Amnesia || Luke Hemmings

Chapter 20

Carleigh left it at that, and we decided to head out and get some ice cream. Since I was still sweaty from dancing, Carleigh agreed to stay in my dorm room while I went and showered.

We got to my dorm, and I dug through my suitcase to find an outfit to wear for the day. When I found an outfit, I grabbed my toiletry bag and ran out of my dorm. I used the directory to find the nearest shower area. Once I got there, I realized that it was one of those large campus shower rooms with cubicles for each person. I went to an empty one and hung my toiletry bag on the provided hook. Then, I hung my clothes on a hook on the door. All I had to do was live through another day. I had one more day until I could finally see my idiot friends. Words can't begin to describe how much I miss them.

When I finished showering, I dried myself off and put on my clothes. After lotioning and applying makeup, I gripped my toiletry bag and exited the cubicle. I wrapped my hair up in a towel and began to walk back to the dorms. On my way out, I started  examining myself in the mirror. I wore a loose tan striped tank top and frayed denim shorts. For shoes, I decided to wear simple white Vans. 

As I stared at the girl in front of me, I could barely recognize her. She had a thinner face and a smaller waist. The sparkle in her eyes was barely noticeable, and her lips were painted a mixture of pink and purple. Her skin was pale and bones were sitting right underneath the thin surface. This girl couldn't possibly be me.

It took me a little bit longer than it should have to get back to my room. Carleigh was laying on my bed doing who-knows-what while I placed my laundry in the laundry bin and my toiletry bag in my suitcase. 

"Hey! Are you ready?" she asked.

"Hold on," I replied.

I pulled the towel off of my head and began to comb through my hair with my fingers. There was a ponytail holder sitting on the table, so I grabbed it and began to fishtail braid my hair. When I finished, both Carleigh and I decided to take her car to the ice cream shop around the corner .

We got there about five minutes after we left, and I wasn't exactly feeling too excited about getting something to eat. 

"Eli, what kind of ice cream would you like?" Carleigh asked with a smile.

"Erm, I'll get whatever you get," I replied.

This gave me a little bit of time to think of how I could possibly get out of eating the ice cream. It made me feel kind of bad that Carleigh was paying for something I wouldn't even eat, so I decided to just take out some money and pay her back later.

Carleigh nodded, and I found us a table in the nearly abandoned courtyard. She returned later with what looked like three scoops of cookies and cream with a bunch of chocolate sprinkles. 

"Here. It's a little congratulations present for making it  here," she smiled.

"Thanks, and uh, here's the money to pay for it," I said. My hand pushed the money towards her, but she pushed it back to me.

"No, you deserve it," she spoke.

Here goes nothing.

I looked down at the mountain of ice cream and began picking at it with my spoon. A wave of anxiety hit me, and I didn't know what to do. Should I eat it and gain the weight I was trying so hard to loose, or should I just not eat and have Carleigh suspicious and possibly tell Luke? 

No.

Luke isn't allowed to know, because he'd go crazy if he did. I just don't want any body to see me this way. My hand reached up to grab the spoon, and I slowly lifted a spoonful of ice cream into my mouth. As soon as the sweet flavor touched my tongue, I immediately spit it out into a paper towel. I tried to swallow, but I just couldn't.