Chapter 165: Slim (5)
University tuition in the United States was expensive. According to statistics, more than half of students needed student loans to pay for college after enrolling.
Gracie came from an ordinary family, and she was clearly one of those burdened with heavy student debt.
“She used to have a part-time job. The money she used to buy the weight-loss pills was saved from that job. But after joining the cheerleading team, she had to quit because of training, and over time she simply couldn’t afford the powder pills anymore.”
“Didn’t she see the news?”
Some time ago, rival weight-loss drug companies—likely unhappy about SSU taking over their market share—had invested heavily in smear campaigns. Negative reports flooded the news everywhere.
At that time, even people who didn’t care about it at all were constantly exposed to related headlines. Everly couldn’t imagine how a college student who lived on her phone could have missed all of that.
Misha sighed.
“Gracie did see those news reports. She knew that not taking the powder pills on schedule could lead to serious consequences. But she didn’t have the money, and she was too embarrassed to ask anyone else.”
“The scholarship results from her college only came out last week. She’s expected to receive a $3,000 scholarship, and the payout would come a bit later. So she thought she could just delay it—put it off as long as possible, and only figure something out when she really couldn’t endure it anymore.”
In the end, just a few hours past the “three-day limit” stated in the instructions, Gracie suddenly experienced an unbearable, violent abdominal pain during practice.
That pain felt as if a handful of nails had been stuffed into her stomach. With every run and jump, her abdomen jostled up and down, and the sharp nails soaked in stomach acid seemed to stab repeatedly into the fragile inner lining, punching one hole after another.
Because they were still in the middle of practice, Gracie forced herself to endure the pain and continue performing her movements. But as time passed, the stomach pain grew more and more intense. Finally, during a large aerial jump, the intense motion triggered a chain reaction. A wave of overwhelming nausea surged up, and Gracie couldn’t hold it back anymore—she vomited.
After she was taken to the infirmary, the school doctor briefly assessed her condition and suspected gastroenteritis, intending to prescribe medication. However, Gracie couldn’t afford it. She borrowed a single powder pill from another cheerleading girl and took it, and shortly afterward, her symptoms eased significantly.
“I asked Gracie what she planned to do next. She asked me for a loan to get by, saying she would pay me back as soon as her scholarship came through. She’s always been very trustworthy, so I lent it to her. But from what Gracie said, even after receiving the scholarship, she still planned to keep taking the weight-loss medication. I’m a little worried.”
“Is there really a need for her to keep taking it when she’s already so thin?”
“Because Gracie has bulimia, even now, whenever something goes wrong in her life, she still can’t control herself and may binge eat. If she stops the medication, she’s afraid her weight will rebound very quickly… In fact, given the current intensity of cheerleading training, her concern might be unnecessary, but Gracie is genuinely terrified. She suffered a lot because of her weight before and doesn’t dare gamble on that possibility.”
“She’s someone with very strong pride. The fact that she asked me for money means she truly sees me as a friend. And she kept crying—it was really pitiful, so I couldn’t hold out in the end and softened my heart… I did the math: she started taking the white pills last December, and this drug is only effective for six months. Even if she continues taking it, she’ll only be on it until the end of this month anyway. After this round runs out, she won’t be able to afford much more weight-loss medication on her own. By then, if I try to talk her out of it, things should gradually get better, right…”
This was also the reason Misha had borrowed 1,800 USD from Everly: 1,000 dollars to buy a full month’s supply of powder pills for May, and 800 dollars to buy the black pills needed to eliminate the nanorobots. That way, even if Gracie’s college delayed the scholarship payment, the money would still be enough for her to continue the medication until she could stop.
Although Misha’s plan sounded solid, Everly had a faint feeling that, given Gracie’s tendency to get stuck in obsessive thinking, she probably wouldn’t stop there. Instead, once she finished the pills she had on hand, she would likely find ways to get more money and buy a new round of white pills to continue the next course of treatment.
But since Misha was acting out of kindness, Everly didn’t want to dampen her friend’s enthusiasm, so she simply muttered, “Hopefully.”
…
That said, Misha wasn’t bad at choosing friends. Around mid-month, she received Gracie’s repayment. Perhaps feeling a bit embarrassed, Gracie even treated Misha to a meal in private as a way of saying thanks.
During the meal, Misha quietly tried to gauge Gracie’s thoughts and found that she still intended to continue taking the weight-loss medication. She tried to persuade her, but failed. When she returned to the dorm afterward, she felt somewhat defeated.
Fortunately, that feeling didn’t last long.
Misha was very busy. She and Gracie were in completely unrelated majors and rarely had any chance to meet in person. Most of their communication was limited to messaging. On top of that, Misha had many friends, so her attention was quickly pulled elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Everly finally managed, after some difficulty, to finish reading the Latin book.
She took photos of the passages related to the Fountain of Youth and sent them to a translator she had previously found online, arranging to receive the English translation in about half a month.
With her tasks temporarily finished, Everly felt a rare sense of ease.
And just at that moment, another intercollegiate football game was about to be held at the university.
