While Xoas struggles expanded, her life still continued. At school, a new girl had been joining Drey, Sage and Xoa for lunch. The girl was three years younger than Xoa and Sage, and she was a first cousin to Sage. The young dark haired girl who went by the name of Ayla, was sweet, but had a habit of revealing her darker side. From the outside, the girl seemed relatively innocent, but as she began to spend more time with the girls, Drey, Sage and Xoa began to understand that she was far from innocent.
Ayla had started spending more and more time with them throughout their lunch time, often coming to join them during breaks and at recess too. Drey didn't care too much about Ayla's presence. She enjoyed being alone with Sage and Xoa, but the extra company only made the school mealtimes more enjoyable.
Soon, Ayla was a firm member in the friendship group. The four girls began to build a stronger trust between each other. Despite this however Xoa could not bring herself to tell Ayla about her eating disorder as she had noticed some similar traits in the younger girl.
Ayla would often skip recess and on some days she would skip lunch too.
A silent fear began to grow inside Xoa. Was Ayla going through the same as she was? She knew she couldnt let this go.
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