“I know,” she whispered, shaken by the barely concealed anger and fear in his voice.
“Then here’s the deal,” he said, his gaze not wavering. “Either you get help for this right now or I’ll be on your case morning, noon and night until you do.”
Tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks. “It matters that much to you?”
“You matter that much. Not just to me, but to a lot of people.”
She regarded him incredulously. “But I’m so fat,” she whispered. “I don’t know how you can even stand to look at me.”
Ty stared at her in shocked disbelief. “Are you crazy?” He jumped up, yanked open a bedside drawer and fumbled around until he found a compact. “Look at yourself,” he demanded, holding up the tiny mirror. “Take a good, hard look, Annie. You used to be beautiful, but now you look like a skeleton.”
Annie couldn’t bear to look in the mirror. She began to cry in earnest at the harsh words.
Ty tossed the compact back in the drawer, then took her hand in his. “I want the old Annie back. I want to see your dimples again. I want to hear you laugh again. I want all of us to go out for pizza and burgers and not see you pushing the food around on your plate and only pretending to eat it.”
Annie clung to his hand, stunned that any of this mattered to him. “I don’t know if I can be that way again,” she told him.
“I think you can be,” he said with confidence. “I’ll bet the shrink does, too, or she wouldn’t be wasting her time. But you have to want it, Annie. You have to want it enough to fight for it. I know all about how you’re stonewalling the doctor right now. My mom was telling Cal about it last night at dinner. You act like none of this is a big deal, but it is.”
Annie closed her eyes so she wouldn’t have to see his disappointment. Having Ty come down on her like this had caught her totally by surprise. She wished she could tell him what he wanted to hear. Did he think she wanted to die?
“Hey,” he said, squeezing her hand. “Look at me.” He waited patiently until she finally relented and met his gaze. “I know you’re scared. And I know what the teacher said in health class about anorexia being some kind of weird control thing.” He smiled at her. “So here’s how I see it. If you were strong enough to control your eating that way, then you’re strong enough to turn things around. You just have to want it.”
His smile spread. “And until you want it enough for yourself, consider me your conscience. I’m going to be on your case like white on rice.”
Annie wasn’t sure she could see a downside to that, but she knew there was one. Having Ty underfoot every time she turned around was like a dream come true. Knowing he was there for one reason only, to see to it that she ate, well, that wasn’t so terrific. In fact, it was kinda humiliating.
“I can do this on my own,” she told him, not wanting him to know how scared she was that she couldn’t.
He nodded. “I believe that. Just the same, I think I’ll keep a close eye on you until all the votes are counted.”
“Did your mom send you over here?” Annie asked.
He blinked at the question. “No, why?”
“My mom?”
He shook his head.
Annie lay back against the pillows, pleased that he’d done this completely on his own. Maybe he did care about her, at least a little. Not like he was in love with her or anything, but this was the start she’d always longed for.
For the first time since her life had started spiraling out of control, she felt motivated to fix it. Maybe the next time Dr. McDaniels came by she’d have something to say to her.
* * *
Ronnie had been just down the hall when he’d seen Ty slip into Annie’s room. Given the time of day, it was pretty clear the kid had cut classes to come. His reason for doing that must have been pretty important.
Ronnie had waited a good, long time before wandering down the hall and hanging around outside the door. He’d caught only snatches of what Ty had said to Annie and almost none of her replies, but he’d heard enough to feel a surge of admiration for Ty.
He was still standing there when Ty finally emerged from the room.
“Ronnie,” Ty said, looking vaguely guilty. “I didn’t know you were around.”
“Just got here,” Ronnie fibbed. “I appreciate you coming by to spend some time with Annie.”
“I’ve been worried about her,” the teen said with a shrug.
“Me, too.” Ronnie debated saying more, then decided the boy needed to know how grateful he was for some of the things he’d said to Annie, hard truths that the rest of them had been tiptoeing around in some ways. “Look, Ty, I wasn’t trying to eavesdrop, but I heard a little bit of what you said in there. I think you may have gotten through to her in a way none of the rest of us have been able to do. I can’t tell you how grateful I am.”
Ty stood a little taller. “I meant every word,” he said.
“I know you did. That’s why I’m so impressed. You’ve turned into a very mature young man.”
Ty grinned sheepishly. “I’m not so sure my mom’s going to agree with that when she finds out I skipped school to come by here.”
Ronnie draped an arm over his shoulder. “Let me deal with your mom.”
Ty regarded him with relief. “My stepdad, too? He’s the baseball coach and he has all these rules about cutting class.”
“I’ll speak to him, too,” Ronnie
