Page 51 of Bewitch

He shakes his head, and I would give anything to know what he’s thinking. Do I disgust him? Or is he trying to play some kind of game with me, just like I have one in store for him?

I clear my throat. “I can’t promise I won’t ever binge again, but I won’t tonight.”

“Eat dinner. Don’t punish yourself, and try to figure out what triggers your binges. It’s not always. Because food tastes good. It can have a mental component to it.”

“Or emotional,” I say without thinking.

“Yes, or emotional,” he echoes.

I am so not talking to him about emotions so I just nod and leave it at that. “Tomorrow then.”

“Tomorrow.”

I hurry out of there as quickly as my ankle will allow. It’s throbbing a bit, and as soon as I return to my dorm room, I cave and take some Advil. Normally, I don’t like to take medicine, but in this instance, I need to.

Maybe Brook and I can do something tonight. I need something to get my mind off of things.

But first, I need to brush my teeth.

Just as I’m rinsing my toothbrush, my phone vibrates. My mom’s calling.

“Hello?”

“Dawn, are you busy?”

“Not this second.”

She laughs easily. “I don’t mean just for a phone call. I’m actually on campus. I just finished a meeting, and I thought if you didn’t have any dinner plans that you might want to go out to eat. What do you say?”

I hesitate. I want to say no, but that’s not being a good daughter, number one. Number two, I don’t have any plans, and number three, didn’t I just think about how I wanted to do something tonight to try to forget about how utterly shitty today has been? My mom might not have always made the right choices when it came to raising me, but she tried her best, and she has always supported me in her own way.

“Okay. I’ll be ready in fifteen.”

“Great. I suppose you don’t want your mom coming up to your room so I’ll be in the parking lot. When you’re all set, come on down. I love you.”

“Love you too.”

I disconnect the call and glance at myself in the mirror I washed earlier. Man, do I look pale and listless. As quickly as I can, I put on makeup and then change into a long-sleeved dress, black and white. Nothing too special. A fresh pair of leggings beneath, and despite my ankle, I put on the original pair of boots. After eating my feelings and then that talk with Lucas after getting sick, I have a whole different attitude when it comes to those bullies, and if they start to give me crap again, I’m going to give them a piece of my mind. Whether or not that might make things worse is debatable, but at this point, I don’t rightly care.

There. I’m looking as good as I’m going to get, given how terrible today has been, and I head on downstairs and out of the dorm. My mom’s parked in the second row with her fancy car, and I hurry over and climb in.

“How’s school?” she asks brightly, reaching over and grabbing my hand to squeeze it. “I figure you don’t want a kiss on your cheek anymore, unless maybe if it’s from a certain someone…” She gives me a look, clearly fishing for details.

“No guy,” I mumble.

“No guy yet,” she says. “You and your roommate still get along? You and Brooke, right?”

“Yeah, Brooke’s great. My classes are going well.”

Hopefully, my lack of attention today won’t cause any long-term issues, not that I mention that to my mom.

“Good. I’m so glad to hear it.”

Mom drives out of the lot, and she keeps a steady stream of conversation going. “Oh, look! The Untamed Mermaid will open soon. It looks like it’ll be a great place for you and your friends to go to.”

I glance out the window. “Yeah, if we can afford it.”

My mom laughs. “Everyone who attends Oak Park University is rich or has rich parents. I’m sure your friends can afford it just fine.”

---