I keep staring at Vic. I can't help it. He calms me down and I'm freaking out so much.
"Kellin stop staring at me." Vic snaps and I nod frowning.
He flashes me a gentle look letting me know that he's not actually mad at me.
"Relax." He mouths and I nod taking a few breaths.
"Sweetie, what's the matter?" Mama asks from the passenger seat.
"Scared." I whisper.
"Why're you scared?" Mama murmurs.
"Strangers." I whisper. "Don't want to talk to strangers."
"Everyone's a stranger at first Kellin. You have to get to know people. If you had never spoken to any of us then we'd still be strangers." Papa explains making a good point.
"Yeah. I guess you're right." I smile. "I'll give it a go."
Vic flashes me a comforting smile which immediately calms me down. I really want to kiss him but I can't. He's so addictive.
I don't know why he's so important to me. He makes me so happy and just complete. I never knew what I was missing out on when it comes to relationships, Vic in particular. But now I never want to give this up. I hope I'll never have to. I hope we'll get married and live happily ever after forever.
The car stops as we pull up in front of a building. It looks like a medical centre but smaller and there's pretty flowers outside.
"Papa," I whisper as he shuts off the engine.
"Yeah Kells." He replies.
"Does everyone go to therapy or am I just going because of my parents?" I ask, still not completely understanding why I'm here.
"A little bit of both." Papa begins to explain. "You are here mainly because of your parents but that doesn't mean that everyone doesn't go to therapy. Most people go to therapy at some stage in their lives. I've even been. It's completely normal to need to talk to a professional."
I nod with a smile feeling a lot more comfortable at his words.
"Okay. I think I'm ready." I murmur.
I see Vic give me a proud look out of the corner of my eyes just making me feel even better. I follow Mama and Papa out of the car and into the building as Vic trails behind us.
There's something wrong with Vic, I noticed earlier when he was quiet at breakfast. He's also been speaking in monotone all day. He's doing well at hiding it though. But not from me. I can tell there's something wrong. I really hope he's okay.
When we enter, we sit down as Papa goes up to the counter much like what happened at the doctors.
"They said to send him right in." Papa chirps returning.
Mama stands up so I do the same. Vic just stays seated.
"We'll be back in an hour to pick you up. I'm going to get some groceries, would you like me to pick you up anything?" She asks and I shake my head. "Okay. Remember that it's okay to talk to the man, he's only there to help you."
I nod and she ruffles my hair.
"Come on, lets go meet him." She whispers and I nod as she takes my hand and I nervously follow her into a room.
A man look up from behind a desk and stands up with a friendly smile on his face. He comes over to us and I take a step back not feeling all that comfortable being so close to him. Mama squeezes my hand comfortingly to let me know that I'm okay.
"Hey, you must be Kellin. I'm doctor Stump but you can call me Patrick." He says softly.
I don't say anything and just watch him closely in case he tries to hurt me.
"He's not really comfortable about strangers, especially adults." Mama explains and Patrick smiles sadly.
"I figured, it's rather common." Patrick answers. "We won't get into too much today. We'll probably just work on building a patient-doctor trust."
"Okay, well I'll let you get started. I'll see you soon kiddo." Mama smiles, dropping my hand. "Remember what I told you."
I nod and watch her leave. Vic finally gets off of the chair and gives me a longing look before he follows Mama and Papa out of the building.
I turn back to Patrick who's still smiling at me.
"You can take a seat on the sofa Kell. I'll be with you in a minute." He tells me and I nod, cautiously walking past him to the leather black sofa.
I sit down and even though the sofa is really comfortable, I can't see to relax. How could they do this to me? Just leave me alone with a stranger? What if he hurts me?
I watch Patrick as he goes over to his desk and picks up a folder then he looks through it.
"Would you like some soda, Kellin?" Patrick asks, placing the folder down the going over to a mini-fridge.
"Yes please." I whisper.
"What would you like? I have Mountain Dew, Dr. Pepper, Pepsi and Fanta." He explains.
"Mountain Dew please." I reply.
"Good choice." He murmurs, taking two cans out and coming over to me.
He hands me the drink and then sits on the chair across from me. He placed his drink on the coffee table between us.
"What happened to your arm?" He asks gesturing to my sling.
"I have a fractured shoulder." I answer.
"How'd that happen?" He asks.
I don't feel comfortable telling him that it was my father so I just mumble a quiet "I don't know".
"You can talk to me Kellin. It's my job to listen. It's why you're here. I'm not going to hurt you or make you uncomfortable in any way. I need you to trust me. In order for me to help you, we must become friends." He explains.
"Friends?" I murmur a little stunned.
"Yeah friends. I want to be your friend." He explains and I smile.
"Okay." I whisper.
He smiles and leans forward a little.
