Words are not easy when your mouth is sewn shut.

Chapter Two

|Chapter Two|

"I'm sorry to tell you Dakota, but your mother and father couldn't be rescued in time, they're both dead." 

"I can't do this anymore Jake, I have been trying to push past my troubles and ignore everything, but I can't. I'm sorry, but it's over." 

Words, words, WORDS. 

"No!" Dakota screamed as she shot up from her small nightmare. 

She breathed heavily as she looked around her room into the darkness. Tears were rolling down her cheeks and she was hot. 

'Why won't this stop?' She thought to herself as she sat up for another hour. 

She just sat there, staring into space, thinking of horrible things, old memories, good and bad ones. 

She started to cry. 

"I just want my old life back. I'm so alone now. Everyone has gone." She cried aloud. 

Then, she rested her head back on her pillow, staring at the ceiling for a while until the darkness engulfed her. 

** 

"So." Tom began, looking at a tired Dakota that was lying on the brown sofa. "Anything new happening?" 

Dakota didn't answer for a while, she just stared blankly at the light above their heads. 

"No." She finally muttered. 

Tom raised his eyebrows. "So you've still been having these dreams?" 

"Nightmares. Yes." Dakota answered. 

"Well they're almost like memories, they're not necessarily nightmares." Tom retorted. "But to you, I guess they are nightmares, they are memories that are haunting you." 

Dakota nodded, twirling her hair around her index finger. "When are we done?" 

Tom sighed. "Not for another twenty minutes. Dakota, you need to start speaking to me, tell me something that is bothering you." 

Dakota sighed, sitting up, starting right at Tom. "I'm just annoyed that I haven't been able to sleep correctly, or at all due to these nightmares. I'm tired of being alone, and I'm tired of being tired. I just want my life back." 

"You know you can't get your old life back Dakota." Tom said. "But you can start working towards getting a life on track, then you can work towards your future and continue with life." 

Dakota never replied, she just stared blankly at Tom, most likely not knowing how to reply. 

"Your English teacher, Mrs Harrod spoke to me yesterday just after your last lesson." Tom said.

Dakota sighed, rolling her eyes. "Come on, tell me what she said. That I'm insane or disturbed." 

"Actually, no. She didn't use any of those words to describe you or your behaviour." Tom replied. "She told me that you haven't been participating in lessons as much as you used to and that your confidence and concentration has gone out of the window." 

Dakota slyly smirked. "Perhaps that's because everybody nows hate me. Now that I'm not dating Jake, aka Mr Popular anymore." 

Tom shook his head. "Nobody hates you Dakota. You just never speak much anymore, that's why nobody has had the confidence to walk up to you and talk to you." 

Dakota shrugged her shoulders, leaning back into the sofa. "Maybe I don't want to speak anymore."

"Well that's not an option Dakota. You know that you're never going to be able to stop seeing me unless you start working on your attitude towards life." Tom said, almost yelling at her. "I am setting you a challenge." 

Dakota groaned. 

"It's to go up to at least one person in the whole school and try to make conversation. It can be anyone you like. Confront them and talk, even if it's just asking how their day is going." Tom explained. "I then want you to come back to me on Monday morning and tell me who it was and what you spoke about." 

Dakota nodded, that didn't seem so bad, it wasn't like he was telling her to talk to a whole class.

"Alright, see you on Monday." She replied, standing up. 

"Goodbye Dakota." Tom replied, now noting down a few things about their session.