𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 [✓]

6. Bruises

Big oof. This one's really long and kind of heart wrenching.

Warnings: Abuse, depression, eating disorder (not really, just kind of but just to be safe), alcoholism

The bruise stood out on my neck, the skin now purplish and marred. The marks continued down as I pulled at my sweater, going across my chest. I knew I had bruises on my wrists and stomach as well, another swelling on my hip. They were worse than normal, but what was normal anymore?

I sighed and readjusted my sweater so it swallowed me again, the XL size almost a dress on me. It was easier this way. I didn't eat much at home, and almost never at school so my painfully thin body was always cold. It wasn't that I wasn't hungry, I was. But my mom didn't have any money to "waste" on groceries and the little I made working at the diner on weekends barely covered dinner for the week.

Besides, I didn't want to show my body, so it was better just to wear this.

I flicked my hair over my shoulder, scooped up my backpack and left the bathroom. If there was one good thing about school, it was that it let me leave the house. And, I basically blended in with the lockers, so nobody cared what I looked like as I deteriorated.

***

Lunchtime was a somber affair. I sat in the library, like always, trying to ignore the claws of hunger raking down my belly.

I never had time to do homework after school, so this was what I had worked out. My chemistry book sat in front of me, my notebook and homework sheet on top of it. I rummaged in my backpack for a pencil and hummed quietly to myself.

I never had access to the radio but I'd found an old CD player at a garage sale for $20 and couldn't resist. I'd also been working on my collection of CD's for several years, starting from only a few of my dad's old Beatles albums.

Footsteps approached my table but I paid them no mind. I was taking up only a little space and there were several other empty tables. But the feet stopped only a few paces from me and I stiffened.

"Y/n?"

I looked up. Daniel Seavey stood there, an easy smile on his face, his hands tucked into the pockets of his expensive looking jeans. His soft-looking brown hair fell over his forehead rather attractively and his blue eyes were friendly and sparkling. He and his friends were pretty popular at my high school, friendly, but a tier above the rest of us. I'd never thought that Daniel knew of my existence, let alone my name.

"Um, hi." I mumbled, my voice hoarse from lack of use. I cleared my throat, a flush rising to my cheeks. "How can I help you?"

Daniel shrugged. "Can I sit?"

I blinked a couple times, fumbling not to drop my pencil. "O-of course, but-"

He sat across from me without hesitation, that happy everything-is-alright- in-the-world smile still on his face.

"Don't you want to sit with your other friends in the cafeteria?"

"Maybe I'd rather sit with you." he stuck out his hand. "I'm Daniel by the way."

I shook his hand, hoping my fingers weren't as cold as they felt. "Y/n."

"I know." Daniel said, glancing at the table at my notes, an innocently curious look on his face. "We have history and math together."

I bit my lip. "I didn't realise that you noticed a girl like me."

Daniel chuckled. "As if I wouldn't notice the prettiest girl in class."

I flushed, looking down at my beat up old runners under the table. My fingers retreated into my sweater sleeves as I curled into myself, unable to process the compliment. Daniel had been my crush since freshman year and never once seemed to notice me. So why now?