Small Cities Feel Smaller

Two gulps of water. Fingers down throat. Release. Finish water bottle. Repeat.

This was Jack's post-lunch ritual. Run to the bathroom to purge, every day- no exceptions. Some days, it made him late for his next class but it didn't matter. He needed to be empty. He needed to be pure. Mostly, he needed not to be caught. It was wrong, emasculating even, that he worried about something so petty as his own weight but routine was routine.

Today, he went in for the repeat, adjusting his fingers and slowly pushing them back. Jack gagged slightly, eyes watering. He withdrew his fingers to breath. Then went to push them down more roughly until he was interrupted by the sound of a lighter spark.

Jack jumped in shock, hitting his head on the toilet lid.

"You alright in there, buddy?" an unfamiliar voice drifted through the door of Jack's cubicle, sounding slightly disinterested.

The smell of a fresh cigarette floated after the voice, fresh air blowing it around. Jack hadn't heard anyone come in, let alone open the window. He supposed the other boy was perched on the paper towel dispenser, right next to the window. Directly across from himself.

His suspicions were confirmed when he heard the stranger lightly land on the ground to make his way over to Jack's door.

The other boy leaned against the stall's door, "I heard you in there, no need to try hide. I can see your backpack too."

He brought the bag closer to himself, still on his knees in front of the toilet, "G-go away," Jack stuttered, his throat still burned.

"You see, I ain't going no where until I finish this cigarette and you come out and talk to me, man," the other boy continued, "I heard what you were doing in there, I didn't want to scare you. Sorry about that."

"Please, just go away. Pretend this never happened," Jack pleaded.

"I'm not here to judge you. I guess you can't trust someone you don't know... Hi, I'm Alex. I started here today," there was a pause, the boy- Alex- inhaled and exhaled loudly, "and I would like to help you, as it's not pleasant to ditch a class on your first day to find someone gagging up their insides. Now what's your name?"

"I'm not telling you, leave me alone," Jack voice was weak, he was close to tears.

"I can wait here all day and just claim I got lost, you on the other hand... I'm sure people are questioning your absence. You're friends may cover for you but it gets worse as time ticks on," Alex took his weight off the door and stuck his head out the window taking another drag, while the other boy remained silent.

He was prepared to wait, he didn't care for biology anyway. Cigarettes were better. He lit another to show he was serious.

"Why do you even care?" a small voice croaked out.

"I don't like seeing other human beings hurt."

The stall door cracked open, just a bit and Alex knew he had succeed. Jack rubbed his eyes a little before looking through the door. Alex looked like a bad ass, his hair was littered with patches of green, and his denim jacket was basically just patches. He looked lie a photograph of a punk from the 80s or something. All that was missing was the mohawk.

"Want a bum a smoke?" Alex held the pack out to Jack, "It'll make your mouth taste better."

Jack took one tentatively, "I'm Jack."

"Hi, Jack," Alex smiled, handing him a lighter.

Jack really didn't know what he was doing, he just shoved it in his mouth and lit the end. His mother is going to kill him. He sucked a little, took it out and just opened his mouth, letting the smoke flow out.

Alex laughed, "Haven't done this before, huh?"

"Yeah, no," Jack smiled a little.

"Right, wanna tell me why you were vomiting instead of getting an education?"

"Not particularly," Jack tried to smoke again, doing slightly better.

"Does anyone know you're here, doing this?" Alex asked unwilling to just drop it.

"No."

"I guess you wouldn't want them to know, right? See, back when I was a freshman, I was the same. That's how I knew you were't just ill, it sounds different when it's forced. I hid it very well, but people found cracks in my lies. But you... Well you got caught red handed. And I'm not going to stop until I can help you."

Jack surveyed his face for any trace of dishonesty. He found nothing but a spot the other boy had missed while shaving.

Alex smirked a little, "I'll help you if you like it or not."

The boys sat in silence for a few moments before it was time to put out their cigarettes. Jack was slightly proud, he had thought people always choked on their first but he hadn't. He also hadn't embarrassed himself to much in front of the kind, punk-bad-ass.

"Do you need help getting to your next class?" Jack offered.

"It's strange that now you're offering me help," Alex laughed, "But yeah, I'd appreciate it."

Jack nudged him and smiled, snatching Alex's freshly printed timetable.