Chapter 401: Jonathan XXII--Confirmed

Elena hadn’t stayed for that entire party after the charity game, Jonathan understood that because she lived all the way up the mountain so they had to get home. She had drowned him with praise and awe, however, and Jonathan knew at that moment he could die happy just with the extent of her admiration for his talents. Everything was so much sweeter and was worth it that much more just to hear that she’d sat at the edge of her seat screaming with joy for his role in the game. He didn’t even worry about her appetite or health, because she seemed to be fine eating roll after roll from the bread basket without trepidation. Hell, what was there to worry about?

He even felt silly for hating Dan Hinote so much or even for ragging on Mom’s sensibilities. Shit if boinking Danny had even crossed her mind, just slightly, Jonathan was willing to bet that he’d erased it with that one comment he made to her on the ice. He watched Danny all through that after party glaring at Joe Sakic for being so close with Cecile. Danny didn’t even once look at Mom or in her direction or anything, and Mom seemed to be amused with everyone. Funny how things could get so blown outta proportion sometimes, Jonathan wanted to laugh with embarrassment and he would definitely have to talk to Alex about it too. Last thing they needed was to have Alex so wound up he jumped Danny during practice or something and embarrassing the team.

Hell, guys even got traded during situations like that. How could he have been so selfish? Jonathan realized at that moment that he could have even jeopardized the team’s precious chemistry by setting Alex on edge about Hinote! How stupid was that? Everyone knew Alex and Danny were pretty much the best loved guys on the team, and here he was trying to drive a wedge in-between them. Yeah, Jonathan could just roll his eyes at himself, big fat roll of the eyes.

Still, things seemed good, swell, fine, whatever cheesiness you could think of.

Only thing that sucked was having to go to school on Wednesday. He’d hoped that maybe Mom would let him stay home from school. Christ, he’d stayed up till like two in the morning at that party, and at six she was dragging him outta bed for shower and breakfast. No growing kid should be expected to be up at six in the morning to go to their first class at seven thirty. Hoo yeah, Jonathan wondered sometimes if he should ever just get a kids rebellion and sue the world for cruel and unusual school times.

Ah but it’s good to be the hero.

Jonathan was barely on the school yard when he was mobbed by his friends, and kids he barely knew, and classmates he knew he definitely didn’t like, but a lot of them had been at the charity game, and they’d spread the legend of Jonathan Roy before first class even began. The shut out, the parading, even slamming his own Mom, stoning Joe Sakic, sweet adulation abounded. Oh yeah bring it on, just bring it on. At times like these modesty was so overrated.

So that day was a good day. He barely got anytime to see Elena at lunch, he was busy parading with his friends, but he did get to exchange smiles with her, winks, that sorta thing. He saw her with her friends and their salads and he didn’t even think to look to see if she ate the damn thing.

The thing that did suck about Wednesday was coming home to find out that Gigi was being kept overnight at the vet cause they had to do surgery on her to cut out, above all things, Dad’s Smittens from her gut. Damn dog! Actually as far as Jonathan was concerned Mom shouldn’t have left Gigi unsupervised like she did and Dad shouldn’t have left the Smittens out where Gigi could get them. So in a way, Jonathan felt smug in his own intellectual superiority over adults. So all in all, still not so bad of a day.

On Thursday, however, things took a turn.

“Hey Jonathan,” Scott said during Math class, they sat next to each other and often the teacher didn’t care if some light conversations went on as long as they could prove their work got done.

“Yup,” Jonathan said glancing at his paper, drawing on the margins. Math was so freaking easy it was a joke. Sometimes he thought about bringing this fact up to his teacher just to get some challenging work but then again, why mess with an easy ride?

“Yeah you know I have drama with Elena?” Scott said leaning in so close Jonathan could focus on each one of Scott’s freckles, smell his cereal sour breath.

“Sure,” Jonathan said and he tried not to sound too defensive.

Scott nodded, “Okay Jonathan I gotta tell you man, drama is right after lunch and she’s always late cause she’s puking it all up before she comes in. I mean I hardly know a girl who doesn’t puke up every now and then, you know chicks are weird like that but Elena’s really picked it up, I mean it used to be like once a week but it’s like every day now.”

Really, Jonathan didn’t know how to feel at that moment. He blinked, he didn’t think his mouth dropped open or anything like that but yeah he felt hurt and numb at the same time. Shit, they’d learned all about eating disorders, girls with known disorders always got picked on, Elena had to know that being all skinny and frail would only mean she’d be hairy and gross and gray and would never get very far in ballet or in skating or in anything. Ah, now he felt angry. Yeah that’s what it was, angry how the hell could someone so smart be so freaking stupid? He wanted to find her right now and ask her why she didn’t have a real brain, how could she freaking trick him like that?

And then he thought of how it felt to be hungry and the thought of actually inflicting it on oneself? Christ how much physical and mental pain was she in and she never showed it to him. She always seemed so happy when she came over, and played with everyone. Now anger mixed with heartbreak and that mixed confusion and then he narrowed his eyes, looking at Scott. “You’re such a frickin liar.”

“Hey!” Scott exclaimed in a high whisper. “Don’t kill the messenger man, I’m just worried about her and I know how you feel about her maybe you can help her out some cause she won’t listen to me she just gets pissed off, I mean really pissed off.”

Jonathan shook his head and he even felt his eyes sting but he didn’t allow the tears to form. “You’re just trying to mess with my head man, why? I mean it’s not like you even have a chance with her or anything like that, or are you just jealous cause I’ve been getting all this attention lately?”

Scott wrinkled his nose in a scowl, “Look I’m one of your best friends which means I let you act like an asshole sometimes and forget about it, but don’t shit on me cause I told you the truth and you didn’t want to hear it okay?”

“It’s just ridiculous okay?” Jonathan said. “Elena’s like the smartest girl in this school, why would she do something like that, shoot me if I find it a little hard to believe that she’s one of those girls with no self esteem that pukes in her bedroom before she goes to bed at night okay?”

Scott bared his teeth in that nervous way other kids often did. “Eh just talk to her okay, don’t confront her or anything just see for yourself before you convince yourself that I’m the shit in your rose garden okay lover boy? And if you think I’m interested in her forget about it cause unlike you two soapies, I wanna enjoy being thirteen and not screw myself up with a girl just cause she’s smart and cute, I’ve got high school to do something like that.”

But Jonathan didn’t really need to talk to Elena about it at all. He saw her eat during lunchtime, a salad, a Chef salad, ham and cheese and egg on top of a bed of crisp looking lettuce and carrot shavings. She ate all of it and Jonathan felt proud, because what girl would want to throw up that perfect combo of protein and vitamins? He watched her leave the lunch room with her hand resting over her flat tummy.

Come to think of it, she did look thinner than he remembered. He didn’t follow her directly after lunch, he hung back around his area of the school, but he knew where the theater auditorium was and he knew where the bathroom was around there. Deciding they would overlook one tardy to class he made his way towards the drama area. He didn’t see Elena but he figured she’d already be in the bathroom when everyone else would be gone to class.

Looking over his shoulder he went to the girls bathroom and leaned in the open doorway. And he heard it, the unmistakable sound of hacking, of coughing of stomach fluids hitting the toilet water. He closed his eyes and heard her flush and turn the faucet on. Jonathan’s stomach boiled and he backed away from the bathroom and saw Scott standing in the hallway, pale, freckled and grim. Scott nodded and Jonathan sighed.

Then before Scott could see the tears in his eyes, Jonathan ran down the hallway away from Scott and away from Elena who for some reason thought it was a good idea to torture her tiny little body before it even had a chance.