Pinn - Memories

Chapter 14

Thursday

Piper's POV

When Richelle dismisses us at the end of rehearsal, I receive a text message from Aunt Kathy: I've just parked and I'll be up in a minute!

Great, thank you, I reply.

My heart speeds up rapidly at the realisation that I have to endure another whole hour of psychology today. My breathing begins to stagger and my arms quiver a little.

I rush towards my bags and Finn follows me. 'Hey Pipes!', he beams. 'What's up?'

'Oh, nothing much', I say nervously.

Finn's POV

When Piper turns around and says 'nothing much', she breathes unevenly and shakes.

'You ok?', I ask, concerned.

'Oh, yeah, fine', she replies in between breaths. 'I have to go, Aunt Kathy's picking me up.' She turns to the door and begins to speed walk.

I hurry after her and grab her arm, making her swivel around. 'Piper, I know that's not true! You always catch the bus!'

'No, really, I am getting picked up.'

I don't buy it. She lied about getting picked up on the first day of rehearsal. And she's lying now. I wish she'd just tell me why.

My thoughts are interrupted when Kathy appears at the studio entrance.

'Oh', I mumble. I guess I was wrong.

'Hi Kathy!', I cheer.

'Hey Finn!', she replies. 'You ready to go, Piper?'

'Yep!', she replies. 'Bye Finn!', she shrieks, still shaking.

What's going on with Piper?

Piper's POV

'Who are you meeting up with to go shopping?', Aunt Kathy asks as she drives me.

'Oh, uh, my friend Sarah from school', I lie.

'That's nice!', she says.

When she parks and I hop out, she cheers, 'have fun!'

'Thank you!', I beam.

I wait until she's out of sight before I walk away from the shops and to the clinic.

*

'As I said last week, anxiety is an adaptive system that assists you with danger. When you experience anxiety, your body has an 'adrenaline response', more commonly known as 'fight-flight-freeze', my psychologist begins to explain.

I nod slightly to let her know I'm listening.

'When you are faced with danger – let's say a lion is approaching you, you could try to intimidate the beast – fight. But I wouldn't recommend that', Emma chuckles.

I look at her seriously and it takes me a while to realise that she's trying to joke. To lighten the mood.

I don't want to laugh or force a smile. I continue pursing my lips.

'Ahaha...ha...ha', she laughs to herself awkwardly. 'Moving on... You might run – flight. You could freeze and wait until the danger passes.

'These responses can be helpful when encountering real danger. However, your body may respond like this when something merely feels dangerous, and that can be unhelpful. For example, if you feel uncomfortable, you may snap at people – fight. When you feel overwhelmed you might run away – flight. You may have difficulty thinking clearly – freeze.