Athena Henderson was fine, as she had always been, but she wasn't completely fine. Nobody knew something about her, and no one will ever know if she had anything to do with it.
It all began when he passed away. Her screams echoed throughout the mal...
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Athena despised her counseling sessions- the woman was nice, perhaps a little too nice for her taste, and patient, but Athena refused to discuss her problems with her; she liked the wall she had built and didn't want it to be torn down just so she could please her mother by appearing to be improving when, in fact, she was worsening. Her mother enrolled her in these sessions, assuring her that they would benefit her and that she would feel more comfortable opening up to someone she didn't know. So she did it for her mother to make her feel better and proud of her, but she now regrets it completely, hating the fact that she had to open up and talk about something she didn't want to talk about and forget about.
"So, Athena. Is there anything you'd like to discuss with me before we get started?" Mrs Kelly asks Athena as she settles into her seat. Mrs Kelly was sweet and had a knack of putting a smile on your face. Even when you shut her down, which Athena does all the time, she always had a smile on her face.
"No," Athena responds angrily, her fingers shaking as she looks down at her hands.
"How's it going at home?" Mrs Kelly asks, reclining back in her seat and peering down at Athena, who sits grumpily in front of her. "Are you making any new friends?"
"No," Athena snaps at her irritated, starting to bounce her leg up and down.
"You know... I ask because it's important for you to have friends, a network of individuals to whom you can turn when you need someone to talk to, you know? People to whom you may tell anything without fear of being judged." Mrs Kelly continues,"Do you have that support group?"
Athena's gaze is fixed on her hands as she fiddles with her fingers. She didn't want to tell her friends how she was feeling since she didn't want the pity looks she gets every day at school, and she didn't feel included anymore because of her strange powers that she acquired following the Starcourt Mall tragedy. She recalls all the times she, Steve, and Robin worked at Scoops Ahoy together, and all the laughs she and Robin shared while seeing Steve try to flirt with a girl but be instantly shut down, before the mind flayed arrived and messed everything up. Billy and her were so happy together back then that she even helped out at the pool just to be with him. No one in their friend group seemed to mind that they were together, and they tried to reason with her, but she swiftly shut them down by stating how much she cared and loved him; back then, she was carefree; now, everything is different.
"I used to," Athena admits, "Before summer happened, now not so much."
"You were in a friend group with Max, right?" Mrs Kelly's question catches Athena's attention because she hadn't mentioned Max once in all of her sessions with her. She avoided mentioning any of her friends' names. Mrs Kelly notices her shocked expression and adds, "She brings you up sometimes, during her sessions," with a light smile.
