SDMN| Stories

• BUTTERFLY | SIMON & JOSH

"Give me your shoulder."
"Why?"
"I'm drawing a butterfly."
"What for?"
"You wouldn't cut a butterfly, would you?"

-

Hot water ran down his shoulders, cascading down his back and pooling around his feet, leaving a red tingle from the heat. It wasn't a bad tingle - not to him anyways - he enjoyed the burning sensation. Showers were always an escape, water to hide the tears, the patter of the water against the tile to drown out his thoughts, that's probably why it took him so long to get ready that morning.

"Josh? Josh... you're going to miss the bus."

Reality slapped him in the face as his body went on autopilot. Quickly, he shut off the water and dried himself with his towel, leaving his hair to air dry. A sting shot through his body when his shirt hugged his shoulders - perhaps a little too tight for his liking - but it went ignored as he threw on his bag and rushed to start his day.

-

Time seemed to drag as he sat in his therapist's office, awaiting her arrival. The clock hand was surely staying still to taunt him, he thought, or it was broken. Either way, he couldn't do anything about it.

What felt like hours went by before he heard the familiar click of the old door, followed by the greeting of an equally-as-old woman. She sat opposite him, examining the stillness of the young boy's face as she did so.

Joshua Bradley was an interesting client. He was brought in due to what his parents claimed was an "attention-seeking disorder" but it turned out that it was nothing even remotely close. At seventeen, he was suffering from both anxiety and depression, both being hard to diagnose due to his SPD - Schizoid Personality Disorder. On the surface, Josh was emotionless, just a cold shell of a broken boy.

"So, you know the drill. How was school?"

Josh appreciated the short smile she offered, one that was reserved for him. It was understanding to a degree - and not forced.

"The usual really," he paused, watching the glint in her eyes deflate the tiniest bit, before adding, "but there's this new boy."

She physically brightened at the news, just glad that he was telling her, glad that something new was happening in the poor boy's life.

"Well, who is it? What's his name? Is he nice? What classes is he in? Did you speak to him? What's he look like? Is he mean? Is he... is he cute?" She dared to add a wink to the end of her sentence, keeping up her playful demeanor.

Not surprised at the rush of questions, he waited for a moment. Thoughtfully chewing on his answer, planning out the words. The suspense was clear in the air.

"His name is Simon Minter," he chose to answer the question he was sure of first. "He seems nice enough, a little stubborn and cocky but not mean. He's taking PE, Bio, and German with me, and he's on the team as he's good at football. I said 'Hi' but nothing else." Josh concluded, purposefully leaving out a few of the questions. He knew she was joking about the 'cute' thing.

He hoped she was joking.

Was she joking?

"Simon! What a lovely name, don't you think?" Her smile shone brightly, a genuine display of happiness for the boy dancing across her face, despite how little information he could tell her. "Tell me about him! What else do you know?" She chose not to bring up the glint that flashed through his eyes.