Who would have thought that me getting on a plane with my dad for a trip that would last for summer would turn into three years? I was supposed to come back, and I wanted to at first, but plans change, and my life forever flipped upside down (but in...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Cori fidgeted with her fingers nervously as her therapist's voice played through her AirPods, "do you think that this is something that you are comfortable telling your friends?" Dr. Glover asked her.
Cori let out a dry chuckle, "we just started talking again after like 3 years, you think I'm just gonna open up to them and tell them how my ex raped me?" she asked the woman. The words used to be hard, almost impossible to say but over the last few weeks, being away from Nevada felt like she had somehow detached herself from the situation and she couldn't yet tell if that was a good thing or not.
_
"Alright, we'll meet in the cafeteria at what, 12:30?" Carmen asked, looking at the watch on their wrist.
"Basically," Cori told her best friend as the first bell rang out through the school, "I should get goin'. I love you bitch."
"And I ain't gonna stop lovin' you bitch," Carmen finished before nervously entering their first class in New York, scared of what that could mean for them.
It felt like Cori was a stranger in her own body, she didn't remember walking down the hall, into her first period, or second, or third. "Cori, Cori!" Carmen said, waving their hand in their friend's face once they, along with Will, found where she was sitting in the caf.
"Huh, what?" Cori said, finally noticing her surroundings, "sorry, what'd you say?"
Carmen's face immediately morphed into worry, "are you okay?"
"What's wrong, Cori?" Will asked, falling into protection mode with ease.
Cori shook her head, dark thoughts clouding her vision, "nothing, I'm fine."
The two other teens looked at one another before looking at their best friend, "you know you can tell us anything, right?" Will asked, sitting in front of his cousin concerned.
A small smile graced Cori's face, "of course."
"Did something happen at therapy yesterday?" Carmen asked, they had noticed the change in her but were too afraid to say acknowledge it and make the mood worse, "do we need—"
"Look you guys," Cori said, cutting Carmen off abruptly, "there is nothing to worry about okay, just an off day but I will be fine." She two of the people she loved the most, "I promise, now Will have you asked Maya out yet?" she asked, quickly turning the subject to something else.
Will looked at her for just a second longer as if he was trying to decipher something deep inside her before giving up this once and sighing deeply, "not yet, was gonna ask you for advice about it today but I don't wanna be a bother."
"Dude," Cori said, a genuine smile now on her face, "you know I love this kinda stuff," she said before thinking, "hmm, I think for Maya, simple is the best."
Will smirked, "perfect, simple I can do."
"We know," Carmen said to him chuckling under their breath, "I'm just pickin' bruv."
"Bruv?" Cori said, playing around with the word, "I think I like that."
"Yeah, I think I heard it in some movie, and it's been stuck in my brain. Makes me feel fancy," Carmen said in a weird accent making both Cori and Will laugh.
_
"Are you even listening?" Shawn asked his kid as her eyes skimmed over the menus.
"A grilled cheese would hit right now," Cori mumbled, oblivious to Shawn's hand in her face. After lunch with her friends, her mood suddenly shifted for the better and she couldn't wait to see Shawn.
"Earth to Cori," Shawn all but yelled, his face waving erratically in the girls face; he'd been trying to tell her something important but couldn't keep her focus for more than 20 seconds, "Cori!" he said again, his voice firm and quickly getting her attention.
"Did I fuck up?" she asked, sitting her menu down.
Her eyebrows came together, his lips pursed, "you never fuck up, sweetie." He said in his 'dad' voice, he hated when she thought she somehow ruined something because that's the last thing he ever wanted her to think. "But now that I have your attention, there is something I need to tell you," he told her, checking his watch again.
"Okay," she said, noticing how nervous he seemed, "you leaving again?" she asked him, her heart dropping at the thought.
He tilted his head, smiling at his daughter, "I told you, Cor, I am here to stay."
"I know it's just that sometimes—" she stopped suddenly, her mouth opened as she looked at the woman who had just walked into the restaurant, "so-so-some—" she kept trying to say before finally stopping.
"Cori, what's wrong?" he asked, worried as he turned around; when he saw her a large smile stretched across her face. He quickly got out of the booth and walked toward the woman who had tears in her eyes but was also wearing a large smile as the two hugged.
Cori knew who the woman was immediately just from looking at her, it felt like the two had met in another life; like they had some sort of unspoken connection that she couldn't describe. Unbeknownst to her, she had bawled her fist up and he long nails had been digging into the palms of her hands and the pain is what had brought her back to reality, "fuck," she mumbled as Shawn and the woman walked toward her, "breathe dumbass, just breathe!" she told herself as they got closer to her.
"Cori," Shawn said once they had gotten to the booth, "I want you to meet—"
