Short Stories

Fight Like You'll Never Die

"Brinly wait!"

Ignoring Jules cries, she pushes on until her arm is grabbed and her back presses against the brick wall of a building. By now both of them are slightly panting. Jules stares down at Brinly. Even with tormented and clouded eyes, he could see her fighting internally. She was stronger than she thought.

"Just listen." She looks away but his hand tilts her face back to look at him. "I am not asking you to forgive me."

"Then what do you want?"

"Stop treating yourself so horribly. Stop hurting yourself because of what we did in high school. Stop acting like you are fine. We both know you aren't. Look at you Brinly. Hurting yourself because you are broken will only make the situation worse. Do not be afraid to fight for yourself. It is okay to cry, to scream, to be sad. What's not okay is what you are doing to yourself. You obviously aren't eating and if you are, it isn't much. What is that going to do Brinly? How is destroying yourself going to do anything?"

His question is met with silent tears are they fill Brinly's eyes, "Nothing Brinly. It is going to do nothing. It won't ease the pain and tears that we inflicted. It won't fix the insecurities we created. Instead of feeling sorry for yourself, get back up and fight back. Use the years of destruction to build you up. You are stronger than you give yourself credit for. Love yourself for who you are. Be the better person and don't let them win. I know you think you can't. I know you think you're done, but you can't stop until you've won."

Jules pants softly as he stares down into Brinly's watery eyes. They stay silent for an ungodly amount of time.

"Please say something." He whispers.

Brinly watches Jules. He was right. Why would she continue to hurt herself when she could instead be the better person? It would be hard to love herself. Instead of taking out her rage on Jules and his group of ex-friends, she was taking it out on herself. What good would that do?

"You are right..." She whispers as she closes her eyes.

Jules is taken aback at her response, "I am?"

"I-I don't think I can forgive you but..." She opens her eyes meeting Jules's olive green eyes, "I can't live like this."

"I can help." Brinly shakes her head softly, looking down.

"No, I-"

Jules tilts her chin up with his hand as his pleading eyes meet hers.

"Please, let me help you. I don't deserve it but I want to make sure that you are okay. It is the least I could do."

Brinly nods in silence. This was it. She was going to change her life. She was not born to live depressed, defeated, guilty, condemned, ashamed or unworthy. She was born to be victorious and that is what she is going to be.

<Three months later>

"Yes, you did it Brinly!"

Brinly smiles sheepishly as she stares down at the bold 100 lb lettering on the scale. It almost took a month for Brinly to manage to eat without throwing up. There were lots of tears and moments she wanted to give up but Jules stayed by herself and helped her when she fell down. He did not help her every single time so she would learn to get up and persist without the help of others. After an episode of crying when she ate her first meal without throwing up, she got up and ran a mile. She wanted to gain weight but not in an unhealthy way, so she found something that she surprisingly enjoyed; running.

It was something about feeling her chest tightening as her heart pounded in her rib cages like a wild beast. The sound of her feet slapping against the ground, pushed her to run faster as her legs burnt with fire and her throat was hot.

Brinly learned more about herself during those three months. Things she never thought she was capable of doing, she could. While she still had troubles socializing with people, she did manage to find a new friend after accidentally running into them as she turned a corner in town. The girl had dropped her books that she was carrying and apologized profusely about her clumsiness. Brinly managed to ask her to join her in a cup of coffee to which the girl agreed. She learned that she and Amanda had a lot in common from hobbies to taste in music to even their favorite actors; Dylan and Cole Sprouse.

As for Jules, Brinly managed to forgive him but simply couldn't put it behind her. That was okay to Jules as he stood by her side through this journey of self-discovery. Brinly struggled to understand her feelings towards Jules. She liked him but not in a way of a relationship. They grew closer together but never took it any step further throughout the years. Their story was not that of a cliché romance story where the character would end together. Instead both had found significant others.

Jules realized he was bisexual and got together with Miles, a baker at a local bakery. They were happy together, and like most couples they weren't perfect but they worked it out.

Brinly vowed that she was going to stay single forever and just live with Amanda in her apartment until a man came in and knocked her off her feet. Literally. Brinly had been attending a local college party when Elliot collapsed on her in a drunken state. He woke up several minutes later insisting that he was perfectly fine to go home but the throw up that stained his front noted otherwise. Brinly offered to drive him home however; he fell asleep in her car before she could get his address. That is how he ended up in Brinly's apartment. From there, their relationship blossomed.