Speech |a.f.i au|

2.0

Rene

"Do I have to go?" I ask my mom, not wanting to go to therapy. She nods her.

"It's just a quick session, it'll only be like fifteen to twenty minutes. Now get going before you make me late." she chuckles before kissing my temple.

"I love you, mama," I tell her before getting out of the car. She rolls down the window when I shut the car door.

"I love you too. Ashton's picking you up, right?" she asks, considering she was heading back to work and would be home late because she had to meet with the insurance company. 

"Yeah, he will be. Bye mama, see you later," she says goodbye again and drives off.

I step inside Dr. Brigs' office and notice that the walls were painted green, unlike their usual royal blue. 

I check in with the front lady and wait in the chair, only to get up again five minutes later.

"Come on with me, Rene," Dr. Brigs appears. I follow her back into her office. "You got a short appointment, don't you?"

"Yeah," I nod. She opens the door to her office and ushers me in. I sit down on the couch adjacent to her chair, while she takes a seat as well.

"So Rene, how are you feeling?" Dr. Brigs asks me. I shrug my shoulders and look down at the ground. "A shoulder shrug isn't an answer, Rene," she tells me.

"I don't know," I admit to her, keeping my eyes focused on the ground. "There's a lot going on."

"Like what?" here we go.

"Just a lot. With my dad dying, Ashton, my friend getting pregnant, my other friend in an institution from a suicide attempt, school, and my mom. All of it is quite hectic."

"Let us talk about you and Ashton for a second," she suggests, I look up and watch her cross her legs as I sit upright. "How's that relationship going?"

"Good, I guess. I don't know, he's pretty good to me," I tell her and she nods and begins to write down some stuff onto some scratch paper.

"How did he handle the situation about your dad?"

"He hopped on the first plan back here to Nebraska from Utah. He helped me through it a lot considering everything that happened beforehand," the words tumbled out of my mouth. I hadn't really thought about the argument Ashton and I until now.

"What do you mean by that? What happened beforehand?" Dr. Brigs asks.

"We got into a really big fight about like him betting on dating me and stuff," I explain. I sheepishly avoid eye contact with her, knowing that her response wouldn't be good.

"He betted on you?" she asks, raising her eyebrow. I nod my head and listen to her pencil scribble on the paper. "Why are you still with him?" she questions.

"I forgave him," I admit to her. My eyes dart towards the clock, and I mentally cheer knowing that I only have ten more minutes left considering I asked for a short appointment.

"That's big of you, but you can forgive someone and still be happy without them in your life."

....

"Madi, Calum, get a fucking room!" Ashton shouts. Madi and Calum were heavy into a makeout session, with some definite tongue. But Calum's hands were sliding somewhere and I, nor Ashton, wanted to see that.