collarbones

05 ~ PE

Annabelle walked towards the changing rooms with Katie, their forearms linked together.

"Thank you for the camera Anna," Katie gushed as she pushed the grey changing room door open. "It really does mean a lot to me – I just can't believe you saved up for so long! How can I accept something so expensive Anna?"

Anna smiled to herself, not knowing how she'd managed to keep it a secret for so long. There had been times when Katie would completely break down when her family was suffering financially again and all Anna wanted to do was just tell her that no matter what, she'd have Anna giving her the luxuries she'd refused to indulge in. She didn't, as hard as it was, and instead decided to show Katie that Anna was there through the present.

"It's okay Katie," she reassured, "just enjoy the present. I want you to have it."

Katie gave her a guilt-ridden glance as she threw her PE bag onto the wooden bench in the changing room. "Alright, Anna. But you're not going to spend so much on me next time, okay?" she berated.

Anna didn't respond, her lips sealed together.

"Anna," Katie warned, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Okay," Anna lied, fully aware that she'd probably do something similar for Katie next year.

"I'm going to go to the toilet quickly and then get changed there," she told Katie. She casually glanced at all the skinny bodies surrounding her, her mood dampening suddenly.

She felt like she'd just been awoken from a drug-induced haze as she saw all the collarbones.

Katie didn't notice anything of it and casually waved Anna away as she proceeded to get changed out of her skirt. Anna brushed past all the girls swiftly as she opened the door and escaped into the toilet cubicle, slamming the door shut and locking it.

She rested her forehead against the door as she sighed to herself. Anna heard giggling and hushed whispers in the toilet and realised she wasn't alone, as a group of gossipers had gathered to talk about the latest rumour.

"Did she really cheat on him twice though?"

"Yeah, she needs to keep her legs closed, but I guess you can't help it when they're like automatic doors," another replied.

The insult was followed by a series of giggles and Anna rolled her eyes as she proceeded to take her shorts and top out of her bag, tuning them out as she got changed.

She slammed open the door when she was done, staring their shocked faces down, before leaving the changing rooms and throwing her bag next to Katie's as she entered the gym.

Sticks. That's all she saw. Other girls adorned in shorts similar to hers were laughing together or chattering animatedly, their legs as thin as paper. Annabelle looked down towards her own legs dejectedly, before lifting her hand and squeezing the place where her collarbones should be.

"What are you doing Anna?" Katie asked, standing beside her. Anna snatched her hand away quickly.

"It was itching me," she lied.

Katie nodded before walking away to get them both a bib for PE as she usually did.

"I was trying to find them," she whispered after her. "You wouldn't understand."