The Beauty of Skin and Bones

Rinnng, rinnng, rinnng!

The phone rang three long times before I was able to reach it and answer.

“Hello?” I answered unsure of who exactly was calling me since usually the only time that the phone in this house rang was if someone from a utilities company was calling about something.

“Konnor?” I heard a woman’s voice on the other end of the line who I immediately recognized as my best friend Jamison Baxon’s mother.

“Why hello Ms. Baxon, how may I help you today?”

“Konnor could you come over? I’m worried about Jamison.” Ms. Baxon said, the worry in her voice not masked at all.

“Sure ma’am, I’ll be over there as soon as I can.”

“Thank you dear. I’m glad you are here for my son, because you seem to understand him on a higher lever than anyone ever has before.”

“I’m glad I can help. I’ll see you soon.”

“Goodbye Konnor.”

“Goodbye Ms. Baxon.”

I carefully hung the phone up, sighing slightly as I moved towards my bedroom. I knew exactly what it was that Ms. Baxon was worrying about and why she wanted me to come over.

Jamison had stopped eating again.

Jamison is suffering from Anorexia Nervosa, a disorder where you worry about how much you weigh constantly, normally believing you weigh far more than you should even when you are just skin and bones; have a fear of getting fat; and watch how much you eat all the time. He’s been to rehab twice for it. They released him both times believing that he had fully recovered, but the first time he relapsed and then stopped eating again within two months and now I guess that he has stopped and fallen back into his habits for a third time.

I knew why his mother called me, it’s because I am the one who has taken him to the rehab center the last two times. The only one who went to visit him everyday that I could and was there from the beginning of visiting times on those days until the moment that I was forced to leave. I was there with my best friend through everything that I could be.

I wouldn’t leave Jamison for anything. He was my best friend. The only one who listened to everything that I told him, and told me everything about him except for his Anorexia which I ended up figuring out on my own when he began losing weight dramatically and stopped eating whenever he was around anyone.

I grabbed my coat off my bed before turning around and heading back out of my bedroom and to the front door, locking it behind me as I left.

* * * * *

Ms. Baxon swung the door open only moments after I knocked on it.

“Konnor thank god you’re here,” she spoke moving to the side and motioning for me to come inside.

“Jamison is my best friend I am here for him. I always will be,” I spoke softly.

She just nodded her head. “He’s up in his room.”

I nodded my head as I pulled my arms from my coat, hanging it on the coat rack, and slipping off my shoes, before jogging up the stairs to his bedroom.

Knocking on the door of the bedroom I spoke. “Jami, open the door it’s Konnor.”

“Hold on a second!” I heard his voice call from behind the door.

“Jami, you don’t have to put your shirt back on. I know that you are looking at yourself in the mirror for probably the tenth time today.”

The door swung open only seconds later with a shirtless black haired boy with piercing green eyes standing in the doorway with a red t-shirt dangling in his hand with his mouth open in shock.

“How’d yo-”

“You always do it. You did it the last two times this happened.” I muttered looking at him as I walked into the room grabbing his free hand and closing the door behind us as we went in, then pulling him over to the bed sitting myself down.

As I sat there I stared at the beautiful male who stood before me.

He was pale, skinny, and beautiful as hell. I didn’t understand why he didn’t see what I did.

“Why did you stop eating again babe?” I asked him as he took a seat on the bed next to me.

Jami just shrugged and looking away from me. “I don’t know.”

“Yes you do.” I spoke to him, pulling my feet up onto his bed looking towards him.

“No.”

“Jami,” I spoke softly moving a little bit closer to him.

“No Konnor! Why do you even care? I’m a fuck up, I eat too much, I weigh too much, and I am a big fat hog. Look at me! Don’t you see how disgusting I am? I can’t eat; I’ll just gain more weight. I’ll gain more and more weight until I am so fat that you’ll want absolutely nothing to do with me ever again. You’ll think that I am gross and a mess. Konnor, you’ll hate me. You’ll never ever love me!” Jami yelled as he looked at me with tears falling from his eyes and running down over his cheeks little tiny little streams.

For a moment I just stared at the boy in absolute amazement and total shock.

Was I the reason for his Anorexia Nervosa, or at least what caused it and made it continue?

“Jami,” I spoke reaching out towards him.

“No, you hate me.” He spoke.

“Jamison Levi Baxon, stop! I do not hate you; I love you with all my heart.”

“Why are you lying?”

“Dammit Jami, I’m not. I love you; why else would I come over here and help you every single time?”

“Because my mom doesn’t know what to do with me.”

“Your mom is worried about you just like me. She loves you. Jami, I love you. I think you are gorgeous, and I want you to see that in yourself. I want you to see everything that I see in you.” I stood up from the bed and walked over to the boy who’d moved to the other side of the room when he got upset, just to examine himself in the mirror once again. Carefully I let my arms wrap around him from behind.

“You are beautiful Jami, and we have got to get you help. I am going to take you to a different rehab center because they obviously don’t know what the hell they are doing at the other one or you would be okay by now. You are going to get better, I know for sure this time.” I whispered softly in his ear as we looked at him in the mirror with me holding him close, and my chin resting on his bare shoulder.

After standing there in silence for what seemed like forever, Jami turned around to face me with my arms still wrapped securely around his body.

“I love you Konnor Alexander Fitz.” He spoke with a tiny smile on his face.

I smiled back at him before I replied.

“I love you too Jamison Levi Baxon, no matter what. Now come on, let’s go get you something to eat.” I told him pecking his lips as I unlinked my arms from around his body grabbing his hand and pulling him out of his room downstairs to the kitchen where his mother waited patiently.