Une Fleure Fanée

Week 9 Part 2 (Monday)

     Mom then demonstrates and everybody claps. The first part of the interview is over, for me at least. Elliana goes next, then Hannah, then Kamryn. Then, somebody walks through the door that we least expected...

     "Brady!" Pressley squeals and goes running to none other than Brady Farrar.

     A wave of shock hits me, then a rush of excitement as we all run up to hug him. He's back! We all start jumping around together in excitement.

     "I - can't -be-lieve- Ms.- Abby- let -you- come- back," Hannah exclaims out of breath in between jumps.

     We all stop jumping so Brady can get his hair done, which is just the tiniest bit of gel. I'm so happy. I missed him so much. But now I have one more person to keep this secret from. Brady is probably going to be the first one to rat you out if he notices something is wrong. He cares about you for some reason, Lilliana. He shouldn't, but he does. You have to be extra careful now. Good luck.

***brady***

     I can't believe Ms. Abby let me come back. I thought I would never dance with Pressley, or Hannah, or Lilly, or GiaNina ever again. But something seems off with everybody. Like they're hiding a secret. And Lilly, she looks different. Skinnier. In my opinion, a little too skinny. When Lilly goes to the bathroom and I finish doing my interview, Pressley pulls me aside with all the other girls.

     "We have something to tell you about Lilly," Hannah mutters, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

     Sarah takes over, "It's gonna be hard to swallow. We know Lilly is like a little sister to you. But, we think- I can't say it."

     "You guys are getting me nervous," I weakly chuckle, nervous about what they think is wrong with Lilly?

     "Ok, ok, ok. Basically, we think Lilly has an eating disorder," Pressley whispers, and chills run down my spine.

     "Isn't she like-ten?" I ask.

     "Remember, she had bulimia when she was seven. On the mini team. But we don't think it's some relapse. We think it's anorexia instead," Elliana informs me, voice breaking at the end.

     "Why haven't you talked to her?" I ask, very confused at the way they are approaching this potentially life-threatening suspicion, gripping Pressley into a tight hug as I see her crying.

     "We're too scared. But I mean, look at her, you can see her spine too much, her ribs are starting to become visible through her shirt, her legs- they look like there's barely more than bones," Gia mentions and I see Lilly skip into the room.

     She does look skinnier than I originally thought. Everything is loose on her. She looks like, ten pounds underweight. She seems so happy though. Until I see her eyes. They are screaming for help. I get why they're scared to approach her.

     "I'll keep it a secret. I promise. But we have to ask her eventually," I whisper and they nod in understanding.

***lilly***

     The other part of the interview goes smoothly. They make me change my shirt, though. It's another two hours of the same thing before we have lunch. Mom packs a sandwich. Great. I look at the six baby carrots. Don't eat them all, Lilliana. They're sixty calories in all! I decide to go for four carrots.

    "Lilly, you haven't touched your sandwich," Brady points out, and I freeze as everybody stares at me.

     Lie, Lilliana. Brady can't know that that sandwich can ruin your entire career if you eat it. Nobody can know in that matter. I gulp down a small bite of the baby carrot before replying to his comment.