The Shrink Program

Chapter 124

Black cat and red robin, dancing. Plus one very uncomfortable passengers.

I felt Apollo tense uncomfortably as he was forced to really focus on the petite girl in his arms. With the stress of the situation and me freaking out on his shoulder to distract him, Apollo had been able to dance smoothly, almost absentmindedly.

Now his movements slowed, became hesitant.

"Robin...." He answered awkwardly, obviously wanting to say more, but it was sort of hard to have a real conversation with the monosyllablis wonder.

"Pale." She murmured softly, her eyes narrowing accusingly at Apollo's completion. The boy squirmed under the scrutiny, obviously embarrassed.

What the heck happened to my sarcastic genius sidekick?

To be honest, Robin was probably the person I knew least of all on the hill. I liked her, and she sort of reminded me of Monica, but we didn't have all that much in common.

She went to classes regularly and was a bit of a loner, preferring to sit quietly and sketch in her free time. We had our moments, where I would try to sit with her as she drew, but I always got distracted and would end up running off. Not that Robin seemed to mind. She was oddly gentle for someone who could kick my ass in five seconds flat.

"He's always pale," I muttered petulantly, completely uncomfortable with being here.

I regretted the words almost instantly, as it caused Robin to set her intense gaze upon me.

If it had been anyone else, I probably would have gotten defensive at the attention. With Robin, it was like being caught in the headlights of an oncoming vehicle. A rocket-powered bulldozer or something.

"You've changed." She murmured to me, her voice soft with sadness.

"What do you mean...?" I asked, instantly wary of what she might say.

"You're smaller."

I blinked. Hard.

"....Robin, I'm only saying this because I care...You. Need. Help...Serious help. Like a doctor, a psychiatrist, anyone. You just need someone to screw your head straight."

"No." She whispered, and I nearly argued before she smiled sadly at me.

"Your presence. You used to fill the room, Maddison. So open and brash, impossible not to see. It drew people to you." She explained, and the sheer amount of words coming out of her mouth had my jaw dropping.

"And now, you have become small."

And it was simple. Blunt.

And near devastating.

Swallowing tightly, I turned my face away from the soft gaze that saw things far too clearly.

"Maybe it's just that we're in a bigger room now," I muttered sourly. Apollo was listening so hard that I could practically feel it on my skin.

"I was worried." She confessed, focusing her gaze on the both of us.

"You shined too brightly, attracting others with your energy, but heedlessly blinding everyone around you, including yourself. But now, I'm sure." She pulled back gently, breaking Apollo lose hold on her. "You will become a much softer, more approachable light." She smiled warmly.

"I have more faith in you. Now that I know, you're not trying to light up the room alone anymore."

With that, Robin left us, leaving Apollo to continue the dance with a new partner. Wordlessly, Apollo backed out from the dance floor, and the two of us hid in the shadow of the wall, trying to recover what brain cells hadn't been fried.

"That bitch....." I whispered into the stunned silence.

"Hey!" Apollo snarled, breaking out of his daze to send me an utterly pissed off look."How dare you talk about my fiancée like that?"

"Not Robin, you idiot!" I hissed back at him in outrage. "Karma!"

"Karma?" He questioned flatly as he began to weave his way around the dance floor.

Yea. Cause I've been planning my ultimate revenge on you for ages, just to have it turn out that Karma got here first!"

I sighed dramatically.

"I guess it will help me sleep at night, though. Knowing that you are destined to marry the scariest woman in the universe."

"Oh, haha. I'd say that's debatable. So long as you manage to graduate from being a munchkin anyway."

Smirking at Apollo's disgusted grimace, I did my best not to dwell on what Robin had said.

Not because it made me feel like an oblivious idiot... Well, not just because.

What really unnerved me was how relieved I felt.

If Robin was trying to encourage me... Surely there must be some hope left for me.