Inseparable

• Chapter 13 •

Think of all the food you ate at dinner, how gross do you feel? Your stomach is all queasy, it's not sitting right with you, why don't you get rid of it? the reasoning made sense, I mean, now that I think about it, my stomach does feel a bit queasy, must have been something in the food. The more I concentrate on it, the more I want to just get all the food out of my system.

That's it, the voice coaches, just go throw it up, it'll all be okay after that.

And as if the voice took control of my legs, they were slowly leading me to the bathroom.

And I did exactly what she wanted me to.

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I lie awake, stealing another glance at the clock on my left, seeing that it's only changed by a minute since the last time I've checked.

It's currently 3:04 AM, and I can't go to sleep, no matter how hard I try. I've tried listening to music, but the earbuds bother me too much, I've tried different positions, only to find that moving wakes me up even more. I've settled for staring at the ceiling until I eventually fall asleep. I'm finally starting to drift off when something heavy lands on my legs, making me shoot up into a sitting position in fright.

"Jasper!" I whisper frantically, "You scared me half to death!" I pretend scold him, smiling when instead of being bothered by my pointed finger, he just rubs his cheek against it.

"You really are a massive cat," I mumble into his fur as I pull him off of my legs and onto my belly instead. He really was, weighing almost thirty pounds. He twitches his ear in reply as he starts purring, the sound more like a motor than a cat.

"I love you my big fuzz ball," I whisper, my eyes suddenly filling with tears as I get emotional. "I'm a wreck." I laugh quietly, wiping at my eyes. Jasper, seeing my tears, crawls a bit closer and lays his head on my chest, his big eyes staring at me as he continues to purr.

"Maybe I should do something different, huh?" I chuckle, softly stroking his soft fur. "Maybe I should. Yeah, tomorrow I'm going to do something different, wait, no, today." I softly chuckle, my mind already planning what I want to do.

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"I'm going out!" I shout, hoping my mom heard me.

"Okay! Be back for dinner!" She replies.

I quickly leave before she can ask any more questions, I don't need her to be questioning me, I mean I'm just going to the mall. I pat my purse, feeling the slight bulge where my savings for five years sat carefully in my wallet. I wasn't planning on spending all of it, but I wanted to be prepared in case I spent more than I was expecting too.

"Okay, first things first," I mumble to myself, I wish I had Hope with me, but it was two and she still hasn't come home, so I left without her. "Hair salon." Since we live so close to the mall, I come here constantly, so I know this mall like the back of my hand. It takes two minutes, but soon I'm sitting in a chair, a hair stylist behind me, working away.

It takes another hour, but I smile as I leave, looking at my hair in every mirror I pass. I must look like a lunatic to other people, but I can't help it, I love it. Next thing I know, I'm standing in front of Sephora. I walk in, trying to look like I know what I'm doing, but as I look at all the different colors I realize I have no idea what the heck I'm doing.

"Do you need some help?" A sales assistant asks me, and I nod gratefully. "How about I give you a free sample and you can see if you like it or not," she smiles encouragingly, and I can't help but nod as she leads me away to another chair.