miles an hour when Ethan hugged her running body from behind and yawned out a "Jo-eun Achim, yojachingo!" which meant 'Good Morning, girlfriend' in Korean. Ethan was not one to get up this early, even if the earth shook but they say love can make you do things that are extreme. He'd planned to run with Leah and check if she ate her breakfast, and then he'd spend the day with her, to keep her from throwing up. A miraculous recovery was on its way for Leah, she'd finally be free from the claws of bulimia, but at what cost? Would the cost be Ethan himself?