Therapy

I ride my bike through town on a hot summer day. Sweat drips down my face and down my back, wetting my whole shirt. I find the therapy building and I park my bike and lock the front wheel of the bike to the rack. I walk into the waiting room to see a bunch of people staring at me. I walked past and started to check myself in. "I'm here for an appointment." "Okay, what's your name?" She said with no emotion. "David Miller." She quickly types then tells me to go sit down. I scan the room for a place to sit to find an empty seat in the corner. I sat down and started scrolling through Instagram.

When I checked my messages, I saw that my friend Erica had texted. "Want to hang out later?" I slowly think about what to text back. "Sure..." As I close out Instagram my therapist calls my name. "David Miller." I jumped up and walked to the back. "Come in and have a seat," she says with a huge grin. I sat down and found that the couch was soft and expensive, it made me feel safe. "How are you, David? Anything new?" She takes out her pen and paper. "I've been good...I've been helping my mom." I look around the room and then at her name tag: Mrs. Hall.

"Have you been getting along with your father?" I didn't want to answer so I kept silent. "It's okay if you don't want to answer, we can return to it." I nod. "How's your summer vacation, is it going well?" There was silence before I answered. "Summer has been good..." Mrs. Hall writes slowly this time then looks up at me with a severe look. "How are you still dealing with Danny's disappearance?" I swallow hard. "Uhh... I'm still hurting." I didn't want to talk about Danny, I didn't want to talk about none of this. 

"Have you made any new friends lately?"

"No..." I looked around the room as she wrote it down.

After she's done writing she pulls out a mirror. "Okay, it's time for an activity." I sat back on the couch. "What do you see in this mirror, David?" She holds the mirror up to my face. When I look into the mirror, I can see my dark black hair, light blue eyes, little hairs on my chin. "I see a boy that has been hurt..." She slowly writes something down. "Okay, that's good...What else." I look down. "A depressed boy that wants to find his brother..." She puts the mirror down and then starts to grab papers.

"Okay, you are making good progress David. Keep up the good work... I have some activities for you to complete this week." I nod. "First, I want you to go to a place you have never been before, join a summer activity, and get along with your father by going to a fun place." She hands me the papers and then stands up to let me out of the room. "I'll see you next week David." I leave the room and out of the building.

I unlocked my bike from the rack and started going to Erica's secret hanging-out spot. I ride my bike through some alleyways and abandoned buildings. I reached a dead-end sign and then turned right through another alleyway. I passed another abandoned building but this one had a roof missing, with broken windows, graffiti, and no doors. I jump off my bike and gently lay my bike on the wall of the building. When I turned around I saw a young girl leaning against the wall with brown hair. She was wearing a tie-dye shirt, jeans, and red Nikes. "About time you made it."

I walk over to Erica. "You know I was busy..." We did our special handshake and then sat on the ground. "With what?" Erica looks directly into my eyes. "I had therapy today..." She smiles. "That's cute." My face cringes up with disgust. Erica giggles and pulls out a pack of cigarettes. She puts one in her mouth and then hands me one. I push it away, "I don't smoke no more." Erica lights her cigarette. "Why? You got a girlfriend or something." "What does that have to do with not smoking a cigarette?" I picked a rock and threw it at a tree. Erica takes another puff and shrugs.

"I just... want to be a better person," I said. Erica is the only friend I've trusted in my personal life, Erica never judged me for my words or actions. "Well as long you're happy, I'm happy." We both smile at each other. "How's your Mom? I asked Erica.

"She's doing okay... still on drugs." Erica takes another puff of her cigarette. "I wish I had a sibling, it's lonely being the only child."

"I am your sibling," I said laughing.

Erica chuckles a little and smirks. I stop laughing, "What was that noise?"

 In the distance, I hear the crackling noise of twigs breaking. "Did you hear that Erica?" We hear it again and again. the crackling turned into footsteps and it got louder and louder.