Elize’s voice cuts into my mind, taking me out of my panicked trance.

   “What were you thinking? You almost got us caught! You show her the fake receipt, not the real one!” Elize yelled at me.

    Little does she know, while Eliza was picking out designer heels, I pretended to be asking for the new Vogue issue when I was actually telling the manager about everything that was going on over the past year; the fights, the secret trips, the guilt that she was drowning in. The manager told me she would take care of it. I was shaking and my breathing was shortened, it felt as if I had ran 5 miles. I couldn’t speak, my throat has closed up because I knew if Elize found out I would be dead.

   “ Sage” Elize yelled, snapping me out of my thoughts. She was trying to look for me.

   I couldn’t deal with her, just not now. I walked on the cold marble tiles, my footsteps were muted by the demanding shouts from Elize. My face was pale and my were hands trembling as they were trying to open the door. I ran out of the store as fast as I could, it wasn’t the best decision, as I would have to deal with her later, but all I wanted to do was get away from this store and Elize. My heart was exhilarating, it was beating so fast, I swear it was gonna beat out of my chest. I knew Elize would find out somehow, I just have to be prepared for anything when she finds out. I couldn’t hide forever. I decided to stop at a park close to my house, realizing how my mom is probably worrying about me being gone for such a long time. I put my earbuds in with the music a little too loud, and I continued to walk home. I ate and got ready for bed, getting prepared for the next day.

    I woke up with the annoying sound of my alarm blaring throughout my room. “This was gonna be one interesting day,” I thought to myself. I groggily got out of bed and slowly walked into my closet. I scanned all my clothes, realizing that the majority of them were stolen, I picked an old outfit that wasn’t stolen.  My feet softly hit the cold wood as I walked down the stairs to get my breakfast. I glanced at my mirror, to examine my outfit. I was wearing faded blue jeans with rips at the knees, and a black oversized adidas sweater, with japanese lettering on the front half of the sweater. After doing my morning routine, I put on my white converse and left my house. I walked on the smooth side walk looking up at the cloudless sky, as the trees swayed in sync in the the windy air. I would usually go with Elize, but I decided that I would leave earlier than usual to avoid seeing her. I reached the school and there she was, staring me right in the eye with a resentful look on her face. I walked away, pretending I didn’t see her but my thoughts were interrupted with a high pitched scream.

    “SAGE,” I heard her call, her face was red with anger. She was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest and her left foot tapping the pavement in a loud motion. Her caramel hair danced in the wind as her fingers wrapped around strands of her hair as she moved them out of her face. I kept walking with my head down trying to ignore her but she kept screaming my name until all eyes were on me and I was forced to stop walking and deal with her.

    “What do you want?” I stuttered fiddling with my sleeves as I stared at my feet, with the wind blowing my hair on my face, tiny strips of my hair blocking my vision.

She looked mad, I mean I saw her mad before but I have never seen her this mad. It looked as if she could kill something. I walked slowly, taking each step one by one. My throat has closed up and I couldn't breath. Everyone had their eyes on us. I didn't like it, I didn't like having the attention.

“So someone told me, that you told the store manager something you swore you would never tell anybody, is that right?” she spat, each word cutting into my brain.

I stood there frozen. My breath hitched and my heart stopped beating. “How did she find out so quickly?” I thought to myself “Oh..no, this can’t possibly be happening.” She stepped closer and closer to me, until we were face to face. Her eyes stared me down, with nothing but an angered expression spread across her face. I stopped breathing, it was like the entire world stopped and everything was in slow motion. It felt as if I was gonna throw up and everything was spinning.

“So, it turns out loner here has a deep dark secret,” she spoke in a raised voice, “ And let me tell you guys something you may have knew known about her.”

I can’t believe it she was gonna tell the entire school my secret. This was a secret only my parents and she knew about, and she knew that if someone found out my whole world would come crashing down. This secret wasn’t about a crush or anything it was about, it was about a disorder I had. I have bulimia nervosa, it was an eating disorder that made me self-conscious about my weight and what I eat. It also meant that I was very unhappy for  who I was.  Elize found out when she found me in the bathroom trying to throw up all the food I have ate at lunch. She swore that she would never tell anyone and my secret was safe with her, and I choose to trust her, which was a mistake. I thought Elize was gonna be my best friend for a long time, she even made our group bracelets with our names, saying this would make us closer. She lied, she lied a lot, she never kept her promises, and I knew that. It makes me wonder why I trusted telling her when I knew she would eventually break her promise and tell someone, I just never thought she would tell my secret in front of the entire school.

I just stayed quiet, trying to convince myself that Elize would never out my secret. I was my fault that I choose to trust her I thought. It was my fault for being like this. It was my fault for being such a loser. My mind was filled with all the things I did wrong. It was my fault for everything I thought. “Why I wondered, why does this have to happen to me” I thought, “ Why would Elize want to hurt someone this bad?” The sound of Eliza's voice interrupt my thoughts.

