Twisted Words

Well, That Went Wrong

"Asher, pay attention!" My English Two teacher yells at me and I flinch.

"Sorry, ma'am." I slink back into my seat and review the playbook for the football game tonight. I rub my knee and hope my sloppy splinting would hold until after the third quarter.

I'm the star player, Varsity Quarterback. Popular, happy. At least, I'm supposed to be. Soon the bell rings and I rush to practice.

"Hey, Ash!" I turn to see my twin, Adrian. "Is that brace going to hold? I can take you home after band practice." I shake my head.

"I'm alright, bro, I got it." I walk to the bathroom, change, and go to the weight room.

"McKay!" I flinch. "Upper and core today, got it?"

"Yes, coach!" I feel relief and start training. By the end of practice, I can barely walk at all. I call Adrian to pick me up and soon he's here.

"Thanks, dude. I was just gonna walk but..." I motion to my knee.

"You need to tell mom, Asher."

"I have. She just doesn't believe Mark could do something like this. Is he back yet?" Adrian shrugs. We sit in silence for the five-minute drive home, my younger sister Aeryn running up to us.

"Adri!" He picks her up as I grab his quads and sticks for him. I limp into the house and put them down before hitting the shower.

I examine my knee and slowly lower myself down so I'm sitting in the bathtub since I can't stand. I get out and get dressed into a long-sleeve athletic shirt and sweatpants. I walk to the kitchen where mom had set out boxes of pizza with some plates. Aeryn sits where she always does and looks puzzlingly at my mom.

"It's Friday. Friday is spaghetti. Pizza is for Thursday's, not Friday's."

"Aeryn, sweetheart. Today is a special day, remember? I told you a week ago that today we'd be having pizza instead of spaghetti because your Dad is coming home." I inhale sharply and my stomach churns. The door bursts open.

"DAD!" Aeryn, Adrian, and mom run to him but I stay behind. Home from training for two weeks and back to torture my life. Fun.

"Asher," he says simply and nods as they all walk back into the kitchen. "Game tonight?" He looks at my clothes up and down.

"Yes, sir." I refuse to meet his gaze. I start heading out the door, not eating anything and hoping no one notices.

"I'm heading to the football game, I'll be back around ten. Anyone want to ride along?" Adrian gets his coat on and follows me to our shared truck.

"You need to eat, Ash. You're deathly skinny, injured, and probably playing all four quarters. You need energy." I pull a bottle of Gatorade out from under the first seat. "Gatorade does not count as energy, Asher." I shrug, smirking. I know he means well, but I just can't bring myself to eat. It hurts-physically and mentally. I've been through eating disorder recovery before, and I was doing so well, and then... I relapsed. I don't know why- there wasn't really a reason. No one knows other than my girlfriend, Karmen, but I made her promise she wouldn't tell her mom, also known as my doctor. An angry door slam shocks me out of my thoughts.

"Adrian, I'm sorry, I ca-"

"Drop it, it's fine. I'm going to the band room, you know where to find me after that. Don't push yourself too far, tonight." He leaves as I walk-limp to the locker room and change into my uniform, stretching and running a few drills with my team before we walk to the field. The rush of running through the banner and tunnel of band members is better than being high. I pass Adrian, both of us giving a very slight nod since he was still playing our school fight song.