Colby
Yvonne glared at me before looking away. “Are you going to keep staring at me like I’m some kind of freak? Now that I’ve told you everything, and you know most of my personal life, you’re not going to say anything, huh?”
“No, it’s not that,” I said, swallowing hard and shaking my head. “It’s just that I never knew. I’m your brother, and we live under the same roof, but I don’t even know half of what’s going on with you.”
“And why would you know anything about me?” she laughed, standing up from the chair and slumping onto the bed. “It would only make you look like some pervert.”
“But Ozempic isn’t healthy, Yvonne,” I sighed, my eyes filled with worry.
“I’ve been using it for years, Colby, and I’m fine. It has just a little side effect, I promise.”
“I disagree; it could really affect you in the future, years from now. Please, there are other ways to lose weight,” I said, trying to reason with her. However, it seemed like my words only angered her because her expression slowly changed.
I didn’t stop talking, though. Damn it! I was worried about her. Yvonne used to be obese, but according to her, she started following a diet plan. Who could have known it had been like this?
“How about you exercise with me each morning?” I asked, pointing out the window at the road. “It might be tiring, but I swear it’s worth it.”
After a brief silence, she scoffed, and as I stared into her eyes, I could see the tears welling up.
“Do you think our bodies have the same metabolism?” she asked, irritation and rage in her tone. “Do you think I haven’t tried that and even gone to the gym? I only ended up losing a kilogram a month, and I knew the effort I had to put in just to lose even half of that. So don’t come preaching to me, Colby.”
“At least it’s healthier and won’t affect your later years,” I sighed, becoming frustrated as well. Why the hell wasn’t she listening to me?
“I don’t care about my fucking later years, Colby! I care about my present. You want to know something? When I was still overweight, I applied for cheerleading back in high school. Do you know what they told me? I’m fat! I’m fucking fat, and I won’t be able to fit into their crop tops. They also said, ‘How would I jump? How would they even lift me for the routines?’ That was when I lost it and promised to come back better. And yeah, I did. I mean, look at me. I’m not only a cheerleader at Boston, but I’m also the damn captain of the cheerleading team! I need to be careful with my body now, or they’ll all laugh at me and kick me off the team.”
I felt a pang of pain. What else didn’t I know about my annoying sister? Maybe she cried herself to sleep every night, remembering how difficult her life was. Or maybe she struggled with depression, something I had never bothered to ask about.
Letting out a sigh, I nodded. “Okay, do what you want, but don’t be hard on yourself. If you feel like your body is reacting badly, please stop. And you can always come to see me when you need to.”
“Oh, now you want me to see you,” she laughed, shaking her head. “I thought you hated seeing me in your room.”
“Yvonne!” I growled, my eyes narrowed.
“Fine! Fine! I’ll come to see you if it gets too much,” she smiled, and I sighed in relief.
“I’ll leave now,” I muttered.
Just as I turned to leave, she said, “Do you want to know why I hate Sally? Why I bully her so much and why she annoys me so much?”
I didn’t turn back, but I replied softly, “Why?”
“Because I’m jealous of her,” she replied, her voice cracking. I could tell she was crying. “She has it so easy, and I felt like she doesn’t deserve it. I thought that if I bullied her enough, she would leave, but I couldn’t believe how strong she was and how she fought back. I think I chose the wrong enemy.”
I gritted my teeth and turned back to her. “But why?” I asked. “Why are you jealous of her?”
Yvonne sat up on the bed, wiping away the tears streaming down her cheeks. “It wasn’t fair that she was mute and still got accepted into the cheerleading team. It’s not like she had any connections. She’s just too perfect. She can dance and cheer vibrantly, with a huge smile on her face, twirling her body and shaking those pom-poms.”
“You can do all that too, Yvonne, for Christ’s sake!” I sighed. “Just believe in yourself.”
“I’ll try, but have you seen her body, Colby? I’m jealous of that, too. She’s so perfect and flawless. I watch her eat anything and everything without getting fat. Why do I need to eat and force myself to puke? Why?!”
My mouth fell open, and I moved closer to her, my eyes widening. “You force yourself to puke after eating?”
“Yes,” she sobbed, nodding her head, her eyes fixed on the bed. “I always do that. Always!”
“Yvonne, how could you?” I yelled, shaking her shoulders, struggling to hold back my own tears. “Why the fuck would you do that to yourself? And I never knew about this!”
“I think Sally knows now,” she muttered.
“What?” I asked, raising my eyebrows.
“She saw me forcing my hand down my throat to vomit.”
“Jesus, Yvonne!”
She didn’t say anything. Instead, she cried and wailed, her body trembling under my hands. I examined her face, feeling my heart burning. My eyes turned red, and I squeezed her shoulders, which I had been gripping firmly.
“Yvonne?” I called, and she looked up at me.
“Do you want me to help you?”
“What?”
“Do you want me to ruin her-Sally?”
After a long silence, she nodded and answered, her voice barely above a whisper. “Yes, please.”