Caught In A Dream

Chapter Two

Walking through the door, the first thing I notice is that the building smells of lavender. The scent wraps me in an envelope and a calm wave crashes over my body. The butterflies that were circling in my stomach stilled as I steadied my breathing. I decided that my reaction to the calming fragrance was exactly what the office had intended by using it.

I took a moment to observe the scene around me. We had entered through the main doors, appearing in a lobby. There were quite a few doors on the main floor. An open staircase soared up the middle of the wall on the far side of the room.

I read the sign on the wall. It stated that the first floor contained offices. These offices were for adolescent counseling, meeting room, and a set of restrooms. The second floor consisted of a few focused counseling offices. Offices for family counseling, and mental health. The sign names the third floor as the psychiatric level. I swallowed the lump that had jumped in the back of my throat. Staring forward I followed my parents into one of the offices. An office for adolescent counseling.

"Ashlynn, I'm going to grab your paperwork so I can check you in. Why don't you find us a few seats?" said my mother. Then she walked over to the front desk.

I looked around the room for three seats located together. The rectangular room had green walls and the floor was wooden. The office had about twenty, beige cushioned chairs in the waiting room. The chairs were all along the walls. Roughly ten of these chairs were already filled by parents and their children.

There was a young boy, approximately ten years old, sitting with his mother. A teen girl was sitting with both her mother and father, Another teen, a boy, sitting with his father. A father sitting with a very young girl. She looked to be about five or six, and an older woman of about forty was sitting alone.

I walked over to three seats placed next to the magazine rack in the corner. I picked up a magazine and sat in the middle seat. The chair's fabric was rough and scratchy. My fingernails scratched against it until they found a frayed string. I rolled the string in my fingers.

The young boy walked over to the rack. I assumed to find a children's book, but instead, he looked at me and whispered, "What's wrong with you?"

I gasped and jerked back, stunned by his question, and peered around to ensure that no one else had heard him. Everyone else was talking among themselves, reading, or staring at their phones. I hushed, "Nothing, leave me alone."

Luckily he ran back over to his mom. I double-checked to be sure that no one had heard me and noticed the teen boy was smiling. Had he heard what the young boy said? I didn't have time to wonder because my parents were closing in, my mother with a clipboard in hand. When they sat down, my mom was quiet. She began filling out the forms. I turned to talk to my dad about school.

"What classes are you taking this year?" He questioned me.

I responded, "I will be taking Chemistry, American History, Pre-Calculus, and Classic Literature." I'm also taking, "Creative Writing for half the year, next semester I will be taking Art."

He raised his eyebrows, "Well it sounds like you'll be busy. You won't have any time for your friends."

I giggled, "Dad, I will always have time for my friends!"

He smiled, "Yeah, I bet."

My mom was listening in and interrupted, "How is Lis doing? I haven't seen her in a couple of days."

"She's great mom, exhausted and busy. The cross country team started having practices already. She slacked off over the summer. I told her she needed to continue running over the summer. You know Lis, she never worries about anything until the last possible moment." I smiled at her.