I walk out of the gym, Vanessa watching every
step. I head outside, I look every which way. Until, I hear a man
weeping. He’s crying. I start slowly jogging in my heels
towards the noise. I peak around the corner of the building.
It’s James. I walk around the corner, quietly so he cant hear
me. I approach him from behind. “James?” I ask in a
whispering tone. “What?” He responds in a voice that he
is clearly making to make it not sound like he’s crying as he
half turns his head. I didn’t fall for it.
“Why are you crying?” I ask as I sit down on a rock
next to him.
“I’m not, go away Ava.” He sounds like a little
kid. I try to use a comforting voice.
“You can tell me why you’re crying, trust
me.”
“I can’t trust anyone, not even my own
girlfriend, ex-girlfriend.” He corrects
himself.
“Well, you can trust me, what’s wrong?”
“I broke up with Emily.”
“And that’s why you’re crying, if I were you,
I’d throw a party.”
He snickers, “No, that’s not why at all, I’m glad
I broke up with her.”
“Oh, then why?”
“You tell me something first.”
“Okay, what?”
“Why aren’t you and Emily friends anymore, what
happened?” I guess that’s the million dollar question
for everyone.
“I don’t know.” I simply respond. “We just
aren’t, I guess.”
“Oh.” He murmurs in a low tone.
“So, what’s wrong with you?”
“It’s just, I see Emily make fun of so many people.
She’s such a bully. Especially to you and Vanessa, and you
guys don’t deserve it. I always try to tell Emily to stop,
but she doesn’t ever! She says that everyone deserves it.
Well, no one deserves it, no one. You don’t deserve it,
Vanessa doesn’t deserve it, my sister Camille didn’t
deserve it.”
“You have a sister? That Emily bullied?”
“No, Emily didn’t bully her, other kids did, and I
had a sister.”
“Oh, I’m sorry I didn’t know… What
happened to her? If you don’t mind me asking?”
“Camille was constantly bullied by her classmates. About her
weight, even though she was perfectly skinny. She became anorexic,
like you.”
Those words kind of stung me even though he didn’t mean it in
that way.
“Well, I was 12 years old and Camille had just turned 16, my
family and I found out about her eating disorder and sent her away
to get help, because she became to be only 90 pounds. When she
finally came home a few months later, she looked like her old self.
She was happy and at a good weight and she looked… good.
Camille returned to school that month and the bullying was worse
than ever. Everyone knew about her anorexia and how she left to
recover and they used that against her. They kept calling her fat
and saying things like Emily says to you. Well, Camille
fell back into her old habits of not eating. And this time she
started using diet pills too. I even found her taking some one day
when I walked into her room and she dumped them on the floor in
shock that I saw her. My face dropped. I still remember that day
perfectly. Camille grabbed me and threw me on to her bed. She said,
‘Okay, listen Jimmy…’ That’s what she used
to call me. ‘…you can’t tell mom and dad, you
promise?’ ‘Why can’t I tell them, you’re
not supposed to be taking those!’ ‘I know, Jimmy, but I
have to, okay? Promise me?’ ‘Camille you’re going
to hurt yourself!’ I started to cry. ‘Stop crying
Jimmy, no I won’t, don’t tell mom or dad though.
Promise me Jimmy!’ She sounded so desperate, like an ex-drug
addict getting caught doing them again. ‘Okay, Camille, I
won’t. I love you.’ ‘I love you too Jimmy, but
please leave me alone for now we will watch a movie together
tonight, okay?’ ‘Mhm.’ I leave her room. Later
that night we did watch a movie, but I fell asleep during it. I
woke up a little when Camille kissed my forehead. Then my dad
brought me to my bed. Camille was too weak to bring me. Little did
I know that would be the last time I saw Camille, alive anyways.
Camille got picked on worse than ever before the next day at
school. Camille drove home during lunch break and downed the rest
of her bottle of diet pills. I got home a few hours later off the
bus and found her there in the bathroom with a note saying she
loved us but couldn’t take the bullying anymore and that
she’s sorry. I cried and cried and cried constantly for weeks
after. And as you can see I still do. And I just don’t want
Emily pushing someone over the edge like the classmates did to
Camille. I don’t want the same thing to happen to someone
like you or Vanessa. And the worst part, after
Camille’s death all her classmates said was… ‘We
loved her so much.’ ‘This is purely tragic.’
‘We have no idea why she would do it?’ ‘She was
so beautiful.’ ‘She’s another angel that went too
soon.’ Not to mention that most of these comments came from
the people that bullied Camille the most. All of them should go to
jail, but they don’t. They get to live the rest of their
stupid little lives. Unlike Camille who was tormented, yet still go
the short end of the stick.”
“Oh my, I had no idea, James. I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t let Emily do these things to you. Stand up to
her and show her that you are better, because you are
Ava.”
I just look down in tears.
“You are.” He repeats. And we both just sit there in
silence. Nothing but the sound of tears dripping down our
faces.
