Splinters: Part One

Part One | 35

Chapter 35

Bailey White

"So I've heard you've gotten your license," Dr. Johnson smirked.

"Yeah," I nodded, grinning. "Crazy stuff."

"Scary?"

I shrugged. "At first it was, but I've got the hang of it."

He nodded. "Looks to me that things are getting better for you."

I knew this was his way of beginning the session. He was giving me the opening to talk about my problems. I almost laughed at that thought. They seemed like they'd never end. 

"Things were going good, but then I got in trouble a couple weeks ago."

Dr. Johnson furrowed his eyebrows. "How so?"

I was embarrassed as I replied. "I, uh, brought my girlfriend into my room and shut the door."

"Parents catch you?"

Pressing my lips together, I nodded quickly, avoiding eye contact.

Dr. Johnson chuckled. "That sort of thing happens all the time, Brayden. Believe it or not, I've gotten in trouble doin' the same thing myself."

I gawked. Dr. Johnson has made a mistake in his life? "You have?"

He looked at the corner of the wall. "I'm almost positive that about seventy percent of all teenagers have gotten in trouble with their lovers." He air quoted the word 'lovers.' "You gotta be careful, though, Brayden. Doing things that you're not supposed to can lead to permanent consequences."

I knew what he was hinting at. "Yeah, I know," I sighed. "We don't... do that."

Dr. Johnson nodded. "That's good. Wait until you're married."

I put my hands under my thighs, feeling a little less comfortable.

"So, Brayden, have we really talked about St. Anne's? I haven't seen you in so long that I can't even remember what we last talked about."

I shrugged. I couldn't remember either. "I don't think so."

"Well tell me what it was like there. How was it?"

Flashes of playing around at my old orphanage came and went. Going swimming at the swimming pool but never getting in. Staying up at night and talking about what it would be like if we were with our parents. Dreaming about what I would be when I grew up. Imagining the places I'd go and the people I'd meet. Hoping I'd be the Brayden I'd always wanted to be.

I looked at him. "When I tell people I came from an orphanage, they get this weird look on their face, like their disgusted." He watched me. "Scary stories revolve around orphanages. They think that we're demons or something."

Dr. Johnson seemed to find that funny. It was kind of, but it also creeped me out.

"When I was little, I used to think, 'Wow, maybe I am.' You know? Because my parents didn't want me." I looked away and kind of rocked myself back and forth. I stared at a small spot on the floor. When I glanced at Dr. Johnson, I was shocked to see he was no longer smiling. To me, it looked like he was almost... teary-eyed. When he noticed that I could see that, he cleared his throat and sat back. 

Shaking his head, he leaned forward. "That's not true, Brayden."

I laughed. "Well I know that now. Just, when I was little, there was nothing else to think. My friend Jake and I used to say that we'd come back and haunt the other orphans since we were being haunted, then we kind of grew up. Also, Josephine came around and that stuff weirded her out. She's kind of a Jesus lover, or at least that's what she said."