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Tales Out Of The
Psych Office, A
Young Adult Novel
© 2011 Shirley Ann Howard
“Next Tuesday
at 3:30?”
“Sure,” Melissa said, biting the
last bit of nail on her index finger.
Kathy handed her the small, white
appointment card and opened the door. “Have a good week. And practice avoiding
the ‘all or nothing’ negative thinking we’ve been discussing.”
“Yeah.” Melissa’s mouth twisted a
little, and even tried to form a curve, but not anything close to what could be
called a smile.
She walked past the waiting room
and—froze—for just a split second, when she recognized a boy from her English
class. Without turning her head, she quickened her step and left the office.
He was reading a magazine… I don’t think he saw me.
She sloshed through light slush
to the closest bus stop on Mass Ave. Store windows were sprayed with snow and
draped with gold garlands. Music invited folks to sing about Santa, but Melissa
didn’t sing or look at displays. She felt none of the holiday merriment they tried
to induce.
She leaned against a light post
and looked down the busy
How’s it possible not to be negative about missing a bus?
An older man carrying a shopping
bag soon joined her and stood a few feet back on the sidewalk. Melissa turned
away. His half-gray and scraggly beard reminded her of Jim, her mother’s
live-in boyfriend.
Hanging here, waiting for a bus, at least means I’m not home.
Ha! She laughed at the irony. I hope I remember to ask Kathy next week if
that’s the right way to think.
Kathy was a licensed mental
health counselor and Melissa King had been seeing her for a month now, ever
since the school nurse noticed cuts on Melissa’s wrists. They hadn’t been deep
cuts, just nicks she’d made with dull scissors, and Melissa had tried to deny
it. She said her neighbor’s cat had done it.
But the nurse insisted on making
an issue of it, first with the school psychologist and then with Melissa’s
mother, and before you knew it, Melissa was required to get screened by a
professional.
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