Nodus Tollens

LXIV.

"Inez, I'm fine. Seriously."

"No, I believe you," she hesitated as she stacked up the dirty dishes in the sink. "But if you ever want to talk about something I'm here."

"Mhmm," I hummed, taking another sip of my orange juice.

Thankfully Alexis walked in at that moment, so Inez couldn't continue to really prod me for answers like I knew she was dying to. I picked up my phone and busied myself in answering the string of text messages Jade had sent my way earlier this morning.

Once again she was asking me when I intended on setting our plan for blackmailing Ashleigh in motion. Despite the fact that the message was simply tiny words on a screen I could hear how it screamed with impatience, and I supposed I couldn't blame her. She went through a lot of trouble to dig up what she had on Ashleigh, and while I was certainly appreciative of having such life-ruining material literally in the palm of my hands, it all seemed very petty and insignificant at the moment.

I would get to it, I would, but at the present moment, I didn't have the appetite to scheme.

After placating Jade to the best of my ability I set my phone down and picked up my glass to finish my drink so I could head to school. I noticed Inez had left and Alexis was seated across me quietly eating her breakfast.

As I slowly took a drink, my eyes strayed to the kitchen door wondering how long Inez would be gone. I glanced over at Alexis whose fingers were flying across her the iPad she had propped out in front of her and had the same internal battle with myself I had been having all week.

I was no fan of Alexis. If she was hit by a bus right now I certainly wouldn't shed any tears. I had made it a point to never speak to her unless I was being forced by either Inez or my father, and she had given up trying to have any sort of conversation with me a while ago.

That being said I knew from the very few conversations I had with her that she was in the field of psychology. She studied it for years, was working in it now so it was possible she would have more concrete answers for me about how I should go about carrying around the knowledge Arsen had been sexually assaulted than my google search engine...

"Alexis," I said, my voice hesitant and softer than it had ever been when it was directed to her. She must have thought as much because she practically cracked her neck looking up at me.

Her eyebrows raised and she looked around as if she couldn't believe I was addressing her. I sighed. Maybe this wasn't a good idea.

"Yes?" She asked once she silently confirmed to herself that I was, indeed, talking to her.

"Um...well, you're like a psychology person right?" I asked, shifting uncomfortably in my seat.

"Yes. I'm a...psychology person," she smiled a little. "Psychotherapist to be exact."

"Right," I nodded. "What does a psychotherapist do exactly?"

"Well, to keep it short and sweet I work with and treat people who have emotional problems, people with mental health conditions. I usually see people who have depression, anxiety, stress...," she trailed off thoughtfully. "People who are addicts or have disorders like bipolar or schizophrenia. Things like that."

"Okay," I nodded. "Do you, um, do you work with people who have been sexually abused?"

Alexis's eyebrows furrowed ever so slightly together, but apart from that, her face remained completely straight as she nodded.

"Yes. I do. I do a lot of work with sexual assault survivors."

I nodded once more and lowered my gaze to my plate and picked up a piece of my torn apart muffin. Only a few moments passed before Alexis spoke up again.