Blossoming Madness VIII

“I...Andrew, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, nothing.”

Oh, that answer again. He’s frantically wiping the tears from his eyes but they keep falling. Did I do something to make him cry? Maybe I should ask him that... Good idea Fiala, now stop thinking and ask!

“Did I do something, Andrew?”

He looks up quick when I say his name but shakes his head causing a few dark brown hairs to fall infront of his hazel eyes. Without thinking, I reach up to brush them away. My hand makes contact with his skin and he closes his eyes. I brush the hairs away but my hand lingers and falls down the side of his face, catching a few tears.

“Andrew, what is wrong?” I ask.

I hope I sound assertive and not scared out of my mind.

“I’m just...frustrated with you.”

“Oh...”

I drop my hand and start to scootch away from him but he grabs my wrist and stops me. One of his nails is still partially blue from when I painted it last month. He is surprisingly strong and the grey sleeve of his shirt lifts with his muscles as he pulls me over to him. Impressive.

“I’m not frustrated in an angry way. I’m frustrated because I want you to see how skinny you are. I don’t want you to die from this because I know you can,” he takes a shuddering breath and continues, “if you really stop eating you skin can turn yellow and hair can grow on your face, back and arms. You’ll look like a monkey, Fia.”

I’m shocked. I literally can’t move. Can that really happen? Did he spend time researching anorexia because of me? Could I have a monkey face?

“But if we just work at this, you can get better.” He says, grabbing my hand.

“Get...better?” I ask. 

Does he mean that I can be skinny again? I jump up from the bed and begin pacing. Maybe his routine would work better...

“Ok, so I do what you say and I could be skinny again?”

“What? No, Fia, you are skinny!”

Andrew starts laughing and stands up to hug me.

“Oh beautiful child, you will be normal again, I promise.” He says, rocking back and forth.

I laugh and squeeze him as hard as I can. 

“Now, what were you and Matt talking about?”

“Ah, hey no changing the subject.” He says turning red again.

“I guess I can accept that for now but I’ll find out soon.” I reply, pointing a finger in his face.

“Yeah, sure. Hey, guess what we get to do now!”

“Hmm?”

“You get to eat a sandwich.”

“Oh Andrew, you know I can’t.” I say.

I step away, shaking my head.

“Oho, that’s what you think! Come on.” He says, grabbing my hand.

Practically hysterical, Andrew drags me down the stairs and into his wood floored kitchen. We both slide to the fridge in our socks and I pull out turkey, mayo, lettuce, cheese, tomatoes, olives, and yesterday morning’s bacon. For his sandwich, of course. Andrew grabs the PB&J for me.  


I begin putting his sandwich together precisely, laying the bread out first I snatch the mayonnaise and a butter knife and put the first layer on both slices. Then, I put two pieces of lettuce on the left slice and three on the right. Another layer of mayo and then four evenly divided tomato slices followed by the turkey. One more mayonnaise layer, one slice of swiss cheese, and the sandwich is finished. I press the two sides together and heave the mountain onto his plate. Andrew pushes my plate over to me with my small (or rather, regular sized) sandwich and I pass his to him. Carefully, so nothing falls over. Immediately he stuffs a third of it into his mouth and turns to me to say,

“Wuh, ar yu gu’uh ea ‘t?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” I admonish, “And yes I’m going to eat my sandwich I just won’t be a pig like you!” 

He swallows the giant sized bite and smiles ruthfully. I hesitantly smile back, suddenly nervous and turn to face the sandwich. Determined to not have another food show down I pick the sandwich up and take a bite. A normal sized bite too. Oh my god, I’ve forgotten how much I love peanut butter and jelly. It overcomes all my senses and I actually become a little overwhelmed by how much taste there is to it. I take five more bites, savoring each mouthful until the entire sandwich is gone. 

“Isn’t it better to just eat?” Andrew says into my ear.

I wasn’t aware of him ever moving behind me but I lean back against him and laugh. 

“What?” He asks.

“I was just thinking,” I say while turning to face him, “that from an outsider’s point of view we look more like a couple than two friends.”

He flashes me with a smile tinted with a blush.

“Not that I mind at all, I’m sure you’d make a fantastic boyfriend.” I tease.

Really, it’s not considerate of me to pretend like I didn’t hear what he said to Matt but why shouldn’t I have fun with this?

“I-I would?” He stutters at his feet.

“Well yeah,” I take a step closer, “you’re tall for one and athletic because of soccer which is an advantage. Plus, you’ve got a fantastic character and dazzling eyes. You care and you’re funny. Really, this list could go on forever.” 

I lace my fingers between his and smile.

“You know, we’d look cute together.” Andrew says, gaining confidence.

“Hmmm, I don’t think I’d mind that at all.” I chuckle and lean in closer to him. 

Suddenly, I pull away and twirl into the living room. 

“Hey, it’s “Animal Planet” time!”, I say to a befuddled Andrew, “You coming or not?”