Jane barely had time to slip out of her robe and into a pair of pajama pants and tank top before there was a knock at the door. Though she was startled by the noise, it was no surprise that it was Sydney on the other end. Jane had a reputation for being an airhead but she was well aware that disappearing from a spa day at her own house was going to warrant some type of negative reaction from the matriarch of the friend group. Though Jane had no desire to see or speak with Sydney, not answering wasn't even an option. Like herself, she knew that Sydney wasn't the type of person to settle with not getting what she wanted and so with a roll of her eyes and an internal groan (which she only felt safe doing behind the closed door), she got up from her bed and pulled the once-locked door open. "I don't feel well. Can you please take Tori to your house and we can do something tomorrow?" She remained in the space between the cracked door and her wall, hoping that by not allowing Sydney entry, the conversation would end faster.
"No, I cannot take Tori to my house. What's wrong with you?" Sydney demanded, pushing the door until there was enough space to get past her friend. She wanted to be gentle with Jane now because she knew that she had been fairly insensitive over the past few days, but it was hard. Part of Sydney wished that she had never found out about Jane's illness because then there was no guilt involved with not acknowledging it or having to worry about her. "And do not insult me by giving me your lame excuses, Jane. You have to talk to me about what's going on with you. We're supposed to be best friends and it's really not fair for you to leave me in the dark about something like this." Guilting Jane into sharing her problems definitely wasn't the best way to go about it, but again, Sydney struggled with how to address other people's problems. She was so used to being completely about herself, and having someone who she truly cared about dealing with an issue so major left her feeling uneasy and uncomfortable. Over the summer, it had been comforting knowing that Sienna was in this with her, but now she was on her own and arguably being the least compassionate friend, it was a difficult situation for her.
Jane gave up trying to keep Sydney out of her room when the blonde pushed on the door. It would have been pointless with Sydney being as determined as she was. However, Jane was less receptive to the idea of talking to her than she was to letting her in. With most issues, Jane was an open book. She was dramatic and emotional and holding back her feelings and thoughts wasn't something that she liked nor was good at. This was a whole different type of problem though, and it was something that she didn't want anyone's advice or concern involved in. It wasn't so much that she didn't trust her friends with keeping it a secret, as it was that she didn't trust them from trying to intervene. That spoke to her level of sickness, but even a summer in recovery couldn't keep her from thinking that asking for help was only going to be a bad idea. She didn't want people monitoring her because it would only lead to more problems when she started gaining too much weight and decided that she needed to drop a few pounds. She reassured herself that appearing secretive and shady was worth remaining in control of her body. "I just don't feel good. I'm tired and my head hurts and I have a lot of work to do now that Caroline isn't going to be here to help me. It's not an excuse, I just really don't feel like socializing right now, okay?" She wandered past Sydney and re-situated herself on her bed as a show that she wasn't leaving.
"I'll help you with the school stuff, food's being brought up to fix your headache, and spa days don't have to be for socializing, Jane. Today's will just be about cosmos, and manicures, and back massages. If you don't want to socialize, we won't, but I really don't think it's right to just kick Victoria out. You know the anniversary of her mom's death is next week and it's not like she has any real friends. Let's be nice." Sydney smiled at Jane, hoping to provoke some sort of positive emotion in her despite getting to the point about her not feeling well being related to her not eating. As if on cue, there was a knock on the door and the same woman Sydney had ordered to fetch food stood there with a tray of what was requested. Sydney greeted her with a smile and retrieved the tray before shutting the door again. "See? There's no reason why tonight can't be fun. We'll have a better time than Sienna and all of her new 'friends'."
The only part of Sydney's offer that Jane was willing to accept was the part regarding her school assignments. As bad as it sounded, she didn't really care about Victoria's sad backstory. Anyone losing a parent was sad, but Jane wasn't her friend and she didn't even want to be civil with her. She was detached from Tori's life enough that she didn't care to be sympathetic or compassionate around a time that was probably already emotionally trying on the girl. She knew that she needed to eat soon, but she wanted that to be after everyone had left and for the meal to be something of her choice. She would prepare it or watch it be prepared and know exactly how many calories were included. Though her summer in the rehabilitation facility had helped her quite a bit, she was slowly morphing back into the state where she was paranoid that people were trying to betray her. That her meals would somehow be laced with loads of extra sugar or butter or substance that would magically make her gain ten pounds. She was well aware that it was illogical but there were times when she wanted to believe it enough where she could convince herself it was plausible. Seeing a bowl full of carbs and sugar walk through the door had her going from tired and upset, to a state of panic. She didn't want to prove Sydney right and make it appear that she was actually sick though. Jane frantically tried to search for some excuse to get out of needing to eat something, but she fell short and could only come up with, "I guess you're right. You can go tell Tori that I'll be out in a few minutes if you want." She hoped Sydney would agree so that she could dispose of the snacks as quickly and discretely as possible. She shifted back on her bed as she waited and hoped that Sydney would leave, and managed to get in another quick text to Piper.
To: Piper
okay????????????????????