This is a spin-off of several works I have completed or are currently underway.
This series of short stories will follow a few of my characters through the rehabilitation process until they have their moment of clarity.
Some issues dealt with in thi...
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It wasn't quite snowing yet in Nashville, but the temperature drop had begun. Vanderbilt University had already littered theircampus with Christmas decorations.
Thanksgiving had just passed the week before.
I took a long gulp of my coffee as I began my trek to class. Maybe today could be different.
Maybe I didn't have to purge the granola bar, maybe I could eat a small lunch and work it off in the gym.
I didn't have to purge if I ate regularly portioned meals.
My phone buzzed in my pocket as I entered my classroom building.
Caden.
I press my phone to my ear as I try to navigate through the hallway, my hands shaking and heartbeat erratically beating.
Bulimic hangovers are the worst.
"Where did you want to meet for lunch?" Caden asked, before I even had the chance to say hello.
"I can't today."
I heard shuffling on the other end, and a door swinging shut. "Come on, Joel, we had a deal."
Lunch with Caden twice a week. I was supposed to be brutally honest with him about just how bad my Bulimia had gotten, just how much I'd let it take control. Again.
We both know that I bullshitted my way through every meal.
"I'm drowning in schoolwork, tomorrow would be better," I said, as I came to a stop outside of my classroom door.
"Funny, that's what you said earlier this week."
I leaned against the door, my body too exhausted to continue to hold me upright. "I promise, Caden. Tomorrow."
He let out a defeated sigh, and I knew I'd won this round."Fine, Joel. Tomorrow."
"I've got to get to class."
He muttered a goodbye, and I took my usual seat in the back, already five minutes late for my lecture.
I really wanted to concentrate in my lecture. But all I could focus on was the weight of the granola bar settling in my stomach, the tension held within my shoulders as the hourstretched on.
My resolve to do better today was long gone.
As soon as we were dismissed from our lecture, I practically bolted back to my apartment.
I'd long since eaten the leftover Halloween candy that I'd purchased, so I instead ravaged through the freezer. I ended up with a container of Ben & Jerry's chocolate chip ice cream, a morning breakfast sandwich, and a package of cookie dough.
The binge-purge cycle resumed, as it always did. Things would never get better. Things would never be different.
I'm Joel Campbell. I'm Bulimic. And those two will always go hand-in-hand.
