Weightless

I stood in behind of Hale in line to get weighed in. Brandon was behind me, being Mr. ADHD. I tried to focus on the nonsense that came out of his mouth but I couldn't help but focus more on Hale. Whatever my brother said to him, I have to know. Knowing my brother he's going play with Hale like some sort of puppet and then throw him away.

"Hale you're weighing in less that before. I told you to get down to 100 and you're at 86 pounds!?" Coach screamed at him. "That's less than I wanted, way less there's no weight division for 80 pounds."

80 fucking pounds! Holy shit that's too little. I stared at Hale noticing how his bones jolted out of his skin in a unhealthy way. Poor kid, he must of gotten out of control with this.

"You gain those 20 pounds or you're not going to be able to compete." coach told him. "Come in Asher." I looked at Hale I brushed pass him entering the coaches office.

"Hale." I whispered to him. He looked up at me, his eyes welling and tears threatening to spill out. "Meet me at the locker doors after weigh in." I told him walking to the scale.

I slipped off my shoes and stood on the scale watching the number change around before falling on 119. "That good coach?" I asked.

"Perfect." he said recording the weight down. "Heard you're going to talk to Hale about his weight loss?" he asked looking up to me from his glasses.

I nodded as I slipping on my shirt and shoes. "Yeah. I need to." I said grabbing my hoodie. "See ya tomorrow." I called as I hurried out the office. I went to my locker and grabbed my things before walking to the front of the locker room to meet up with Hale. I pushed open the door and saw him leaning against the wall, tears pouring from his eyes.

Nick stood next to him rubbing his back in a comforting way. They both looked up to me, Hale still crying and Nick giving me a sad smile. "I got it from here." I told him.

Nick nodded and grabbed his things off the floor before hugging Hale and whispering something in his ear. He waved goodbye to me and hurried out the school buildings. I leaned against the wall next to Hale hearing only his small whimpers and sniffs. "You ok?" I asked softly looking at him with worry.

He shook his head and wiped at his eyes with his small fist. "I-I t-tried s-s-so hard a-an-and it w-wasn't good e-enough." he sobbed slipping to the floor and curling into a small ball. I sat down next to him resting my forearms on my knees.

God I hated seeing him cry, he doesn't deserve this.

"I'll help you gain weight, so you can compete." I told him softly.

He looked up at me with wide eyes, almost afraid of the proposition I gave him. "I c-can't." he cried. "I-I w-worked s-so hard." he screamed. "Don't y-you g-get that!" he added.

I stared at him with worry, "Of course I get it. You don't think half the team doesn't understand what your going through?" I asked. "Nick had to lose 7 pounds to get to 140 and Basiley he had to lose 15!" I exclaimed. "You were told to lose 10 pounds, but you went down 30. How on earth did you do that in a matter of one month?" I asked.

He looked up to me with raw red eyes, "I never ate." he whispered. He took a deep breath and stood up grabbing his things off the floor, "I have to go. My brother's waiting outside." he said heading down he hall.

I watched as his skinny frame disappeared leaving me completely alone in the hall. I stood up gathering my things and hurried out to my car.

Being team captain sucks.



I sat at the table my eyes scanning the menu as I looked for something to eat. I could hear my dad grumbled to himself about not having anything homemade here. "So did you make weight?" dad asked setting his menu aside and taking a sip of his beer.

"I did, and Brandon and Nick and even Basiley made weight." I told him.

"But..." he said letting his voice trail off knowing I had more to say.

"Hale was underweight." I sighed. "And he's the best in his division." I groaned setting my head on the table.

"How much under?"

"20."

My dad whistled and I looked up to him seeing pure shock covering his feature. "That's bad." he sighed looking up to see a waitress there.

We both ordered our meals and fell into silence. My mind was still stuck on Hale and everything he told me today. I could still picture his bony body in my head, and the look of fear he had in his eyes when he heard he had to gain weight.

It's almost like he developed a...

No that can't possibly happen. He couldn't of got a women's disorder. He's a wrestler for crying out loud, he can't have a eating disorder.

"Zoning out again Asher?" dad asked staring at me with a eyebrow raised and a smirk on his lips. He took a bite of his food before pointing to the food in front of me, "Better eat before it gets cold." he said through a mouthful of food. I nodded softly and began eating my food.

Hale doesn't not have a eating disorder.