Happily Unhappy: Season 3

Season 3, Episode 11: I'm Gonna Get You

Lynn stayed up all last night trying to cram for her government test in the morning. On top of that, she had a ecology project to do as well as a paper to write for language arts. Granted, she was given all of this information over a week ago but with all of this Riley stuff happening, she hasn't had time to focus on anything but him. She despises it.
He's everywhere she turns, like a haunting ghost that isn't leaving until they can pass through whatever portal they need to step over to get to where they need to be. Even when Lynn isn't at school, she sees him in the reflection of mirrors and glass at her home. Every time the door opens at Cafe Flow, she thinks it's him walking in. Every day when she drives home from school, she thinks she sees his car a distance behind her, stalking. She's worked so hard to get over this trauma that he brought into her life. Now with his return, she feels like she can't make any progress whatsoever anymore.
"I think I'm going to have to repeat senior year," Lynn tells Honor at school in homeroom, sighing as she looks down at her work. "I'm falling so far behind in my classes, it's not even funny."
"Because of Riley?" Honor guesses.
"Ding-ding-ding."
"I know it's easier said than done to not let him get to you like that but I'm not sure what else to say." Honor's expression fills with sorrow. "I know this is extremely hard for you. I wish there was something I could do."
"Unless you know how to cover up a murder, I don't think there's much you can do," Lynn jokes... only a little bit.
That's another thing she finds herself worrying about. What kind of person does it make her if she fantasized about wanting him dead? What kind of human does that paint her as if she's just as bad of a person as Riley is? He beat her, yes. But she's picturing his rotting corpse six feet under. Is that a sign of bad mental health? Should she start going to therapy again?
"Ms. Torres told us that senior year is going to go by in the blink of an eye," Honor tells her. "Think of it that way. Soon, it'll be winter break, then prom, then graduation. And you'll never have to see Riley again."
"But that's just it," Lynn fiddles with the corner of her spiral bound notebook. "It's going even slower now that he's back. Everyone else is talking about college and their futures and how fast these days are going but I feel like I'm still in the same place I was freshman year."
"Well, I'm here for you." Honor puts her hand on top of Lynn's. "And if that means murdering Riley for you, then so be it. I already lied about being raped, I might as well add murder onto that list, too."
This is the first time Lynn has even laughed a little bit since her life was turned upside down again. And knowing Honor, she probably isn't even kidding.

River knocks on the opened door of Ms. Torres' office that same day at school with his laptop at his side.
"River." Ms. Torres looks up from her computer. "Come on in."
"I was hoping you could help me with my college essay, if you have a minute." River steps inside of the office and sits down on one of the chairs facing her desk.
She smiles. "I'd be happy to help."
River is relieved. He's been going back and forth on this for quite some time now. He's super confident in his website, allowing students to anonymously write letters to get out their emotions without the letters being delivered to whomever they want to write to. The essay about this has to be at least eight pages long but there's only so much he can hide from it. The entire point of creating the site was to give him some writing material, to show how he views writing as more than just words on a screen or paper. Every single word is an emotion, that's the message he's trying to get across. But he isn't sure where the boundary line is to include other peoples stories into his paper.
"As you know, I created a site that allows people's emotions to exposed to themselves and only them," he explains. "And even though I have to write a college essay about all of this, I don't know how to put enough in it so that it doesn't... expose anyone on things they don't want exposed."
"But I thought all of the writers were anonymous," Ms. Torres says.
"They are," he replies. "But in trauma club, we talk a lot about not telling other people about each other's traumas in whatnot. Now that I've read the letters these people wrote, I'm now wondering if including their personal entries is a good idea or not."
"If it's teaching you something, then I say to include as much as possible without telling their full stories," she suggests. "Every person's trauma is one of the most personal things that could happen to them. How would you feel if someone took your story about dying and put it in there to gain a college acceptance from it?"
"Not so good," he admits.
"So select some of the entries that teach you something the most," she goes on. "And if it were me, I would maybe blend a few of them together."
River's eyebrow furrows. "But then it throws off their entire experience."
"No, their experience is still there, but if it's linked to another one similar to it, it still respects the writer," Ms. Torres points out. "Just as long as you're getting the proper message across."
River thinks about it. That might be a little more difficult than he thought it would be. He knows it's able to work, though. He could browse through the site to find the most teachable ones. But he doesn't want to go about it in a way that tarnishes the writer's own experience and story.
"Do you think you could help me out with it?" he asks. "I really wanna do it right."
She nods her head. "Like I said before, I'd be happy to."