Josie was propped up on pillows in her bed, laptop on her lap with a school assignment in progress. Her stomach grumbled, but she ignored her urges as usual. She wouldn't - couldn't - think about eating anything; her weight had gone up half a pound since yesterday.
Honestly? She hated food. She hated the pain, her allergic reactions, and asthma attacks it caused. She hated everything about how food made her feel. Mostly though, more than anything else, Josie just wanted to be skinny. She wanted to have a gap between her thighs and matchstick-thin arms, a slim face, and visible collarbones. So she did everything she could to avoid eating - just enough so that her mother didn't suspect anything was wrong.
It was easy enough to get away with only one or two small meals a day; she spent most of her free time holed up in her room working on school assignments. High school was a little tough on her - she enjoyed all the reading her teacher gave her, and she was happy to be in an accelerated math class. However, she really struggled with history. It was so confusing, trying to keep all those events in order...
She'd finally finished her homework - an online quiz about Hamlet. She shut the laptop and glanced at her alarm clock - 10:30 PM? She thought it was much later, it was so dark outside.
Josie sat up slowly, looking at the family cat sleeping peacefully at the end of the bed. His name was Bubbles - when Elaine found him as a stray kitten, Josie was only two years old. Her favorite thing in the world was playing with bubbles, so that's how she decided to name the cat. Now Bubbles was fourteen years old and spent most of his time resting.
She picked him up and cradled him like a fuzzy baby. "You're not as heavy as you usually are, fat cat," she told him playfully. Then she paused - he really did feel a lot lighter. "Let's get you a nice snack, okay? A few your favorite treats?"
Josie carried him down the stairs to the kitchen. His food bowl was sitting there, still full from breakfast over twelve hours ago. "Mom!" she called out, holding the cat close. "I think Bubbles is sick. He's lost weight, and he's not eating..."
"I'm sure he's okay, sweetheart," Elaine said, reassuring her daughter. She pet Bubbles on the head and scratched his ears; he meowed pathetically. "Maybe he has a stomach bug... It's expensive, but we can take him to the vet tomorrow."
Josie sighed and kneeled on the floor, wincing in pain as the pressure made her knees ache, feeling like they had almost slipped out of place. She petted him gently and he purred, nuzzling closer to his person.
He's dying, a voice in the back of her mind said. She shrugged off the intrusive thought. Tears formed in her eyes and she set down the cat. "You'll be okay, Bubbo. You'll be okay," she said softly while she continued petting him. "We'll take you to the vet, and everything will be better." She hoped that Bubbles couldn't pick up on the anxiety that was beginning to overwhelm her.
She pushed his bowl closer to him. "Come on Bubbles, eat up," she whispered. He hunkered down, ignoring the food. Frustrated and concerned, Josie picked up a piece of food and held it against his mouth. "Come on, you have to eat."
Bubbles laid down on the floor and meowed pitifully. She choked back tears and laid down beside him, petting his soft fur. She realized how old her companion was, how she might lose him any day.
Josie's mind was consumed with thoughts of germs, parasites, cancer, death. Anxiety built up in her thoughts until she no longer even felt like herself...