College Fund

//Cassidy's Scary When She's Pissed//

The next morning meant it was time to say goodbye. We had all fallen asleep in various places around Sage and Margaux's living room and hadn't even bothered to change into our pyjamas before crashing. It had been such an amazing night with my friends that I was dreading saying goodbye even more than before.

Margaux's mom had been the one to wake me up. She had told me to call Dr. Saunders and tell him I was leaving so that he knew what was up. I really didn't want to because I knew that meant discussing the fact that planes=taxis, and I still had this whole panic attack thing that I was trying not to think about. But we can't hide from our fears forever, and I was hoping that I would be able to make the trip without hyperventilating.

I didn't want to wake up any of the others, so I tiptoed out of the living room and walked into the guest bedroom to make the call.

The phone rang several times before the building receptionist picked up and re-directed me to Dr. Saunders when I asked. He answered almost immediately, which shows how busy he was (not).

"Hey Dr. Saunders, how are you?" I began, planning on beating around the bush as long as I possibly could.

"Hello Cassidy," his cheery voice carried through the phone. "I'm doing quite well, actually. How about you? Is everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah, fine."

He waited, as if expecting me to say more. "So you just called to see how I was...?"

I sighed. Here it was, the time where I had to explain the reason I was actually calling. "No. Well, I mean, yes, but... no. The thing is.... I'm going back home. To Mapletown. In Canada."

"I see. And what made you decide to do that?"

"Bria and I were talking, and she was saying how I didn't seem happy here, and I thought about it and realized she was right. So I talked to Eric..."

"Oooo, Eric," Dr. Saunders interrupted. "Sorry, go ahead."

"Um... yeah, Eric told me I should go back home because I've been on the run from all my problems and I should be facing them head-on," I finished.

"That is very wise advice. This Eric kid should consider being a psychologist when he grows up."

I thought about that for a second. "Yeah, he would be good at that."

"Mention it to him. Anyways, about this whole travelling thing, how does it make you feel?"

"I'm nervous," I confessed. "I really don't want to talk about it, honestly. But I did go on the bus the other day and I was fine, so I'm hopeful."

"You told me Eric was the one who went on the bus with you, correct?"

"Yeah."

"What did he do to make you comfortable?"

I didn't see where he was going with this. "He sang to me...?"

"Interesting...." Dr. Saunders drew out the word. "What if you tried listening to music while driving and on the plane? Do you think that would help you feel more secure?"

Hm. That was actually a very interesting idea. "I've never thought of that before, but it sounds like a good idea. I feel like it might work," I replied honestly.

"It's a good starting point, anyway. Have you been writing in the book I gave you?"

I thought back to the notebook he had given to me at our last session. I think it was somewhere under the bed... or maybe in the trashcan. I honestly had no clue. I winced. "Um... not really."