Blue

seven

"Y'ready, Win?" Ningning knocked softly on the bedroom door. Winter tugged her beanie onto her head and padded over to the door, opening it slowly and smiling when she saw the taller girl on the other side.

"Ready," Winter nodded once. "Will Karina be here when we get back?"

"She gets back from class in an hour," Ningning pushed the door open wider and motioned for Winter to follow her. Winter had her weekly therapy appointment that day.

"I do not like going," Winter confessed as she followed Ningning out to the car. The light skinned girl raised an eyebrow, making sure Winter buckled her seatbelt before they pulled out onto the road.

"Why not?" Ningning asked. Winter sighed and shook her head.

"I do not know her," Winter pulled her legs up to her chest and stared out the window. "She does not know me. Strangers are not friends."

"I get what you mean," Ningning said honestly. "But she's a doctor, you've got to at least try to let her help you."

"Why do I need help?" Winter lifted her head and looked over at the younger girl. She didn't understand why she needed to go.

"I'm not sure," Ningning drummed her fingers against the steering wheel. "There's just some things you've got to work on, that's all. Everyone needs to work on some things. You just need a little extra help."

"But not everyone has to go and talk to a stranger," Winter sighed. This made her feel different. It made her feel stupid. Why was she the only person who needed help?

"That's a lie," Ningning shrugged. "I have to go after class and get help from my teacher sometimes. It's basically the same thing. It's just that I need help with dancing in heels, and you need help with your emotions. It's nothing to be ashamed of."

Winter nodded slowly. What Ningning was saying was starting to make sense. But she still couldn't let go of the fact that she felt different. Not the good kind of different, either. The kind of different that made people stare at you when you went out in public.

Once they reached the doctors office, Winter was led back into the small room. She sat down in the same red chair she had sat in multiple times before. There were different chairs in the room, but she chose the red one because it was the furthest away from the therapist's desk.

"How've things been at home, Winter?" The dark haired woman looked up from her desk. Winter hung her hand down and played with her hands nervously.

"Good," she shrugged and tugged at the beanie on her head. Karina had given it to her, she remembered. It was the girl's lucky beanie. As long as Winter was wearing it, she could do anything.

"What have you been up to since we last met?" The woman tapped her pencil against the desk. The noise made Winter's anxiety heighten.

"I went to class with Yooji," Winter remembered, feeling a small smile form on her face.

"Don't you mean Karina?" The woman asked. Winter nodded.

"That is what I said," the smaller girl grew nervous. "Her name is Yooji. Only I can call her that. She is my Yooji."

"Oh," the therapist jotted something down. Winter didn't like her facial expressions. They worried her.

"I made a friend, too," Winter blurted out. She knew whenever the woman wrote something down that she had said something wrong. "Two of them."

"You did?" The woman looked up. "Tell me about them."

"They are in Yooji's class. There is a girl named Irene. And her girlfriend is named Seulgi. She makes things with clay," Winter looked down at her arm, where Irene painted the flower. It had washed off in the shower, but there was still a slight shadow where the black paint had been.