Floating in the Abyss ✔️

Chapter 57

"Ash, honey, wake up." Mum said softly, gently brushing hair out of my face.

"What's happening?" I asked, dazed.

"We're going uniform shopping, remember?"

"Yeah. Now?"

"Well, not right this second." She laughed. "We're taking Austin, Jonah and Sean to school because they have a late start. Remember they were home really late last night?" It'd been a few days since Nana and Grandpa was over for dinner, and my routine was mainly back to normal, with no interruptions.

"Yeah, soccer." I nodded, everything coming back.

"Hop up and get some clothes on. Put on shorts and a t-shirt. It's going to be warm today and they're easy to change in and out of."

I got up and got changed, choosing some loose black and white shorts and a plain black top. I quickly brushed my hair and teeth, then was ready to go.

"You look pretty." Austin told me as he came down the stairs, admiring my outfit.

"Thankyou." I grinned. Hearing other people tell you that you look good makes you feel really happy.

I grabbed my shoes and sat down on the floor to put them on, when mum appeared above me.

"These are for you." She handed me a box. It was kind of heavy, so I sat it down and opened the lid. "Better for this weather." She grinned. They were new shoes, called Birkenstocks. I knew about these shoes since most of the girls at my old school would wear them. I always wanted a pair but of course, could never get them.

"Thankyou!" I squealed, jumping up to hug her.

"You're welcome, honey." She kissed my forehead. "Can you race upstairs and grab Jonah for me? Austin's already in the car."

I ran up the stairs, being careful not to crease or damage my new shoes and tried to work out which one was Jonah's.

"Jonah?" I called quietly.

"What?" He snapped back. I got a little nervous.

"Mum is waiting for you in the car." There was an inaudible string of mumbles before he came out of a room in the back left.

"Sorry. Just tired." He shook his head, upon noticing my tense manor.

"Did you win last night?" I asked, trying to make a conversation during the short walk from his bedroom to the car.

"Yeah, just. Close game." That was the end of our first conversation.

We drove them to school, picking up Sean on the way. Soon I'd be being dropped off too, and in a few days, we were going for a tour.

"Have you given any thought to getting a service dog?" Mum asked, broaching the topic gently.

"Yeah. I have a lot of questions though."

"Like what? I'll give my best go at answering." She chuckled.

"Will it come with me to school?"

"Yes."

"Do I have to walk it?"

"Yes." She laughed. "Although, there's probably enough moving around on school days for you to not have to go on a dedicated walk."

"Do I have to feed it?"

"We can both do that since I have to feed Abi anyway."

I reeled off a few more questions and got the responses I expected.

"I've called a few companies to see if any of their dogs are fully trained."

"Really?"

"There is a Labrador Retriever who's just finished the bulk of his training. He hasn't been allocated to anyone yet because the girl who'd been waiting for him couldn't actually take him. Maybe we could go and do the handlers course tomorrow."

"So soon?" I gasped.

"These dogs are very rare Ash. They take hours to train and not every dog is right for the task. I've told the company we're very keen to have this dog. He sounds like the perfect match for you and he's been trained specifically for anxiety attacks and PTSD." I didn't remember what PTSD was.

"Okay." I nodded. "So, do I meet the dog tomorrow?"

"Why don't we give them a call when we get home and we can ask all the questions you have?"

"Yes please."

"I think this could be really helpful for you, honey."

"Me too," I told her. I was being honest too, I wanted to feel safe. I hated the panic attacks. Everything just hurt afterwards.

We got a parking spot and walked into the uniform store. A worker, dressed fancily in a black suit, directed us upstairs where the schools were. Upstairs, the room was lined with shelves, each labelled with a different school.

I scanned the labels until I saw 'Monarch Secondary College' written in swirly yellow letters. It had a blue border and actually had two full shelves, all to itself.

"How can I help you ladies today?" A woman asked, approaching us.

"We need to fit my daughter for a uniform."

"What school?"

"MSC." Mum told her.

"The full uniform?"

"Just summer for now. And yes, everything."

"What size are you do you think?" She asked me.

"Uh..." I looked up at mum for help.

"Let's try a 10 women's for now." Mum told her. The woman hurried off to go grab all the clothing whilst we looked around. She came back and found an empty changing room for me to use, and then we got started.

I put on so many different pieces of clothing, I was exhausted by the end of it. Everything I tried on was either too wide or too long, but mum also didn't want me growing out of anything really quickly, so I couldn't get it too small either. She assured me that the dresses we'd bought, which were way too long, could be taken up by Nana. She was a good sewer apparently.

It took about three hours of trying on clothes to finally have all the right pieces of clothing I needed. I got three dresses, so that I could rotate them each day, two of the sports tops, a pair of athletics shorts and a jumper. I also needed a blazer, which was this heavy, uncomfortable black jacket thing. Although I didn't really like how it felt, I like how I looked with it and my dress on, even though it was a bit big. I was sure we probably had spare blazers at home, but mum didn't want me to have the boy's hand-me-downs, since the blazer was always worn at important events and you had to look neat.

The last things we bought were a rugby jumper, spray jacket, new school shoes and a house top, which was purple coloured. I didn't know what the purple top was for, but mum said to just ask one of the boys and they'd explain it to me.

Finally after being in the store for what felt like forever, mum and I went home where I could finally get food.

I had my first ever exam today and I've never been more stressed out argh.