Incurable

Three

Mitch got his lunch and then sat down at one of the tables, right across from Alex.

Jake was already beside Alex, eating his lunch in the same order he always did.

Kevin sat down on the other side of Jake, giving him a smile.

Scott was standing on the other side of Avi, although he already had his lunch.

Avi was in the lunch line on the other side of the cafeteria, where the other eating disorders belonged.

Scott then walked with him towards their table.

Avi smiled at him. "You didn't have to stay with me."

Scott just shrugged.

Mitch patted the seat beside him for Scott, as if Scott would dare sit anywhere else.

Avi sat beside Scott, deciding Scott would be a cool person to be around.

Kirstie finally came towards them, sitting down across from Avi and smiling at him.

Kirstie watched him contemplate which food to start with, until he finally picked up the smallest carrot on his entire plate and ate it slowly.

She waited for the others to get into a coversation, before she leaned towards Avi a little. "Not to be totally rude... But what's so bad about eating?"

Avi took a deep breath, deciding how he'd like to answer such a complicated question. "It... It makes me..." He trailed off, shaking his head.

Kirstie reached out and touched his hand. "Hey, it's okay. Sorry, I didn't mean to invade your personal stuff."

Avi looked at Kirstie's hand touching his own, and smiled. "You're not the one who tried to go through my drawers."

Mitch looked over when he said that, but Kirstie laughed.

Mitch poked Scott's arm. "They're making fun of me. Make them stop."

Scott just turned and looked at Kirstie for an explanation.

Kirstie avoided his eyes and started eating, giving Avi a sly smile.

Mitch pouted. "But they--"

Scott shut him up by leaning over to kiss his temple, putting his arm over Mitch's shoulders.

Kevin looked to Avi, wanting to be polite and inquire about his new roommate. "So, Avi. What's your family like? Got any siblings?"

"I have a sister. Esther, is her name. She's a student at a university right now."

Kevin smiled at him. "How nice! What's she like?"

That's when Mitch stopped listening, and instead looked around at other patients.

Mitch looked back to his circle of friends, and smiled at Scott, who was listening to Avi while eating.

He looked to Jake, eating his lunch in color order.

Mitch kept scanning the table, landing on Alex, who he hadn't noticed had bags under his eyes until just now.

Finally Mitch got to Kevin and Kirstie, who both looked completely normal.

And now that he thought about it, they all looked kind of normal.

But Mitch knew how bad they really were on the inside.

Scott looked down at him for a second, and then motioned towards Mitch's food, making sure he ate.

An announcement called for the Yellows to meet in their designated room, and Mitch watched as a few people stood up, including Jake and Alex.