Return What Was Lost

Chapter 19

Julian was on his way into Dr. Hopkins office when he finally ran into Avery. Up until this moment, he had managed to successfully avoid her since he had come back from break. Her hair was lighter, almost silvery now. Instinctively, his eyes drifted to her stingray necklace, however when she laid eyes on him she quickly stormed away. He guessed that her therapy session had not gone well or that she was still mad at him, either were likely.

It was not surprising to Julian, for as long as he had known Avery she had never liked talking about how she felt. She and Keith were similar in that way, of course they loved each other but they expressed it differently.

He remembered all the times Keith would eat the gross cereals Avery would buy just because she wanted the toys inside or the countless hours Keith and Avery spent playing basketball together. Julian was beginning to spot and learn about the different ways people expressed how they felt for each other.

It annoyed him that therapy was working, but he knew it was a good thing.

"So, after getting Avery in and out of trouble, how was the rest of your break?" Dr. Hopkins asked as they began their session.

Julian looked over at her. "Eventful to say the least, what do you want to hear about first? How I yelled at my mom and then made us both cry or about how I finally looked at all my stuff from when I was a kid?"

Dr. Hopkins contemplated this. "Which one did you write about first in your journal?"

"My mom," Julian murmured.

"Then let's start there," she decided.

Jullian took a deep breath. "I didn't mean to yell at her," he said quietly. "But I guess you were right, I was mad at someone else, not at much as my dad, but the anger was there."

"Did you talk it out?" Dr. Hopkins asked.

Julian nodded. "At the end of the day, she did the best she could for me, and I think once I got over my anger I realized that."

"That's good, Julian," she said approvingly. "What about the other thing?"

"Do you promise not to say anything to anyone?" Julian asked uneasily.

Doctor Hopkins nodded. "I'm bound by law not to say anything."

"Avery and I used to be best friends, she lived down the street from me and her dad was my basketball coach. The guy who gave me that Metallica shirt and they were one of the reasons I survived my childhood."

Dr. Hopkins didn't say anything. She just stared at Julian for a moment.

"Have you and Avery talked about everything surrounding your childhood situation?" she finally asked. "Like what finally got you away from him?"

Julian shook his head. "I'm not going to tell her, things are already weird enough between us."

"It sounds like Avery was important to you at one point though, don't you want that friendship back?"

More than just some friendship, Julian thought to himself but he didn't say that out loud.

After talking some more about his past, Julian left her office feeling a little bit better than before. The anger was starting to disappear, not all of it, but the burden he was carrying with him was beginning to lighten.

He was just about to head into his dorm when Nikki grabbed his arm and pulled him into the boy's common room where all their friends were sitting.

"What's going on?" Julian asked.

"Avery is pushing everyone away and has this whole bitter attitude that I can't seem to help with," Nikki explained.

"So, we're going to all go in as a united front and help her," Cole finished.