Definition of Normal; DISCONTINUED

Chapter 23

We were driving down a dirt road, the sunlight peaking through the trees. I looked out the window, and the scenery was beautiful. The beach was right in front of the building. The sand seemed to have been untouched. We turned suddenly jerking my attention away from the beach, also causing me to hit my shoulder on the door. The driver slowed, stoping in front of to gates that had been locked. He clicked a buzzer and the gates opened slowly. A total of four people were standing behind the gates. The driver got out and opened my door, pressing the button that lowered the ramp. I cautiously rolled down it and looked at the people. I didn't want to be there anymore.

"Hello, my dear. You must be Jasmine, correct?" I nodded my head.

"I'm Tabitha. I'm, I guess you could say, the owner of the center," she turned her attention to the four others standing next to her, "and these are the staff. This is John, the cook," she pointed to a tall man with a arm full of tattoos, "this is Katherine, the secretary," she waved at me, and smiled way too big, "and this is Sam, the counselor in training." Sam looked around my age, while the others looked around twenty five to thirty.

"Hi." I mumbled quietly. I quickly became self conscious with everyone staring at me.

"Shall we?" Sam said.

"Sam will be showing you around." Tabitha said.

"Oh and I'll need your phone." She said stretching out her hand.

"Um why?" I asked.

"Rules. Give." I reached into my pocket and grabbed my phone. I placed it in her hand and followed Sam inside.

"So, how old are you anyway?" Sam asked me as soon as we entered the building.

"Sixteen. What about you?"

"Wait, your sixteen, and your in rehab for abusing alcohol?" He replied.

"Uh, yeah. Is that a problem?" I asked.

"Nothing's ever normal around here." Sam mumbled.

"Excuse me?" I said. I was starting to get annoyed by is snide comments.

"No, I mean, the alcohol abusers we usually get are like fifty year old men. Not cute sixteen year old girls." He replied. "I mean, you are sixteen and uh-yeah."

Heat began to rush to my face.

"Yeah, how bout you just give me the tour."

"Sounds good."

~

"And here's where you will be staying." The room was plain, white walls, a dresser and a bed. I wheeled in, and looked around.

"You know, you never answered my question." I said, raising my eyes to meet his.

"What question?" James asked.

"How old are you?" I asked again.

James chuckled. "I'm seventeen. Now, I'll let you get settled in."

"Hmm. Seventeen? Isn't that a little young to be a counselor?" I asked.

"It's volunteer work, Jasmine." Sam sighed.

"Oh, so we're on a first name basis?" I smirked.

"Okay, Sam. I need to settle in." I waved my hand to dismiss him. He laughed and shut the door.

Well, this is going to be interesting.

~

After settling in, I found a note taped to my door. I ripped it off and read through it quickly. I have to meet Sam for a counseling session at 3:30 in his office. The kid is seventeen, what could he possibly understand about what is going on in other peoples lives. Isn't he, I don't know, supposed to be out partying and getting drunk himself?

It's 3:25, so I guess I should go.

The entire time I was making my way towards his office, I was debating on weather or not to turn around and pretend I didn't see his note. But I thought, fuck it, let's just get it over with. I knocked three times and he let me in. His messy blonde hair and baby blue eyes suited him well.

"Hi." I mumbled.

"Hey. Come in." He opened the door a little wider and I made my way through.

Blink 182 and We The Kings posters took up the space on the walls. He must of caught me looking at them because he asked, "You like their music?" He asked. I honestly had never heard of it.

"Yeah, they're great." I lied. He probably sensed the hesitation in my voice, but oops. Oh well.

"Okay, so shall we get started?" Sam said. I immediately got annoyed by how much authority his voice had.

"Okay, look. Act seventeen, not thirty-five." I ordered. He looked back at my with the weirdest look.

"Uh okay. So what wrong with you? How does a sixteen year old girl fall off the edge so easily? Did you not have enough common sense to control yourself?" Sam slouched, crossing his arms. I looked at him with an approving look on my face.

"Okay, do you want me to tell you my life story?" I asked

"Yeah, I kinda do." I rolled my eyes, knowing he was just trying to be cool. No one had ever cared about me, why start now? Sam got up and fell onto the beanbag next to me.

"Really, I do."

That took me by surprise. This boy had something about him that drew me towards him, and I could feel in my gut that I could trust him.

I told him everything. And I mean everything. About my mom, dad, Vicki, Josh, Parker, Talia, Dr. Basil, everything. It felt good in a way to talk about it. When I finished talking, I caught Sam staring at me. His blue eyes twinkled, darting back and forth. My blue eyes were a dull blue, and they weren't very pretty to look at.

"What are you staring at?" I chuckled.

"Uh, nothing. Your times up." I looked at the clock, it was five thirty. I'd had been talking to him for two hours?!

"Oh." I said kind of disappointed. It was nice to have someone talk to.

"So do I like talk to you everyday?" I asked awkwardly.

"Well, you only get a session once a week. But, you can talk to me whenever you want." Sam said, playing with a lose string on his shirt.

"I'll think about it. Besides I know nothing about you, and your only here once a week, smart one." I replied.

"No, I'm here everyday, from three thirty to seven." He ran his hand through his hair as if he was trying to fix it.

"Okay. I should probably go." I said, not wanting to leave. I could talk to this boy all day.

"Yeah." He got up and opened the door for me, I thanked him and wheeled out, hoping to speak to him tomorrow.

This place might not be so bad after all.

Or so I thought.

A/N

Hey! Thank You so much for 1.1k reads! I really appreciate it! Don't forget to comment and vote if you liked the chapter.

Sorry it took me so long to update, my best friend just moved and I'm sad about it:(

If your interested, I started a new story called Summer. It's a fanfic and I really like it and it would mean the world to me of you read and voted for it.

I love you all you amazing people:)