Innocent Bystander

Chapter Four: No, Tamora, I Will Not Join Your Cult

AN: I'm not sure if this needs a trigger warning or not, but just in case, TW: Comparisons to a cult.

Oh yeah, that's another thing you'll see a lot in this fic: trigger warnings. I know some things might not need a trigger warning, but I find it better to give a heads up just in case.

Before I knew it, a slightly uneventful week had passed and it was Friday again. This Friday, like the last, was going to be a different one; This was the day of my first appointment with my therapist. From what Mom told me, her name was Jane Cooper (In no way related to my Aunt Savannah, whose maiden name was Cooper) and she was one of the best therapists in town.

The day before, Mom and I went out and bought a little journal that I could jot down things I wanted to tell this Jane Cooper during the sessions. The journal wasn't hardcover, but it wasn't paperback either. It was had one of those firm, rubber-ish covers that were slightly bendable (you know the ones). It looked to have a marble cover and had the word "Notebook" printed in bronze on the front (very creative indeed).

There were a few things I wrote down as soon as I got some time alone; The incident with Gabe, Nolan, and Liam, along with the little crush I had on Nolan were the first two things to be documented. Everything else, I would write as the days progressed.

I didn't know if I should mention it to Jane Cooper, but throughout the entire week, Gabe would disappear for short periods and claim that nothing had happened. I was starting to get really worried about him. Of course, I didn't say anything to Aunt Linda and Uncle Jonathan (Gabe's Dad) because I didn't wanna get him in any more trouble than he'd already gotten himself in by beating up Liam.

It wasn't just Gabe disappearing either. Nolan, Brian, Aaron and Nick had the tendency to leave the school for brief periods of time as well. I could've cared less about the last three, but Nolan was constantly on my mind the entire week because of that sweet, savoury dream I had as it was. I didn't want to full-on worry about him on top of that.

During lunch that day, Katie and I found ourselves by my locker, talking about the Creative Writing essays we were writing in English class.

Katie and I had agreed to hang out at the mall the next day. This was the first time I had actually been asked to go somewhere with someone, as whenever the two-faced girls that I used to call friends at my old school went anywhere, they rarely invited me, and one of the only times they did... Well, see Chapter One.

Ten minutes before the warning bell, we heard Ms. Martin's voice over the PA system.

"Alice Simmons to room 211, please. Alice Simmons to room 211," She announced.

"Room 211?" I asked Katie, "What room is that?"

"The guidance counsellor's office," Katie replied. For some reason, she sounded a bit uneasy. "Follow me. I'll show you."

With that, Katie led me upstairs to the guidance counselor's office.

When we got there, I knocked on the door.

"Come in!" I heard a woman call out as I opened the door.

"I'll be in the Science classroom when you're ready," Katie said as she left.

When I stepped into the room I noticed it was very clean and organized.

There were filing cabinets by a wooden desk with three chairs by it. Two of those chairs were in front of the desk and one of them was behind it. In the chair behind the desk, there was a woman - a teacher - sitting, waiting for me. She had dark skin, short, curly, dark brown hair, dark eyes, and was wearing semi-professional clothing. Something about her seemed a bit off, but I couldn't quite figure out what.