NEGLECTED

Chapter Four

FFION BRISDEN

"Ffion" One step through the door and I was already needed and by my betrayer. Looking up I plastered the most fake smile I could muster up across my face, greeting Katherine, my boss as she walked out of her office. 

"Hi Katherine" Katherine is the principle of Redington Primary, the school I teacher aid in. She is also the witch that scheduled therapy sessions for me after an incident that happened a month ago that ended in me punching a parent in the face with a few young eye witnesses present at the time. 

Katherine acknowledged what had happened was the parents fault, hence how I still had a job, but she also made it clear my behaviour was not tolerated it. I was told if I didn't attend the therapy sessions I may as well hand in my resignation. Any other school and I would've been fired the second my fist landed against the Dads face, but Katherine was a lenient, caring boss, as much as I pegged her as the opposite. 

"How are your sessions going?" Looking to the side I caught the eyes of a few not so happy teachers. Katherine had heard from a few staff members that they weren't comfortable with a 'psychopath' in the same setting as them. A couple punches and suddenly I'm given the title of least empathetic. The spiritual and political beliefs of some teachers at Redington didn't help my cause. As I'm a teacher aid helping disabled and challenged children, I'm not technically a teacher in some eyes. They're also the same women that tried to have a separate building built so that my students wouldn't disrupt their students learning. 

"They're..." Jaylene McMann, a grade 3 teacher gave me a smug look before flipping her blonde hair and turning her head away. I clenched my hand at my side, turning back to face Katherine, feeling my smile waver. 

To keep it up and strong I imagined my mouth sewn up in a smile. My cheeks hurt and my eyes betrayed the smile on my face. 

"Fine. They're going fine, thank you" Katherine smiled, wrapping an arm around my shoulder and leading me out of the front office and into her personal one. She closed the door behind us, nodding her head at a seat, asking me to sit with her eyes. 

"And your psychiatrist? Dr. Adler? You are comfortable with him?" Katherine took a seat behind her oversized desk, leaning forward and resting her chin on her hands, giving me her full attention. I crossed my legs at my ankles, my right leg shaking. 

"As comfortable as you'd be with a bee hive on your head" I joked, Katherine's smile falling as she immediately looked for her phone. 

"So you're not? I apologise Ffion, I'll call the office now and get you swapped-"

"No, it's not Dr. Adler" I quickly cut her off before she could click on the contact and embarrass me. Katherine looked away from her phone, her eyebrows drawn down as she shrugged, waiting for my defence. 

"I need you to communicate with me, Ffion. I just want to help."

"I know. Dr. Adler is a lovely man and a very distinguished psychiatrist, I'm just giving him a hard time" Katherine sat back as if she now suddenly had the role of my new shrink, connecting her hands and sitting them in her lap. My jaw twitched. 

"How so?"

"I just....You know me-"

"Barely" Katherine muttered under her breath as I clapped, sticking my hand out her way. 

"Exactly. I've worked here 4 years now and you know of me but you don't know who I am, and I'm fine that way. I don't like talking about myself let alone my past. Revisiting buried trauma isn't something I enjoy doing" Katherine sighed, leaning forward with the most stomach churning sympathetic expression I've seen in a long time.