The Fat Guy Gets The Girl [#wattys2016]

You can never be mad at me

Riley kicked us out as her frail mother rolled in on a wheelchair and her petite sister came trolling after her. From Joey's surprise he's not used to seeing this much of her family. Or maybe just like this. I try to speak to Riley before we goes.
"Are you going to be okay?"
I'm a frustrated voice she answers, "Shut up. Stop talking as if you care."
"Riley calm your shit. I do care. Just remember to eat something."
"Food is disgusting." And she welcomes her sisters. I can hear them muttering a fat piece of shit. I'm unaware if it's to me or her. 'Food is disgusting' I thought about those words all the way up until my house. Lauren's mom picked her up. I needed the walk and Joey wanted to talk to me. Sounds mighty suspicious.
"Are you and Riley hooking up on the side?"
Wow. I hope he didn't think I was that low or envious of him. If he does he's some what wrong on the low part and some what wrong the envious part.
"God no. What made you think that?"
"Don't play stupid Conner. It's like she was trying to seduce you with those whispers. And you enjoyed it" he accuses. He never calls me Conner unless he's fet up with my shit. He's not wrong but he's not right. I won't ever say that out loud.
"It wasn't like that. And I didn't enjoy it. She was just telling me something personal."
Something she will never do with you, my inner thoughts said. I snicker and that doesn't help my situation.
"Stay away from girlfriend" he barks. "You two are far too close and it's getting weird. Even Lauren feels uncomfortable with it."
Great. "It's not like. We're really just good friends. And I can't stop her if she wants to tell me things."
"What has she been telling you?" He grabs onto my short collar and tugs me toward him. I wouldn't settle for this possessive bastard any longer.
"Get off of me Joey and get it together. You treat her like she's your daughter and expect her to want to talk to you about something. Get over your mom. She's not your mom. She's a reckless teenager you can't control her." Joey marches ahead.
I sound like an adult. He looks like a stereo typically teenager. Mood swings, hormones and all that other stuff that make us moody. Unfortunately. I hate getting through to him like this. I want or I at least try to relate to him as a teenager. Not like some forty year old with a bad back.
In our small group of friends. Neither of us knew how much one of us suffered. Eventually that would be drag out of the dark.

Lauren tells me on our way to lunch. I feel guilty and a waste of space for not noticing. Joey fills me in some other details of the matter. Everything Riley has eaten she's thrown up later on. While Riley was spending time away from me; her and Lauren spent a little girl time together. During their bathroom break of girl time, Lauren sees Riley throwing up the food she just ate. Of course she doesn't say anything. She'll just scare her off. We'll all scare her off.
Lauren bits her bottom lip. "So what are we going to do? She's just suffering."
Joey rest his head on the table. He mumbles, "I wanted her to slow down on eating I just didn't think she'll ever do this."
Riley comes rushing to us. For a first in a week and some days she gives me a hug, Lauren a kiss, and Joey- he doesn't really accept a kiss from her the same way he did before. I can't stop looking at her. I can't stop looking at the girl who forces herself to throw up. I have a plan to at least admit what she's doing to confirm it.
"So Riley we was talking about what happens to the esophagus if you throw up too many times. Got any facts for us."
Lauren and Joey look at me like I'm a manic. To be exact I was a manic. A bent out of shape manic for a girl who was willing to throw up her own food to just satisfy her sisters.
"Stomach acid is pretty strong so it's going to burn the esophagus pretty badly. Remember birdies never force yourself to throw up."
Riley calls us her birdies. We kind of came to her for a ride or for some help. Just in general we'd come to her. This clearly makes Joey upset. He only clench his head. This will not end well.
"You fucking hypocrite" he growls. "Says the girl who probably sticks two fingers down her throat thinking she's going to lose weight like that. What's wrong with you?"
That set off world war four. First Riley tries to laugh it off. Then Lauren tells her about the bathroom incident and as most kids in our generation would say it- it went from zero to one hundred real fast. I sat in the midst of it confused but slightly frustrated. I wanted Riley to say. I would not join in on this vicious game they called help. At the end of it Riley gets up to leave. Of course I follow her.
"Could you believe them? Me forcing myself to lose weight. I know the dangers it can do to me and I would-"
She stops half way through her rant. I want to believe everything she's saying. But I couldn't. I know some where around she is throwing up just to make the fat go away. Images of her sisters hand are probably holding her hands back chanting "you're almost skinny enough."
"You believe them?"
"The last thing you said to me was food was disgusting. You? Binge eating Riley to forcing it out of her stomach Riley. I don't even know what to belive."
I felt like this religious wise but that's a complete different story. I wish this was a dream. A dream I could wake up from.
"I'm not lying" she screams. Her eyes twinkle with tears.
"I know you are. I know it's not your fault."
"If you think I'm lying so much go back to your friends. Exclude me out of that group."
Here we go saying things we don't mean. She's playing hard to get and lying just so we don't have to worry about her. Why do the victims always do this to themselves? They notify that it's okay to worry about everyone else but it's a fucking sin to worry about them. Unacceptable. Not with my Riley.
"Riley I'm not going to pressure you to admit it. I'm not going to do anything you don't want to do." I sound like I'm talking about sex. "You just have to eat something for everyone to stop worrying."
I embrace her in my arms. This wouldn't do too much harm. Maybe it'll make our bond closer. Approaching her calmly was better than screaming at her. She hugs me back. I feel my shirt dampen. Her body shakes from the sudden emotional break down.
"You can never scream at me the way they do. You can't get mad at me. You can never be mad at me."
"As if that's possible" I say with a slight chuckle. It is nearly impossible for me to be angry at her. In this life time or another.