Breaking Pointe

Chapter 18

As much as Arabella wanted to be at the studio all the time, it felt good to finally have a day off. Fridays were always her day to sit around, soak in a bubble bath, or catch up on some reading which was exactly what she planned to do.

Her last class was let out early so she decided to head straight home instead of waiting up for Tyler. The days that had passed since Monday were like a blur. She couldn't really remember all that happened, but she did remember what she had eaten. Rather, what she hadn't eaten.

Anything.

Her heart filled with pride. She was stronger than the urge to eat. Her passion and drive to fulfill her dreams trumped everything. Arabella turned on the bathtub water and eagerly ran to the scale. She was hoping today would be the day she finally dropped below the 100 pound mark.

One foot on the scale. Then the other. She held her breath. The red light blinked a few times before displaying a number...

103.

Tears immediately filled her eyes. Only one pound less than the week before. She has been so sure. She remembered something she read online, that peoples' bodies can go into starvation mode and they can actually gain weight. She gasped at the thought. That couldn't happen, not now.

She ran to the kitchen immediately and put a handful of celery and two strawberries in a bowl. And she looked at them. She tenderly reached one hand out, picked up a strawberry, and put it close to her mouth. Then she looked at it some more.

"You have to," she told herself out loud, a whisper. "This will make you skinny."

But as much as she tried, she couldn't bring herself to take a bite of the strawberry.

After managing two bites of celery, Arabella decided it might be easier if she chopped the strawberry up into little bites. She got out the cutting board and a knife, and started chopping away. The motion was so familiar, natural.

(What are we making mommy? Her mom smiled a mischievous smile. "You'll see")

Arabella was jolted back to reality by a sudden pain in her left pinkie finger. She looked down to see the strawberry juice mixing with another dark red fluid before she saw the gash on the pad of her finger.

"Dammit" she swore, running over to the sink careful not to spill any blood on the floor. She rinsed it and inspected the wound. It really wasn't big or too deep, it was just bleeding a bit. She wrapped a paper towel tightly around it and went to clean up. When she dropped the knife in the sink her flashback popped back in her mind and she ran out to the tree.

(10 year old Arabella was curious what they would be making with all the vegetables they were cutting up, but at the same time she really didn't care. Her mom was a great cook and had recently been teaching Arabella-very carefully- how to cut up ingredients.

"Whatcha makin?" her dad asked, kissing both of them on the cheek.

"I've decided it's going to be a surprise." her mom stated.

"Why's that?" he asked.

"Because surprises are fun!" she giggled and as if to prove her point threw a tomato slice at him.

His mouth dropped as he watched the tomato slice slide down his light blue dress shirt leaving behind a trail of juice. Then his mouth slowly spread into a big grin as he took a handful of them and squeezed them over her head.

Arabella had already grabbed a handful of carrot slices and ducked behind the other side of the counter.

The food fight that came after was messy, but a lot of fun. They ended up ordering from their favorite Chinese restaurant because all the ingredients from the dinner her mom had planned were on the floor, the wall, or someone's clothing.)

The doorbell rang just as Arabella was finishing her tomato slice carving. Confused, she climbed out and opened the door.

Tyler was standing there in khakis and a dark blue button down rolled up at the sleeves with just enough buttons open at the top. His hair looked like it had been slicked back a little at some point, but it was now messy from him running his fingers through it. He had a bouquet of daisies and a smirk on his face that slowly turned to a look of confusion.

She just states at him, shocked and basically drooling until she remembered. Their dinner date! She looked down, mortified to see that she was still in her jeans and tank top from school and her pinkie finger was wrapped in a bloody paper towel.

"Uhh... One sec" she blurted and quickly closed the door. A string of curse words escaped her mouth as she sprinted to her room. She grabbed her favorite long sleeved yellow dress and threw it on, attempting to zip it up and brush her hair simultaneously. Luckily she had straightened it that day for school. After throwing on some mascara, pink lip gloss, and a band aid on her finger she was ready to go.

Arabella opened the door with a big smile to see Tyler standing there still looking a little confused and as hot as ever.

"Ready?" he asked cautiously.

"Yep!" She smiled, taking the flowers with a quick kiss. He grinned that 100 watt smile and took her hand. She excused herself to run inside and set the flowers in the sink and then they headed to the truck.

She noticed he had washed it, which made her happy and guilty. He had planned out this whole date and she had been so focused on what she would or wouldn't eat at home that she completely forgot about their date. Dinner date. She gulped. She hadn't even had time to think of a good excuse not to eat.

"Did you forget?" he asked lightly, teasing. He wasn't mad. She didn't deserve it.

"Of course not I just got distracted because I cut my finger." She blushed. Partly true.

He questioned her about it, worried but she assured him she was fine.

"Are you sure you don't want to go see a movie or something? You don't have to spend all this money on me." she tried.

"I want to, darlin, you're worth it." he smiled brightly and looked so excited. She wishes she was as excited as him but truthfully her stomach was in knots, and not just because it was empty. "Plus you just have to try this place they have the absolute best Alfredo."

She smiled weakly and nodded, unable to say anything.

They pulled up to the restaurant and it looked really fancy. It had a beautiful outdoor area hat she could see from the parking lot with plants and heist as lights.

Here goes nothing she thought to herself as he put the car in park.

Authors note: sorry this is another cliffhanger but the chapter was getting kind of long and the next update will be in the next few days anyways because I know exactly what is going to happen next chapter. Do you guys know? Any thoughts or guesses? I just want to say that I really appreciate every read, vote, and comment. Especially those that have come to me and told me about their experience with anorexia. It's horrible and I hope that it's clear in my writing that it's not healthy and nobody should do that to their body.

Thanks for sticking with me and my random updates.