Chapter
28
One month
later
“Hey,
where’s Jenna? It’s almost time for
sound check,” Ashalyn asked, looking around the backstage area for Jenna
Elyssa
shrugged. “You know Jen,” she said. “Always running late.”
Just then, Nick walked by. “Hey, Nick,
you seen Jen anywhere?” Ashalyn asked.
“Jen? No. I
thought you guys would be having sound check by now,” he replied with a shrug.
“Yeah,
we’re trying to, but we can’t find her,” Elyssa said, rolling her eyes in
exasperation.
Nick
chuckled. “Well, if I see her, I’ll let
her know you’re looking,” he said, walking away.
“Well,
come on, Ash, she’ll be here soon,” Serena said. “Let’s go ahead with the sound check for the
three of us.”
“Okay,”
Ashalyn said reluctantly, walking off behind Serena and Elyssa.
***
Nick
wandered down the hall, past the bathroom, when suddenly, the door opened and
Dana, one of their stagehands burst out, nearly colliding with him.
“Oh,
I’m sorry, Nick!” she gasped.
“That’s
okay,” he replied, flashing her a good natured smile. “What’s up?” he asked when he noticed the
worried expression on her face.
“Oh,
someone’s horribly sick in there,” she said, motioning to the bathroom. “I think it’s one of the JADE girls, but I’m
not sure. I was going to look for
them. Whoever it is, she sounds awful.”
Nick’s
heart pounded. “Jen,” he murmured. “I just saw Rena, Ash, and Lyssa. It must be Jenna then.”
“You’re
still her boyfriend, aren’t you?” Dana asked.
“Yeah,”
Nick replied.
“Then
go in there and see if you can help her, okay?” Dana asked hurriedly.
“What? But-“ Nick started, but she hurried off down
the hallway. Concerned, he walked into
the bathroom.
There
was no one in sight in the bathroom, but then Nick heard the horrible retching
sounds of someone vomiting in the stall at the end of the bathroom. Nick stepped closer. “Jen?” he asked softly. “Is that you?”
The
sounds of vomiting stopped. “Go away,”
came Jenna’s voice, hoarse and wavery.
“It’s
me, Nick,” he said. “Are you gonna be
okay, babe?”
“I’m
fine, now get out!” she ordered, her voice stronger this time and full of
annoyance.
Puzzled,
Nick took a step back, but didn’t leave the restroom. He waited a moment to see if she would come
out, but nothing happened. Concerned,
Nick opened the bathroom door and let it close, hoping she would think he had
left. He stood silently for a moment,
and sure enough, seconds later, the door of her stall opened, and Jenna
emerged.
She
gasped when she caught sight of him standing near the door, her green eyes
going wide. “Shit, Nick, don’t scare me
like that! I thought you were gone!” she
cried angrily.
“You
expected me to just leave after hearing you puke your guts out?” Nick asked,
suddenly annoyed with her defensive tone.
Jenna’s
eyes narrowed coldly at him. “Why were
you even in here?” she asked suddenly.
“This is the girl’s bathroom! Are
you some kind of pervert?”
“Dana
just came out of here and said you were in here horribly sick! Did you expect me to just let it go and not
make sure you were okay?” Nick asked angrily.
“I
told you, I’m fine,” she insisted. “Dana
just overreacted.”
“You
didn’t sound fine,” Nick argued. “And
you don’t look fine either,” he added, noticing how pale she was and the fine
sweat that had broken out on her face.
Jenna
rolled her eyes. “It was just something
I ate, okay? I’ll be fine.”
Nick
stared deep into her eyes, and something there told him she was not telling the
truth. And then it hit him, something so
horrible he didn’t want to ask… but knew he had to. “Jen, you weren’t purging, were you?” he
asked softly.
Her
mouth dropped open, and for a moment, shock replaced the anger on her
face. Then a flash of guilt. And then that defensive anger again. “Nick!
How could you even think such a thing?!” she cried, but Nick had seen
enough to know that his suspicion was the truth.
“Jen…”
he breathed, his expression a mix of shock and sadness. “Why?”
Now
that she had realized he was not going to accept her lies, Jenna couldn’t hold
it back anymore. She began to sob.
“Oh,
Jenna,” Nick said, pulling her thin body into his arms and holding her against
his chest tightly. He stroked her dark
hair soothingly. “Why would you do
something like that?” he asked, his tone gentle, not accusing.
“I…
I’ll be fat if I don’t,” she moaned shakily.
“I have enough problems with my weight as it is, and if I digested all
the calories from all the crap I eat, I’d be huge. And no one wants to look at a fat pop star.”
Nick
pulled her back from him and stared at her in disbelief. “Jenna Evans, what are you talking about?”
he cried. “You’re not fat at all, not
even close! In fact, you’re so skinny,
it’s almost disgusting!” As his eyes
traveled down her body, it was as if he were seeing her for the first time all
over again. But this time, she didn’t
seem like the slender, beautiful girl he had fallen for. This time, she seemed pale and sickly, dark
circles under her eyes, her body gaunt and shapeless. He shook his head. “Look at yourself, Jenna!” he cried, gripping
her bony shoulders and turning her to face the mirrors over the sink. “Look at that! Do you see someone who’s fat?!”
Jenna
said nothing, just stared at her image, tears dripping slowly down her gaunt,
hollow cheeks.
“Come
on, Jenna,” Nick said quietly, taking her hand.
“Where-“
“Just
come with me,” he said calmly, pulling her towards the door. “We need to talk to management right away.”
“About
what?!” she cried, her voice rising.
“You
need help, Jenna. And I’m going to make
sure you get it.”
***