"Okay, first things first, anything you tell me will not leave this room unless you give me permission to speak about it. The only time I'll talk to someone about something you've told me is if I think you're in danger or you're a danger to someone else. Other than that, no one has to know." He explains and i smile feeling a little relieved and a little more comfortable about talking. "If you do tell me that you want to hurt someone, if someone's hurting you or want to kill yourself then I will have to report it but I do stress to you to be open about these things so I can help."
I nod although I don't think I need to talk about any of those things.
"Patrick," I murmur as a thought pops into mind. "If someone was cutting themselves, would you have to report it?"
I'm hoping he says no because then maybe Vic will be more willing to talk to someone about his cutting if no one has to find out.
"Why? Are you harming yourself Kellin?" He asks, a worried look on his face.
"Oh no, no not me. A friend of mine." I assure him but he still looks a little skeptical.
"In this state, technically no. It really depends. If your friend is cutting with the intent to cause death then yes. If your friend was self harming for other reasons unrelated to suicide then no." He explains. "But we're not here to talk about your friend, we're here to talk about you."
I nod in understanding and take a sip out of my Mountain Dew.
"Why do you think you're here Kellin?" Patrick asks as he picks up a clipboard and a pen from the coffee table.
"Because of what my parents did." I mumble, still not quite understanding the entire situation with my parents.
"What did your parents do?" He asks although I have a feeling he already knows.
"That hurt me." I whisper fiddling with my jeans.
"They hurt you? How?" He asks, writing something down then he looks up at me.
"A lot of ways." I shrug. "Hitting, burning, starving, kicking, saying mean things. A lot of ways."
He writes down something else.
"What are you writing?" I ask, just curious.
"Just notes on what we're talking about. I hope you don't mind. I have a terrible memory." He explains.
"It's fine." I answer truthfully.
He gives me another one of his smiles and continues.
"Do you miss you're old home Kell?" He asks.
"No." I answer shaking my head abruptly.
"Nothing? You miss nothing about it at all?" He asks and I shake my head.
"Everything's better at Mama and Papa's house." I tell him.
"Is there something you don't particularly like about staying with Mama and Papa?" He asks.
I think about it really hard. Everything is just about perfect at Mama and Papa's but there are a few things that I would rather not deal with.
"I don't like going out." I mumble. "I mean, it's great and I love it but being around so many people makes me anxious."
"I see. So you weren't around many people when you lived with your parents?" Patrick asks.
I shake my head, looking down at my hands.
"Just my parents. No one really knew I existed."
Patrick nods and writes something down.
"What about your neighbor, Mrs. Henderson? Did you know her?" He questions.
Mrs. Henderson? I haven't seen her in years.
"I used to see her all the time when I was younger when I went to school. She used to wave at me." I explain unsure of what significance she has in this conversation. Although she was a very nice lady.
"She was the person that called the police." Patrick states surprising me.
She called the police? But why?
"I didn't know that." I whisper.
He writes something else down and then looks back up at me.
"I have her police statement. Would you like me to read it to you?" He offers and I nod.
"Yes please." I nod.
He gets up and takes the file off of his desk before sitting back down across from me. He opens it up and clears his throat then he begins reading.
"'I always thought there was something going on in that house', she says. 'I always knew they had a son. I used to see him walking to school. Polite kid, seemed a little sad though. Then one day I stopped seeing him. I just assumed he moved away. Occasionally, I'd hear commotion coming from the house but I never thought much of it. Then the morning of the incident, I heard a lot of screaming so I called the police. I was shocked to see Kellin. He was so much older than last time I saw him. I always knew there was something off about the Bostwicks. I just didn't think it was this horrible'" He finishes reading and I feel a little shocked.
"This woman obvious cared about you." Patrick states. "How does that make you feel?"
"Grateful." I whisper.
"Why are you grateful?" he asks.
"Because if she didn't care then I'd probably still be there." I reply.
I wipe away a tear that I didn't know slid down my cheek. Patrick pushes a box of tissues towards me and I take one, wiping my eyes.
"What are some things that make you happy, Kell?" he questions changing the subject.
I sniff and think about it.
"There is a lot actually." I murmur.
He smiles and nods. "List some."
"Umm," I start. "Drawing, food, uh movies, Vic, Mama and Papa, uh a lot."
"Vic is Mr and Mrs Fuentes' son, right?" Patrick says and I nod. "Is he just your friend, or do you see him more as a brother?"
I'm tempted to tell him that Vic and I are a couple. He did say that nothing I say will leave this room. But I promised Vic I wouldn't tell anyone and I'm not sure if I can trust Patrick.
"We're good friends." I tell him and he nods.
"Sometimes all you need is a good friend." he smiles.
I think deeply about that. Vic makes me feel okay. Things are hard sometimes but all I need is him and I'll be just fine.