Most Americans love watching football games. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it is the country’s most widely popular national sport. Misha especially enjoyed the sight of boys colliding on the field, drenched in sweat and full of intensity. Since Everly rarely had free time, Misha dragged her along to the stands.
In the first half, the game was evenly matched. The home team and the visiting team were neck and neck in score, and both sides’ fans watched with bated breath. Every touchdown triggered thunderous waves of cheers.
Half an hour later, the first half ended and entered a ten-minute halftime break.
This period was also the exclusive performance time for both teams’ cheerleading squads.
The first to enter the field was the cheerleading team from New Osebuch State University.
More than ten young, attractive girls in matching bright miniskirts, holding pom-poms, ran swiftly into the stadium. They spread out into formation on the field and began to move in perfect synchronization to energetic music.
On one side of the stadium stood a massive electronic screen, a newly installed structure from the previous year. Perhaps to showcase the school’s strong resources in front of visiting teams, the administration had specifically turned on the screen for this game and even hired a professional filming crew to set up a crane-mounted camera outside the field to capture key moments.
The cheerleading performance was also included in the broadcast.
On the outer track, the cameraman skillfully operated the crane rig, first capturing a wide shot of the formation, then zooming in to film each girl individually, projecting their movements onto the big screen.
No one could dislike the sight of young girls smiling brightly, full of energy, confidently dancing and sweating under the spotlight. As the audience watched the broadcast with relaxed smiles, enjoying the rare audiovisual spectacle, the camera suddenly switched to a close-up of a girl standing at the very edge of the formation.
The moment her face appeared on the screen, a wave of commotion erupted from the stands.
“She… she… she’s bleeding…”
Next to Everly, Misha put down her half-eaten chips, her face full of shock.
The girl on the screen—blonde hair, light brown eyes, two freckles near the bridge of her nose, a chin as sharp as a cone tip—was unmistakably Gracie, whom they hadn’t seen in a month.
Like the other team members, she paid close attention to her appearance. Her slender body moved in rhythm with the music, and she maintained a bright, practiced smile.
However, at some point, two streams of nosebleed—one longer, one shorter—began flowing from her nostrils. With every energetic movement, the blood dripped continuously, staining her chin and running downward onto the field.
Yet Gracie seemed completely unaware. She kept smiling brilliantly, shaking the golden pom-poms in sync with the beat.
One beat, two beats, three beats…
Perhaps the scene was too shocking; the cameraman lingered on Gracie for far too long. When he finally realized and attempted to switch to other performers, an even more horrifying image appeared. As the camera pulled back, the frame expanded from her upper body to her full figure.
Only then did people notice that it wasn’t just her nose—there was also a steady stream of blood running down from the inner side of her thighs.
If it were only a nosebleed, it might have been something minor—perhaps an accidental bump, or dryness causing a ruptured nasal membrane. Something concerning, but not necessarily enough to stop the performance. But bleeding from the inner thigh was a far more serious issue.
Was it menstruation? A miscarriage? Or some severe gynecological condition?
The energetic music abruptly cut off, and the broadcast feed was suddenly terminated.
On the field below, the cheerleading coach had already rushed out from the waiting area, leading two school doctors in white coats toward the center of the field.
The dancers, still fully focused, had not noticed anything wrong with Gracie. When the music stopped, they initially assumed it was a technical issue and continued for a couple more beats. Only when they realized something was wrong did they gradually come to a halt.
“What? What happened?”
“Why did they suddenly cut the music?”
“Look, Ms. Britney is bringing the school doctors over—did someone get sick?”
In the center of the field, the girls stood there in confusion. To maintain their team image, they didn’t dare look around. They only lowered their voices, whispering quietly to the teammates beside them.
“Hey, Gracie, the music has stopped. Stop dancing.”
Amid the scattered questions, one voice filled with concern caught some people’s attention.
One girl couldn’t resist and slightly turned her head toward the source of the voice. Just one glance—and she let out a short scream, her legs going weak as she collapsed onto the ground.
“Gra—Gracie… she…” When the surrounding teammates looked at her with confused expressions, the girl trembled and pointed toward the back corner of the formation.
“She’s coughing up blood…”
“What? What’s going on?”
“I don’t know…”
The girls were completely stunned by the sudden development. They stood frozen in place, torn between fear and curiosity, not knowing whether they should turn around.
“Disperse! Everyone disperse!”
At that moment, a sharp shout came from the front of the formation.
Their coach, Ms. Britney, who usually carried herself with an air of elegance and composure, was now running without regard for appearance. In just over ten seconds, she had sprinted from the sideline to the center of the field.
Her usually refined face was twisted in panic, her hands trembling violently as she led two doctors through the cheerleading formation, rushing straight toward Gracie in the corner.
“Gracie, the performance has been stopped. Your condition isn’t right. Don’t force yourself—stop now and come with us to the infirmary!”
While running, Britney shouted anxiously at the girl.
At that point, the other cheerleaders could no longer suppress their curiosity. Following the instructor’s movement, they all turned toward the corner of the formation.
Their eyes widened in unison, each of them wearing the exact same expression of terror—
They saw a frantically dancing figure drenched in blood.