Lexie:
"I forgot to ask you, but Ivy is having a birthday party tomorrow night and I was wondering if I could go?" I question my Mom as we wait for our coffee.
She picked both Rose and I up from school today and took us out to a coffee shop to kill time before I have to see my therapist.
It's in the complete opposite direction, so in peak hour traffic there's no way we'd make it all the way home and then to therapy without being late.
"Who's Ivy again?" She asks, pulling a very restless Rose into her lap. "One of my friends. She started at our school this year," I explain.
"Do you know who else is going?"
"Well, Annie and Addy of course, and then just a few other people from our year."
"Okay, as long as you're home by midnight and do not drink on an empty stomach," she orders, quirking an eyebrow. "Thank you," I smile just as our coffee arrives.
"Don't be stupid with your drinking though, Lex. Know your limits."
"Yeah, yeah," I roll my eyes playfully.
"Oh mommy, guess what!" Rose looks up at her excitedly, kicking her legs. "What?" Mom smiles, eyes widening. "I have a boyfriend," she whispers not so quietly. "You what?"
"Mhm, it's Xavier."
"Are you allowed to have a boyfriend, missy?" Mom quirks an eyebrow. "Well Lexie has a girlfriend, it's only fair," my little sister shrugs, holding her milkshake in both hands.
"Yes, because Lexie is twice your age, honey," she explains. "So?"
"So, when you're Lexie's age you can have a boyfriend, not whilst you're eight."
"Do you hear something, Lexie?" Rose giggles, covering her ears.
I chuckle. "Rosie, listen to Mom. She's right."
Clearly she doesn't like my response as she immediately flips me off. "Rose!" Mom scolds.
"She does it to me all the time!" My sister argues. "You have a point," Mom sends me a glare, "but it doesn't make it okay."
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After we finished up at the coffee shop, Rose sat in the back watching cartoons on Mom's phone which meant whilst we made our way to therapy, I heard Sofia The First playing for the next thirty minutes.
They both sat with me in the waiting room until Olivia called out my name and greeted me with a warm smile.
All was going well for the first ten minutes of the session whilst she caught up on what I'd done in the months I hadn't seen her. But then she started asking the questions.
"So, your Mom says that she's concerned about your eating habits. Can we talk about that?"
I suddenly feel myself shrink into my own skin as I pull my jacket further across my body and shake my head.
Clearly, my actions said something because whatever I just did, she takes a note on.
"Do you think that your eating habits are beginning to be a problem?" She questions, tilting her head slightly. I think about it for a moment before answering. "No. They're fine."
"Okay," she nods, "can I ask you a few questions then?"
"Do I have a choice?"
She smirks softly at my comment before looking down at her notes. "Do you enjoy cooking?"
"What does that have to do with anything?" I mumble, my eyebrows drawing together. "Just answer the question," she quirks an eyebrow.
I'm incredibly thankful for what Olivia helped me through in the past, but I forgot that she can sometimes be as stubborn and as headstrong as my little sister.
"Sometimes," I deadpan, "I prefer baking. Usually Mom and I make a fresh batch of muffins on a Sunday night ready for the week."
"What's your favourite kind?"
I shrug, "probably blueberry."
"Mine too" she admits with a slight smile. "What about exercise?"
"What about it?"
"Have often would you say you work out?" She queries further. "Maybe a few times a week, sometimes more. Depends how busy I am," I shrug. "Okay. What do you usually do?"
"Most of the time I just go on the treadmill for an hour or so."
"When you say an hour or so, do you stay on for longer than that?"
Somehow I feel like she's going to use this against me, but my idiot brain doesn't realise fast enough before I say, "sometimes."
I watch as she nods, taking it down on her clipboard.
Stupid mouth doesn't know when to shut up.
"Do you usually walk, jog, or sprint?" She questions. "We're still on this?" I groan, pulling a blanket over my body as the cool breeze comes through the open window. "Are you cold?"
"A little, but it's fine," I tell her to which she nods.
"Okay, would you mind describing what a typical day of eating looks like for you?"
"Yes, I would mind. Can we talk about something else?"
"What else do you want to talk about?" She quirks an eyebrow. "I don't know, you've got the college degree, surely think of something," I smile, bringing my knees up to my chest.
"Okay smarty pants," she chuckles, "how was your movie premiere?"
"It was a lot of fun," I admit. "A little stressful though. There were so many people and cameras everywhere but I had Mom with me obviously so it wasn't as overwhelming as I think it would've been if I was on my own."
Olivia smiles genuinely as I tell her this. "I'm really proud of you, Lexie."
I smile slightly, "thanks."
"Now, back to my other question. How many meals do you typically have in a day?" She immediately changes the subject again, making me internally groan. "That's none of your business," I say, a dry smile resting on my lips.
"Lexie, I can only help you if you're willing to talk to me," she reminds me. "I don't need help," I tell her.
"As a medical professional, I beg to differ."
"How would you even know? I've barely told you anything," I frown. "You've told me enough, and I'm trained for this sort of stuff, remember?"
"You're really annoying."
"I'll get over it," she smirks, putting her clipboard down on the side table and standing up from her couch to shut the window. I don't realise until now that I've curled myself up as tightly as possible.
"Thank you," I mumble.
Over the next twenty minutes, Olivia asks way too many questions for my liking. 'Do you like your body? Do you feel guilty for eating? Do you weigh yourself?', and so on. Majority of the answers she got were a shrug and sometimes a mumble of the word 'no'.
"I have a couple things I want to check and then I'm gonna have a talk with your Mom," she informs me to which I hesitantly nod.
Standing up from her chair, she takes out a small light from her draw and slaps on a pair of latex gloves. "What on earth are you doing?" I chuckle. "Going with my gut feeling," she says. "Which is to...?"
"Open up," she orders, tapping underneath my chin slightly, completing ignoring my last question.
"You're gut feeling is to...be a dentist?" I frown, completely oblivious to what she's trying to do. "No, I'm checking that you're not making yourself purge."
"Well I'm not," I deadpan. "Open up and I'll see for myself."
I glare at her, keeping my jaw tightly shut. "Chop chop, I don't have all day," she teases.
"You just keep the gloves and flashlight in your office or..."
Her expression becomes one that's more serious, so I stop talking and do as she asks.
When she's done and takes off her gloves, I wait for a response. "So?"
"Hmm, it could be too soon to tell," she says. "Or I just proved you wrong?" I shrug. "That too, but I'll be checking again in a few weeks time."
I roll my eyes as she washes her hands before taking out the scales.
"No," I immediately speak.
"Either you do it here, or I tell your Mom to take you to the doctors and they do it for you along with blood and urine tests," she purses her lips together, placing them down on the ground.
With a huff, I throw the blanket off of me and get up, walking over to her.
As I step on the scales and go to look down at my weight, Olivia hand lifts up my chin. "Uh, uh," she says sternly.
"It's my weight, I should be able to look," I sigh. "Agree to disagree," she quirks an eyebrow, "you can get off now."
"Alright, I'm gonna call your Mom in now if you want to wait out in the foyer."
"Yay, no homework," I smile, picking up my phone and water bottle. "Yeah, you'll have some next week. Enjoy it while it lasts," she tells me, patting my head.
As she opens the door and I walk out into the foyer, I take a seat next to Rose.
"Scarlett, can I talk to you for a few minutes?" Olivia gestures her head to her office.
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Hiii, how are you going??