Short Sad Stories

Smaller

We laugh, sitting side by side on the foot of my bed. Suddenly, we run across a picture of little miss perfect. She went to our school, and was tiny.
"I wish I was like her." My best friend says.
"her? why? you're great." I respond.
"look at her, she's so small." She retorts.
I nod in subtle agreement.
"We could be that small, if we wanted.. if we tried." She snarls.
I nod again.
"I bet, by the end of the year, I'll be the smallest girl in school." She gives a small sly smile.
"yeah?" I say. "I bet I could be smaller."
We laugh again, and shake on it.
That's how it had started.
I stopped eating, no more food, it would just interfere with our game. She took a different route, she over-ate, throwing up after every meal. It seemed to be working, and our waist-line grew smaller as time went on. I drank water, ran, and did cardio a lot. I weighed myself daily.
Then suddenly, I wake up to a call at 3 in the morning.
"h-hello?" I say groggily.
"Umm" The person on the other end was clearly confused, and I'm pretty sure they had been crying, or were crying at that moment. Their voice was shaking and they kept stuttering, and slurring their words. "I-i think there is something wrong with me.. I've been throwing up for the past hour.. and I'm not stopping." I finally recognize the voice.
"I'll be right over." I say, hoping in my car.
I drive over to her house and start banging on the door.
She opens it. She's only wearing a towel. Vomit was in her hair, and down the front of her chest.
"Wh-where are your parents." I ask.
"Out." She slurs.
I rush her inside, and help her into the bath.
"We need to call someone." I say as I run the warm water.
"no." She says firmly.
"why not?" I ask.
"Right now, I weigh 96.7lbs. There is no way I'm letting them take that away from me." She says.
"oh God." I groan. My hands run through my hair and I pace the floor.
"go home.. I'll be okay." she says after a few moments.
"no. I'll sleep on the couch, but I'm not leaving you." I say.
After I get her dressed and in bed, I walk downstairs and plop on the couch, falling asleep after a few moments.
I wake up to someone shaking my shoulder. It was her father.
"She.. she's in bed." I tell him.
He nods, and tells me that he called my parents and they're coming to pick me up.
"Alice," he says. "She passed away while she was sleeping... We went to check on her, but" he shakes his head.
It was then I took note of a violent crying coming from upstairs. I zone out, next thing I know, I'm in the hospital.
"Wh-why am I here?" I ask the nurse.
"you passed out, and didn't wake up. Your parents freaked out, when the doctor weighed you, you weighed in at 91 pounds exactly. That's really unhealthy for someone of your age and height." The nurse explains calmly.
For the next week and a half I was there, at the hospital. I gained 12 pounds that week. That wasn't going to keep me from my goal. The next week, I weighed 96.4 pounds. The next, 93.1. pounds. Then, 87.9 pounds. I wasn't stopping, or slowing. Suddenly, as I'm standing on my scale, I pass out. I guess I didn't wake up.. I was there, at my funeral.. I was there, when my parents are crying. I was there, watching my mother struggle with the loss of a child.. I was there, but I also wasn't.

A/N: so, not gonna lie, there are times when I wish I was thinner, smaller. But the other day, I was watching videos, and one of the girls there was anorexic. I kept watching, you could see all her bones, you could count her ribs. And guys, starving yourself isn't beautiful. Please stay strong, I'm here if any of you ever need me. You're beautiful.