anything (a cameron boyce love story)

sixteen: the miseducation of ada.

TW: mentions of suicide, child abuse, sexual assault

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Turn up the lights in here baby
Extra bright, I want y'all to see this

You know what I mean
want you to see everything
want you to see
All of the lights

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cameron sat next to Libby on a bench of the hallway of a special therapist office. Ada was in the room, having a session. She had been reluctant to go in alone, but thankfully Cameron was able to coax her. Now he was just waiting, sitting on his phone and drinking water out of those little paper cups by the water fountain and trying to relax. Both Libby and Cameron were hoping that the session was going well and that it was making an impact as they sat in anticipation.

Ada sat in a big, brown chair. She felt tiny in it, her legs dangling and not reaching the floor. It was cold in the room, the air nipping at any exposed skin, her hands and ankles feeling isolated. There was a woman sitting right across from her, asking her a question. A very sweet lady, a therapist who introduced herself as Dr. Dionne. But it was like Ada couldn't focus on what she was saying. The blood rushing through her body creating bass in her ears.

"Ada? Can you answer the question for me?"

Again, it sounded muffled. Ada picked at her ear, feeling herself starting to sweat immensely. And then next thing she knew she was breathing heavy again.

"Do you need a second? To get yourself together? Dionne asked. The girl hadn't spoken at all in the session, but she was used to patients like that. But it seemed like this patient had another issue along with mutism. She seemed really uneasy and fidgety.

"Stay right here and take some breaths, okay?" Dionne smiled as she got up, making her way to the door. She poked her head out into the hallway, immediately catching eyes with Libby and Cameron.

"Could you guys join us? Please?" Dionne asked. Cameron and Libby looked at each other before standing up, coming toward her with a questionable look on their faces.

"I just want to see something," Dionne quietly reassured them, allowing them to walk through the door. "You can sit in any of those chairs!"

They sat on both sides of Ada, settling themselves down. Cameron gave Ada a quick smile, reaching over and touching her wrist. "Hey," he greeted her.

"Hey," she muttered, putting her hand over his. Happy to have him next to her even though they had only been apart for fifteen minutes.

"Oh, so you talk when you have your lil' boo thing next to you, huh?" Dionne teased as she retook her seat, causing Libby and Cameron to chuckle. "Yeah, I thought that might make you say something... are you okay now?"

Ada hesitated before giving a nod.

"Okay... I'm going to ask the question again, okay? And I know this can be hard, so take your time... When is the first time you ever had a suicidal thought?"

Ada bit her lip, looking at Cameron out of the corner of her eye. She thought she would be comforted having him there... but this was about to take a turn for the worst.