Killian had been away in California for two long
years, but now he was back in his hometown of
Nevada. His best friend Bree was about to start
her freshman year of college, and he had
promised to pick her up from her parents' house.
Killian was...
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"Welcome Killian. Go ahead and sit down. I will be right with you," said Dr. Adler, rummaging through her papers on the desk.
As Killian walked over to the black leather armchair by the large window with thin white curtains covering it, he felt a breeze sweep under his nose with a scent of strong flowers from Dr. Adler. Instead of being in group therapy twice a week, he would see Dr. Adler alone a few weeks ahead to talk about his life, which he wasn't looking forward to at all. If it was that easy to solve problems just by talking to someone, he might as well have talked to Tristan, he thought.
"Is it just me or do the others go separately to you too?" Killian asks, studying her casual green blouse that was tucked into the pant line around her waist.
"There are those who find it easier to come to me alone than to speak up in a group. It depends on who you are as a person and what you are comfortable with," she informed him, sitting down in the armchair across from him with a soft smile that accentuated the small wrinkles around her eyes.
"Is this even going to help me? Because I don't feel like this is going to solve my problems sitting here talking to you," Killian said with a hint of annoyance and shrugged.
"It's entirely up to you. I'm not here to solve your problems, but to give you the tools to figure things out for yourself. I can try to guide you, to a certain extent, but you have to do the work yourself Killian," she informed him and that was exactly why he didn't take this sort of thing seriously.
Killian watched as she read his skeptical face and let out a soft scoff.
"Shall we start by talking about how your first week at school has been?"
Killian looked down at his hands and began twirling his rings as he thought about how students had whispered behind his back, stared, and called him a junkie. The worst part was that they had started talking about Bree because she was with him and even though she said she didn't care what they said, he knew deep down it hurt her.
"I've got a lot of catching up to do, so it's been a bit stressful but otherwise it's been going well," he lied, taking a ring off his finger to put it back on.
"You talked on Monday that you feel that students judge you and whisper behind your back. Has it stopped?"
"Not really... They've started talking about Bree just because she's with me," he said followed by a deep exhale and glanced up at her.
"I can see it upsets you and it's not okay in any way. What do you do when you hear them talking about you or Bree? Do you tell them to stop?"
"Then I have to tell half the school to stop talking shit. I don't care if they talk about me, but they damn well don't talk about Bree. She doesn't take drugs; she was never even there at those parties or around those people. She has to suffer because of me! Me!" Killian raised his voice and pointed himself hard at his chest.
