21. The Boy in the Corner

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Edit/Rewritten: May 20, 2021

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Logan's POV

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Chapter Twenty-One: The Boy in the Corner

"Did everything go well?"

The question isn't unexpected, but I still lurch back in the comfortable couch to show otherwise. "Yes, we've decided to be. . .more truthful with each other."

"Do you think that will help you both?"

"Yeah," I snort. "We hid everything with lies. So this is the next most logical step."

Alondra smiles, a wry, thin smile. "I'm glad to hear that, Logan. We will be moving onto the topic of your father, are you alright with that?" I grunt as a response, nodding. As much as I wanted to avoid talking about the man that brought us here, both me and my brother had already decided to help in whatever way possible. She starts, "Describe your father to me."

There was no need to think about a response, "He was a good guy when I was young, made sure to play with me and my brother, didn't yell even when he got drunk, wasn't aggressive at all. All that lovely stuff. It wasn't until my first grade where everything changed, I was six - I think. I don't really remember the specifics, I just remember coming home and hearing all kinds of yelling. From my mom, my dad, and Kyle - who had been placed in his playpen and was just wailing." I sink into the cushion, frowning. "I don't. . .I mean, I think I know what caused it, but I'm not too sure."

The therapist hums in encouragement, "I think that was when dad found out that mom was cheating on him."

"That must have introduced a big change in your life. How did that affect your life?"

"Well, for one, we hardly saw our mom from that point on. I didn't find out she was having an affair until I entered high school, so all throughout elementary and middle school I just thought she was at work. That's what we were told. Mm, my dad's behavior obviously changed as well. More aggressive, new outbursts and he seemed to hate me and my brother."

She hummed in front of me, wrist flicking against her lap. "Can you elaborate on that last bit for me?"

I hum, tilting my head back to rest my head against the back of the seat. "It's hard to explain, he just seemed more distant. But because our mom never took us with her, he always had to deal with us. It was a lose-lose situation, so whenever he got drunk he'd yell profanities at us. Call us useless, worthless, and throw things at us. It wasn't until me and Kyle were in high school that those acts started escalating to real fights." 

My eyes swing over to the door that divides me and the therapist from Tripp and my brother. Alondra notices, eyes flickering down to my hands that are circling around my wrist, not inflicting any damage but applying pressure. "Would you like me to call one of them in?"

A sharp exhale, "No, I'm fine. Thank you."

"Then let us continue," Alondra says, "Let me know if, at any time, you need me to stop."

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"Kai," I growled out, as threatening as possible. "You've got to be kidding me, this is why you got such a bad score last time! There is no way you don't know who this is."

"I told you-" Kai began, sitting across from me on the living room carpeted floor. Pillows under our bums and our textbooks and notebooks open in front of us on the wooden table. Kyle's voice traveled lightly through the hallways, often laughing as he talked with his boyfriend in the guest room. And Tripp's eyes land on us every once in a while from his own corner of the table, "I did not fail! Those were tears of joy! And I'm sorry I don't know who Plato is!"

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