Bad Memories

Chapter 4

—Thu. | October 10, 2019—

It's been almost two weeks since that flashback nightmare I had. I've kept that to myself. Not even Tyler or my grandma knows. I didn't have that nightmare again, but it's still always in the back of my mind. Especially considering the fact that it's almost been a year already.

Breakfast today seems a bit more prepared than usual. Grandma's expression is also different, as if she's about to talk to me about something. Sure enough, as she sits down, she says to me, "Kyle, can I ask you something?"

I stop picking at my food and answer, "Yeah? What is it?"

She takes a while to find the right words. "It's almost been a year since your parents passed. Your PTSD might be worse soon, and I don't want to see you having another episode, even if your last one was three months ago."

"What are you trying to tell me?"

"I know you didn't want to go into therapy just yet, but if you wanted to try it out, I scheduled an appointment for you on Saturday."

Unsure of what I should do, I simply shrug. Then out of curiosity, I ask, "Who's going to be the therapist?"

"You know Nia, your grandpa's wife when he remarried?" My eyes widen, but she stops me from speaking simply by raising her hand. "She has a friend named Dr. Etal. He will be your therapist if you so choose."

"And I have two days to decide whether I should meet with him?"

"Yes, but he's not as busy as other therapists, so his schedule is pretty much open to your liking."

I look at my grandma for a split second, then back at my food. In that moment, I saw how hopeful she was that I would say yes, and she's my grandma, so I felt that I had to. "I guess I'll try it out."

"Great! I'll call him up shortly and tell him you'll be doing the therapy session." She looks at the clock for a couple of seconds. "It's almost time to go to school. I'm sorry again for not being able to take you today."

"It's fine, Grandma. I've already said that Tyler and I would be walking together, so we'll watch each other's backs."

I grab my backpack from the couch and run back to give my grandma a hug. "Love you."

"I love you too, Kyle."

I step outside and send Tyler a quick text, telling him I'm coming over before I continue on my way. The weather earlier was a cold light shower, but now that the sun was over the horizon, the weather seemed to be warmer, even a bit peaceful.

Tyler is already waiting on his porch when I arrive. I say jokingly, "Wow! You didn't need me or your parents to wake you up!"

"Yeah, it surprised me too. I just didn't want to leave my best friend alone if he was walking alone to school." Tyler takes out a small cup of coffee he made and sips from it.

"I can tell you woke up early for me. You never drink coffee," I say, still eyeing the cup.

Tyler has a bit of a confused expression on his face. "This is a caffeinated soda. Ever heard of Big Dew? Woke me up just like that." Tyler snaps his fingers as he finishes that final word. "You really thought I'd resort to coffee? That stuff's horrible."