“She was my best friend.”
“Was?” I questioned. Lexi sadly nodded her head.
She turned to me and asked, “Did Levi ever tell you what happens at this center, Elsie?”
I shook my head. “He said it was your story to tell. He said that I should hear it from you. That you’d explain what you wanted my help with.”
Lexi walked forward and waved for me to follow. “Come on, girly, let me show you what happens here.” She paused and looked behind to me. I stopped when I saw the seriousness on her face. “Just prepare yourself, sweetie. Some of the girls—and the few boys—here, are in a real bad place.”
Apprehension filled me. I followed Lexi into the house with a growing sense of trepidation. As we entered the house, I heard the low sounds of voices filling the vast halls.
“It’s huge,” I said. Lexi nodded her head.
“It bigger round back, we’ve got a summerhouse and an extra, smaller house in the gardens. That’s our newest center, the one where I’m hoping you can help me.”
“How… how could I possibly help?” I asked nervously.
Lexi opened the door to what looked like her office. As she shut the door, she pointed to a couch. I sat down and Lexi sat beside me. “Because I think you might have been, or perhaps are still dealing, with some of the issues we are tackling here. And there’s a girl, she’s sweet and…” Lexi stopped talking clearly seeing my reaction.
My heart fired off and I panicked. Lexi gripped my hand, and her thumb passed over the metal cuffs I always wore around my wrists. Tears immediately sprung to my eyes. “Lexi,” I whispered, unable to cope talking about that time, about those girls. About any of it. I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t face it.
“I know, sweetie,” she said and hugged me to her side. She was quiet while I pulled myself together, then she confided, “You know, it’s taken me a real long time to be able to do this.”
I knew I was frowning again, but I didn’t understand what she meant. “This,” Lexi said and squeezed me to her side.
She let go and I asked, “Touch someone?”
Lexi nodded. “Kinda, more them touching me. Or hugging, mainly.”
“Why?” I asked. Lexi got to her feet. After retrieving a photo frame from her desk, she brought it back for me to see. I stared down at the two young girls in the picture. The first thing I noticed was how incredibly thin they both were, too thin, dangerously so… then I realized one of those girls was a young Lexi.
My head snapped up to witness Lexi watching me. I swallowed hard, too afraid to say what I thought to be truth. But she beat me to it when she said, “I was anorexic, Elsie. Severely.” She shook her head. “Or a better way to put it is that I’m better now, I’m coping now… but it’s still hard.” Lexi took the photo frame and ran her finger over the other girl’s face. “Daisy was my best friend. I met her when I was getting treatment for anorexia.” Lexi sighed and explained, “She died, her heart failed due to her lack of weight.” She blinked, then blinked again, and added, “I almost died too.” She fixed her gaze on mine. “And I would have, if it wasn’t for my friends.” A watery smile spread on her lips. “If it wasn’t for Austin, showing me that I was worthy of love,” she huffed and placed her hand over her heart, “that I was worthy of loving myself for exactly who I was.”
“Lexi,” I whispered, my heart filling with sympathy. She laughed and I smiled, seeing the happiness on her face. Then it dropped. “Austin and Levi were living in real hard times then, Elsie. They were both caring for their sick mamma,” she paused, then added, “they were both in a gang, Axel’s gang, and then I came along and almost ruined it all for them. I witnessed some things they didn’t want me to see.”
My eyes were wide as I hung on every word.
“Anyway, it was Austin who, even though I was spiraling to darkness, brought me out of it despite what he was going through.” Lexi shrugged. “Turned out he needed me too. Because he was spiraling too, they all were.”