You Found Me! (A spooky month short story)

Prologue

A young boy, about the age of 15, opens a door slowly. The door leads into a small, but comfortable room. He quickly closes it and stiffly shuffles into it. He walks to the center of the room where two chairs are facing each other. He stands behind the one closest to him, the empty chair. In the chair across from it, a small woman, about the age of 30, sits comfortably and she is wearing an oversized turtleneck sweater. She is also wearing a pair of light-colored jeans and a set of light pink converse, with a clipboard bouncing lightly on her lap. The boy stares at his feet, not moving. "Well, why don't you make yourself comfortable. Take a seat!" says the woman, studying the boy. He quickly sits down and continues to stare at his feet. After a few moments of silence, she finally says, "Well, how about we start with an introduction. I'm Dr. Haruin, but you can call me Emily. I'm going to be your new therapist!" She smiles at him, waiting for him to react. He doesn't. She stares at him, as though trying to decide where to dissect him. "Well, it says here your name is..." She pauses and takes a look at her clipboard, "Simon?" He quietly mutters "I go by Skid..." and continues staring at his feet. "Skid? What a nice name. So Skid... Where do you want to start?" She asks and waits for him to respond. Yet again he says nothing. "Well, how about we talk about the fight you had recently? I heard you have also been having a lot of panic attacks?" She says, trying to get him to say something. He finally looks up, a dull, empty look in his eyes. "He didn't deserve it." The therapist, Emily, lets out a quick sigh of relief. "Who didn't deserve what? Can you tell me what happened?" He doesn't say anything again, and she sighs. "Here. This might help. You can keep one if you want." She pulls out a small, clear, plastic bucket. Inside are brain teasers, little containers of slime, kinetic sand, and other fidget toys. Skid opens his mouth to object, then gratefully takes a stretchy string. He quickly ties and unties it multiple times. Then he makes shapes with it, all within seconds of getting it. He is expressionless but the way he quickly ties and unties the string over and over makes it clear he is stressed. Emily's expression softens and she says, "How about we start from the beginning? From the very start. We can go over that and then maybe I can help you feel better in school and figure out how to fix your panic attacks." Skid perks his head up but says nothing. Emily smiles and says "What do you think of that?" He slowly nods and takes a shaky breath. "So... From the very beginning, or just when I was little?" "The very beginning." Skid looks hesitantly at Emily, then opens his mouth and begins to speak.