When we were wallflowers

10

"Can I have Alfred and Matthew Kirkland down to the office," the intercom suddenly spoke. Everyone suddenly turned to Matthew and me, and I sunk into my seat. I have a feeling I know what this will be about. Matthew and I stood up, and both grabbed our things. "See you tomorrow," the teacher spoke. We both nodded and began to leave the room. "Do you think it's about what happened yesterday?" Matthew asked. "Maybe, but who would have said something?" I wondered. "Maybe a student who saw, I mean, we were in the cafeteria when it happened," Matthew added. He was right about that.

When we arrived downstairs, two women were waiting for us. "Over here, boys," one of them smiled. She had long wavy hair and was pretty. "Are we in trouble?" I asked. She giggled and shook her head "no! Absolutely not!" She smiled. "My name is Erika, and that is Elizaveta; we are just here to talk and check in on you; come with us," the other lady smiled. She had two ribbons in her short blonde hair, which seemed so sweet.

We followed them into an office that wasn't an office. It looked more like a therapy room. It had a long sofa, stress relieving tactics, and blankets. It was calming, and I was sure it was the counselor's office. "Take a seat, please," Erika smiled. Matthew and I nodded and sat beside each other on the sofa. "Okay, let's get down to business; we are social workers for the school. It was brought to our attention by your father that you both lost a parent a year ago?" Elizaveta began.

Oh...

It was about that...

"Yes..." Matthew answered.

"Ah, your father spoke to us because he wants to ensure the two of you are mentally okay. We are here to talk to you about anything. We were informed that one of you was hospitalized. Ummm... Alfred, which one is that?" She asked.

My vision was getting blurry, and it was like I was dissociating. "Me..." I whispered. "And how are you holding up?" She asked.

I looked down at my feet and refused to look her in the eyes. "Alfred? We can only help if you speak... would you like to speak alone?" Erika asked. My eyes widened, and I shook my head. "No! I want Matthew here, please," I spoke, worried. Matthew grabbed my hand, worried, and I squeezed it.

"It will be stressful for both of you. Your English is excellent, but you are in a new country, and along with a death in the family, depression is inevitable. We want to let you both know that we are here for you, and you can come and talk to either of us if you need anything," Elizaveta spoke.

"Thank you, we are holding up as much as we can," Matthew spoke. I was feeling my head spinning. I wasn't sure why, but it might have been their presence. The last time I talked to a social worker was at my old school when I woke up. I was skipping class, and papa had to pull me out of school. Matthew did not want to go ahead without me, so he also started to miss school. We were not far behind, maybe missed the last month, but we were moved up because of the incident.

"How is your father? Has he taken the frustration out on you?"

"What? No! He would never!" Matthew and I both spoke at the same time and stood up. "It's okay, and these are just questions we have to ask, don't worry. Your father was distraught, so we doubt it," Erika giggled. I looked at Matthew nervously, and we both sat down.

"Now, how are the two of you adjusting? Have you made friends? Are people being nice?" Elizaveta asked. I felt tense, and I looked at Matthew. He was smarter than me, so I'd rather have him answer. "Everyone is being very welcoming!" He smiled. However, I could sense irritation behind his smile. "That's great to hear; now we would like to schedule with the two of you to meet once a week separately and one session together at the end of the month. If the two of you feel you do not need the services anymore by then, we can stop anytime you like," Erika reassured.

"Okay..." I spoke. That did not seem too bad. "How about we meet Wednesday? Is that okay with you, Alfred?" Erika smiled. "Yeah, that's fine," I answered. "How is Tuesday for you?" Elizaveta asked Matthew. "That's good for me too," he spoke. "We will have you both come during your study period, so that is... the fourth period for the two of you," Erika looked at her paperwork, and we nodded.

"Great, for the next session, we want the two of you to write down your concerns, and we will discuss them. You both are free to go now, have a good day, Elizaveta smiled. Matthew and I nodded and began to gather our things. "See you soon!" They spoke in unison.

"Thank you for everything," Matthew spoke. We quickly left the room and looked at each other concerned. "Do you think papa noticed?" Matthew asked. "I'm not sure, and we can ask later tonight," I explained. Matthew nodded, and the bell began to chime. "Looks like it is lunch. Do you want to eat outside?" I asked. Matthew nodded, and we both turned around. "It beats running into those two idiots," he laughed. I began to laugh with him and suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.

"Who are the idiots?" A voice spoke. My eyes widened, and I looked to Matthew, who looked horrified. "It's none of your business, piss off," I glared. Ivan and that other guy stood in front of us. "Adnan, did you hear that? It's none of our business; how cute," Ivan laughed.

So that other guy's name is Adnan.

"Let's have lunch together," Ivan gave a scary smirk, but I still looked at him, annoyed. No way I'm going to let him punk me out. "And if we refuse?" I glared. "Alfred, stop," Matthew spoke, annoyed. "You don't want to find out," he smirked.

"Well, too bad! Matthew! Let's go!" I glared. I quickly pulled Matthew, watching Ivan stare at us with a scary smile. He was up to something; I know it.