“It turns out, little Sage here has something called bulimia nervosa, which means she feels sorry for herself because she is too fat! Isn’t that right Sage?” She yelled, making the whole crowd go silent, I felt them hold their stare at me like daggers in my skin. I shifted uncomfortably without saying  anything, as I let my thoughts explode into my brain.

I could hear my heart beating through my ears, my palms were getting sweating, and drips of sweat became to trickle down my forehead. “This possibly couldn’t be happening I thought to myself. When she said those words I felt my entire world come crashing down before my eyes. A secret I have kept from almost everybody was now out in the open, everyone knew now and there was nothing I could do. I felt the students staring at me, some with a sympathetic look, but most of them looked as if they didn’t care about how I was feeling or how Elize was treating me. I could see my vision getting blurry as I replayed every word she had said out loud. I tear rolled down my face as Elize continued to talk about my disorder and how I was nothing but a selfish fat loser. My cheeks were getting sticky from all my tears, but I quickly wiped them with my sleeve so people couldn’t notice that I was crying.  She started to walk closer and closer to me, as if she was gonna whisper something in my ear.

“You can’t hide from me, don’t think I didn’t know about your little plan, trying to get a magazine, when really you and your whiney little self just told the manager what I was making you do throughout the past year.”

“I never meant too, I...I um I you know uhh I just felt bad for stealing all of those clothes..s.” I managed to say as my voice cracked at the end of the sentence looking down at the black pavement of the school yard, kicking the  red and orange leaves that fell from the trees.

“Oh so I guess you could talk now, I always thought you were so mute loser, but I guess you could talk now, but you’re still such a fat loser” she spoke in harsh tone.

I remained, I wanted to tell her how she was wrong and I wasn’t a fat loser and how she was the one that had gotten her into this mess and it was her fault for making  me still the clothes, but I didn’t say a word. I just stood there like a deer and headlights, not moving or saying a word. I was scared. This was something that never happened to me before, yeah I have gotten embarrassed multiple times but it was never this bad and it wasn’t public humiliation. Tears were trickling down my cheek, as my cheeks were now moist and and bright red after all my tears. I could hear faint laughters from the crowd after what Elize has said. This was it I thought, my popularity is gone, all my friends are gone, nobody likes me now, as Elize was the queen bee of the school and practically everyone worshipped her.

But just as I was about to say something, the overhead speaker called out Elize’s name telling her to go inside the principal's office. I stood there with my eyes open, as I saw her glare at me as she slowly walked towards the principal’s office.  I stood there completely oblivious of what was happening. The students that were watching continued to do whatever they were doing before, while some of them stayed and watched what I would do next, and honestly I didn’t even know what I was gonna do. I decided to walk to a bench in the school’s garden that was starting to wilt and get old but I didn’t mind. I usually sat here when I wanted to escape from everyone and I wanted to be alone and since nobody goes here except for me, it was a perfect spot for me to sit down and think. I must have stayed inside the garden for quite a while, as I heard the school bell ring telling the students that school was done for the day. I enjoyed the peace and quiet until I heard footsteps entering the garden. I turned around and saw Elize standing there looking at the ground. Her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying. I furrowed my eyebrows wondering why she was the one crying after all the things she had said to me. I just looked at her with wide eyes wondering what happened.

“I came here to tell that, I was expelled and the store manager had told the principal everything, and to say I’m very sorry for what I have done to you. You never deserved this, you were nothing but nice to me, yet I still acted terrible to you and outed your biggest secret,” she said in a quiet whisper just loud enough so I could hear it.

She was still staring at the ground with her feet kicking some rocks as she stood there. I opened my mouth to say something but nothing came out, I was still sitting there on the bench with my hands in my lap. I was surprised that she actually came to say sorry to me, but I couldn’t forgive her yet. Too much has happened today and the least thing I would want to do was see her after she embarrassed me in front of the entire school. The awkward silence engulfed us until she spoke again.

“I understand if you don’t want to talk to me, I mean if someone did that to me I would be beyond mad and I wouldn’t want to talk to them either” she said in a hushed tone.

I just nodded, and she looked up at me and apologized one last time before leaving me by myself in the garden. I simply got up and collected my stuff and walked home, as it was quite an interesting day today. I got home and greeted my parents, then walked up to my room and just layed on my bed, reviewing what had happened today. I was still in shock and overwhelmed as I replayed everything in my mind. No more drama I thought to myself, no more Elize, no more secrets, and no more stealing. I smiled to myself knowing that all of this was over now and I could finally be myself now. A part of me felt bad for Elize as she was expelled and had to do community service for 2 months for the punishment of stealing $1,000 worth of clothes and pressuring me into stealing it with her, and threatening me. I know it was gonna be difficult for me going back to school on Monday, making new friends and getting used to Elize not being there anymore, but at least know I could be myself and I didn’t have Elize here telling me what to do.