An hour later, the three of us meet up again at the sports field, since Nina wants to run too. She comes along with us. She and Amy start running together, keeping each other company, while I sit on the steps watching over their bags.
After about fifteen minutes, the workout wraps up. The two of them head back to the dorm together. Amy notices Nina keeps following her and asks, looking utterly exhausted, "Wait, why are you following me? To collect your snacks?"
"Of course. Did you forget what I told you this morning? Ethan told me to come collect your snacks."
Oh god, this is way too ruthless. Not even the snacks in my dorm room are safe.
Amy shakes her head and stubbornly says, "I don't have any snacks. All my snacks were in the classroom, and you already took every single one."
Nina glances at her and says with a knowing smile, "Cut the excuses. Nobody's going to believe that. Come on, let's go. Stop stalling. I'm in a hurry to get back and play video games."
With that, she pushes Amy along back toward the dorm. Once they're back in the dorm, they find her roommate isn't there. Nina pulls open Amy's drawer and checks the bookshelf and every other spot where things might be stashed. Sure enough, there are some snacks hidden away. Nina hums a tune, feeling incredibly pleased with herself.
Amy thinks to herself, these snacks are my emotional support. And those boxes of chocolate too. My dad brought those back from overseas for me. You'd think, looking that handsome and that pretty, but the two of them are total thieves. Absolute thieves.
Nina grabs a plastic bag, tosses everything in without much care, then looks at Amy happily and says, "All set. I'm heading out now. Bye."
With that, she saunters off with her spoils, completely unbothered. Amy stares mournfully at her retreating figure, muttering, "You're all a bunch of demons. What kind of people are you two? Honestly."
Not long after, her roommate Jessica comes back with Mia trailing behind her. The moment Mia sees Amy, her eyes light up. "Hey, Amy, could you share Ethan's contact info with me? Someone saw you two at the sports field this afternoon. I want to work out with you guys too. Is that okay?"
Amy thinks to herself, she really is persistent. Still hasn't given up on this. Even though I just went through a whole day of Ethan's brutal training, and some of my rose-tinted view of him has cracked a bit, I still don't want to act as the go-between for them. I don't want Mia and Ethan to get to know each other.
So she says, "Why are you asking me? Go ask him yourself."
Mia won't let it go and says, "Come on, if you just put in a word for me, isn't that the same thing? I just want to make a friend. By the way, since you've been up close with him today, what's he like as a person? Is he really gentle and kind?"
Amy doesn't want to talk about someone behind their back, so she picks up her towel and changes the subject. "He's all right, I guess. I'm going to go take a shower."
Watching Amy's retreating figure, Mia stomps her foot in frustration. Ugh. This is so annoying. Seriously annoying. She really doesn't know what's good for her. So what if she got to know Ethan before I did? What's there to be so smug about? Amy, if you won't introduce me, I've got my own way of finding out.
That night, Amy lies on her bed and notices Ethan has sent her money again. This time, an even larger amount.
I send a message. "Tomorrow, I get to try the chocolate from Germany. Also, just a heads up. While lying in bed, massage your arms and legs a bit. You'll probably be sore tomorrow."
Amy replies, full of resentment. "Do not disturb. Already deceased."
I reply again. "Keep it up tomorrow. You did great today."
Seeing this message, the corners of Amy's mouth curl up without her even meaning to. She thinks back to her previous attempts at weight loss. Before, she never managed more than a week at most, and it was always unbearably miserable. Her mom once tried supervising her strictly, but as time went on, she just got more and more irritable. And now she has no idea how long she'll be able to keep this up. She just hopes she can stick with it this time.
With these hazy thoughts drifting through her mind, Amy falls asleep.
Waking up the next day, just as expected, her arms and legs are sore all over. When she gets out of bed, she nearly face-plants right onto the floor. Amy drags herself miserably to class. She thinks to herself, I hate weight loss. Whoever invented weight loss, this is so hateful. Suddenly, being how I am now doesn't seem so bad. I really don't want to lose weight anymore.
Right as she's feeling down, her phone suddenly lights up. Amy checks her phone and sees a message from Ethan. "Day two. No giving up yet. No matter how hard it is, you still need to keep exercising."
Amy instantly feels like a deflated balloon. Head down, she slowly shuffles her way forward. What else can I do? I guess I'll just push through this. Giving up on just the second day, that would be embarrassing if word got out. I don't want Ethan to look down on me.