Intermission - Sarah’s plea.

Fernanda watched as Sarah put her thumbs in the pockets of her shorts and leaned back against the tree. It was the kind of move that, if she tried to pull it off, would come off as trying too hard to look cool, but when Sarah did it she actually looked cool.

“Oliver talked to your dad yesterday. Did he tell you about that?”

Fernanda’s heart skipped a beat. “Ah. Um… Y-Yeah.” That thing about trying another therapist. Her dad said he had been recommended a new one, but only asked her to think about it. He wasn’t rushing her to make a decision during their vacation. Why would this girl ask her about it, though.

Sarah groaned softly. “The therapist he recommended is my dad. Oliver told your dad, but… I wanted to make sure that you knew, just in case it could make you uncomfortable. That said, my dad’s a pro. He won’t tell me anything about your sessions even if I asked him, and not that I would. He’s good and has two published research papers on mental health, so check those out if you feel like it.”

Fernanda felt a knot in her throat. So even these girls knew Fernanda wasn’t well in the head? Not that it was surprising, considering the people she’d talked to recently, but… It was still… embarrassing, even shameful.

“We know it’s not really our business,” the brunette, Grace, said as she sat cross-legged next to Fernanda. “I was against trying to meddle, but Sarah wanted to talk to you even if it was out of line.” The girl smiled with something like pride in her face. “She wants to major in psychology because she realized she can’t just let stuff like this be. She was like this with Oliver, too.”

“I’m sorry. We know some things about you that we shouldn’t,” Sarah said. “You’re free to write us off as meddling bitches, but even if you do, please don’t write off how important mental health is. Like any other wound, it needs to be treated. It doesn’t have to be my dad, even if I think he’s one of the best you could ask for. So… Yeah. That’s all I wanted to say. Sorry to interrupt you while you were busy.”

“...” Why? Why did she care? Why did these people care? Diana gave her advice last night, too, and now Sarah was encouraging her to seek professional help. “Do I… Do I really look so pathetic that it’s obvious I’m not well?” Fernanda asked, her voice at the edge of cracking. She felt her eyes itch and tried and succeeded to stop the tears.

“You don’t, but that’s the thing,” Sarah said. “The fact that no one can tell what you’re feeling means you have to be the one to take the first step.”

“...”

Grace stood up and dusted herself off. “Hey, have you had breakfast yet?”

“Ah?” Where did that change of topic come from? “N-No, I guess I haven’t…”

“This started off really weird, so why not start over?” Grace suggested. “If you can somehow still stand us, come eat with us. We came here to check the river out while the rest of our group was still asleep, but now I’m starving. Apparently the buffet breakfast here is pretty good.”

“...” To be perfectly honest, Fernanda did feel ticked off that these two girls would come out of nowhere to tell her what she should do, but that wasn’t really what they were doing, was it? “I… I AM getting hungry. Alright, let’s go.”

“Cool!” Grace offered her a hand and Fernanda took it. Problem was that she almost got pulled to the ground instead of helping Fernanda up. “W-Woah!”

Fernanda gasped. “I’m so sorry!”

“Holy hell, Grace. Plant your feet, woman.” Sarah grabbed Fernanda’s wrist and she could practically feel herself being pulled up. Fernanda blinked.

“Um… You work out?” she asked Sarah. “W-Wait, forget that. It’s pretty obvious you do.” That wasn’t just arm strength, though. That was good balance and strong footing.

Sarah smirked. “Yeah, and so do you. You’ve got good legs.”

Fernanda, like Sarah, was also wearing shorts. It was easy to see how toned her legs were, but she was still surprised she noticed.

“Just aerobics at home and a lot of time on the stationary bike,” Fernanda said.

“I don’t want to assume, but does it have to do with your dad being a bodybuilder?” Grace asked.

“Kind of?” Fernanda smiled wryly. “It’s not like he forces me to exercise, but… Well… Back in middle school I got made fun of for being fat.” She then frowned at a past memory. “Though looking back, I wasn’t fat at all. It was these girls with stick figures being mean.”

“Oh yeah, I know the type,” Grace said, putting her hands on her hips.

“Well, I took it really hard back then. My dad asked me if it bothered me enough to do something about it. I said yes and he made a whole plan for me, even following it with me for about five months.” Fernanda smiled as she looked back. “It’s funny because that plan even included a new diet and I was eating even more than I did. But even so, fat turned to muscle and I was feeling a lot better with myself. My grades in P.E. got better, too.”

“Sometimes it’s not about eating less, but eating smart,” Sarah said, nodding. “I suppose a professional bodybuilder would know that.”

“Yeah. it’s also funny that I… technically didn’t lose much weight at all? Like I said, I wasn’t fat, but my body simply became… firmer? Exercise ended up becoming a habit by then.”

Sarah smiled. “Avoided steering you into bulimia or anorexia, too. Holy crap, your dad is pretty smart.”

Fernanda blinked. She had obviously heard those terms before, but much to her shame, she didn’t know what exactly they were about.

“Remind me, what are those?” Grace asked, much to Fernanda’s relief.

“They’re both eating disorders. Anorexia is when a person, usually but not necessarily always girls, feels a strong fear of gaining weight and believes they should be constantly losing more, never being satisfied. It’s dangerous as hell. Bulimia is when people overeat, usually in secret, then feel shame and guilt over it and try to get rid of it all with **** vomiting or misuse of laxatives. Also extremely damaging and potentially lethal. Both are worryingly common in young girls, particularly those under social pressure to be thin.”

Fernanda’s jaw dropped. Was… Was her dad looking out for her like that? Was he worried she would feel that social pressure and end up damaging herself? Those thoughts never even crossed her mind, but she could see herself falling for it if her dad hadn’t taught her to be comfortable in and proud of her own body. She couldn’t help but smile.

“Yeah, my dad is pretty smart. He probably has muscles in his brain, too.”

It was just a random comment, but Fernanda was surprised that… it actually got a laugh out of the two girls.

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