GOOD HEART, BAD TEMPER - keene, robby

thrirty-four

"Are you done yet?" Robby asks.

"No." she answers.

"You've been at this for an hour. I'm still waiting on you so we can eat." he tells her.

"Okay. In the All Valley, there are a lot of guys. Rarely any girls. And the guys have the upper hand because their stronger—"

"And you have an upper hand also because you're more flexible." Robby tells her. "Can we please go eat? You can do sit ups and push ups later. I'm hungry."

"I'm not hungry. Go eat." Rory says.

"Look, I was okay when you skipped dinner last night, I was okay when you skipped breakfast, I was even okay when you skipped lunch, but you need to eat." Robby tells the girl.

"I'm fine. I'm not hungry." Rory tells him. "I'm kinda tired. I think I'm gonna shower then go to sleep. Put my plate in the fridge, please."

Robby sighs. "Okay."

|

Rory sat up when Robby walked in with a plate of food. "I told you, Keene. I'm not hungry."

"And I don't believe you." he tells her. "You haven't eaten in a day."

"Because I haven't been hungry." she admits. "You can't force me to eat."

"I can, and I will." Robby hands her the plate. "Please... eat."

"Robby, I'm not hungry!" she shouts.

"Okay." he sighs, setting the plate beside her. "I'm gonna go out for a bit. Take a walk. Please, eat at least something."

Rory nods and watches as he leaves. She looks over at the plate, fighting the urge to eat any of it. She groans before falling back on the bed, and going to sleep.

|

Robby stood at the door, waiting for an answer. After a few seconds went by, the door swung open.

"What the hell are you doing here?" the teen asks.

"I'm not here to fight. I just... I need your help." Robby says.

"What makes you think I would help you?" Hawk asks.

"It's... about Rory." Robby tells him. "I wouldn't come to you if it wasn't important."

Hawk sighs before stepping out of the house. "Alright, what?"

"Do you know what's wrong with her? She isn't... eating." Robby admits.

"She has an eating disorder, genius. Her dad has body shamed her since she was 6, she only started believing everything he said to her a couple years ago." Hawk says.

"Well, how do I get her to eat?" Robby asks.

"You have to convince her that eating is good for her. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't." he says.

"And if it doesn't work?" the teen turns to the red headed boy.

"You have to be patient. Let her go to food by herself." Hawk answers. "Or get her a protein bar and a gatorade. She can't turn it down. It's her favorite thing ever."

"Alright." Robby nods. "Anything else?"

"Red gatorade." Hawk tells him. "She doesn't like any other flavors."

"I've noticed." Robby laughs, and then it gets quiet. "Uh, thanks for this."

"I didn't do it for you." Hawk looks him up and down.