"None of your business," I say. Indeed, my voice sounds so weak.
Luke's jaw tightens as he strides toward me, and my instinct to protect myself makes me retreat so my back knocks the headboard behind me.
I gulp as he reaches my bed. He glances at my food tray lying on my nightstand and glares at me.
"Eat," he commands with implacable authority.
I shake my head, refusing his idea, looking away from him. "I don't have any appetite." I'm saying the truth.
"Stop being unreasonable and just fucking eat, Cassie," he says. His harsh tone makes me snap my head up toward him.
I shoot him the same glare. "I don't want to. It's not like I'm going to die in your house. Just leave me alone."
He doesn't even know anything about me, and now he's saying that I'm being unreasonable? He doesn't even know my struggles, my miseries.
"Just eat the damn food," he snaps.
I wonder why he's so mad. But then I get the idea. He has to take care of another child in this house, aside from Aiden. Even I myself believe that Aiden is a better child. Better behaviour and better looks, of course. Gosh, he's an angel, while I look nothingless than a corpse now. I remember how pale I looked when I stared into the mirror today.
"Just leave me alone," I insist.
It's surprising that although I feel like all the energy has been drained out of my body, I still can talk back to him. Luke's face hardens before he grabs the food tray. However, before he can shove it to me, I feel extreme nausea attack me again.
I gag, covering my mouth in my hands, and rush toward the bathroom. I can feel Luke following suit, and I hate that he can see this, making me even more embarrassed.
Again, I throw up into the sink. There's nothing left from my insides to throw up—it's just fluid. Luke holds my arm, his other hand on my back as I cough.
I want to scream and yell at him to just leave. "Don't," I rasp between my nonstop coughs. "It's gross."
Why does he have to be here when I throw up again? Starving myself has made my nausea even worse. This is the third time that I’ve thrown up today.
But Luke doesn't listen to me and pats my back instead. I turn on the water and wipe my mouth. Luke helps me walk back into my room and makes me sit on my bed.
"Goddammit, Cassie, you have to eat. I won't tolerate this." His once angered voice now softens, shaking. "Why the fuck did you starve yourself?" His piercing hazel eyes bore into mine, forcing me to not tell him a single lie.
"It's..." I falter, breaking our eye contact. "It's just the way I punish myself," I whisper, feeling ashamed.
Luke holds my shoulders gently to make me look at him again, and I see the worry in his eyes.
"You will not do it again,” he says. “What kind of nonsense caused you to have that stupid idea? Did you just believe some shit?"
Yes, I want to answer him that. Yes, I did believe what Morgan and my haters said on social media. But no sound leaves my mouth,and I guess that my silence makes him realize that it's true.
His jaw tightens, and for a split second, pain flashes in his eyes. He pulls away and takes the plate from the tray. "Eat," he says again before his eyes soften. “Do you want me to feed you?”
I look at the food and then back at his face. I swallow. Does he really want to feed me right now?
My mind begins to consider what he said earlier because this looks beyond ridiculous, and embarrassing.
However, I still don't move an inch, and that’s when he scoops one spoon.
"Stop." I push against the headboard. "Stop. I get it. I will eat."
Without waiting for his response, I snatch the plate from him and begin eating, starting with the garlic bread. I do it so abruptly that I almost choke myself with the food.
Luke sits on my bed and stares at me without blinking, watching my every move as I swallow the food. "Eat slowly. You don't want to upset your stomach," he says in a soft tone.
And I do as he told. Luke doesn't take his eyes off me the entire time I eat, as if he has to make sure that I stick to my words and that I finish my dinner. It feels so uncomfortable.
