Later, I FaceTimed Jasper again.
This time, I couldn't fake it.
As soon as his face appeared on the screen, the dam inside me broke.
"Brittany? B, what's wrong?" he asked urgently.
I broke down, sobbing so hard I couldn't breathe.
He just listened. He didn't try to fix it. He just let me cry.
After what felt like hours, he whispered, "Come visit me. Please. I’ll buy you a ticket. Just come here, okay? Just for a while."
I wiped my nose. "I can’t. I have shoots."
"Screw the shoots, Brittany," he said, his voice firm. "I miss you. I need you. And you need to remember who the hell you are."
His words settled in my chest like a small, flickering flame.
Maybe… maybe there was still a way back.
Maybe I could still find the girl I used to be before the world tore her apart.
---
That night, for the first time in months, I ate a real meal.
I didn't purge.
I didn't cry.
I just ate.
And maybe, just maybe, it was the first step toward saving myself.
Chapter 7
Brittany
The Past – Age 19
When Jasper bought me the ticket to Boston, I almost didn’t go.
I kept telling him I was too busy, that I had shoots lined up, meetings. But he saw right through me — like always.
"You need to get out of L.A., Britt," he said over the phone. "You need to breathe."
So I went.
Two weeks in Cambridge with my big brother.
Two weeks away from the mirrors and cameras and calorie counting.
The moment I landed, Jasper was there waiting at baggage claim, bouncing on the balls of his feet like a little kid.
When he spotted me, he let out a loud whoop that made people turn their heads.
"My baby sister!" he yelled, throwing his arms wide.
