"I just can't believe this happened again, Charlie. It shocked me that this would even happen just from the stress of loud crowds and being lost in the school area, but now she's passing out from her own sister yelling at her? What are we going to do? What if that girl Logan hadn't found her as quickly as she did yesterday, and what if I hadn't ran upstairs as soon as I heard the yelling? We're only lucky that there were people around."
"Reese, calm down. Panic attacks are more common than you think."
"Mom? Dad?"
"Oh, sweetie, you're back!" Mom says, extremely relieved.
Just as I'm about to respond, Salish dashes into the room sobbing.
"I'm so sorry, Brooklyn. I took out all my anger on you when you did nothing wrong. I thought I had it hard after what happened at school today, but what you're going through is much worse. It's all my fault. I gave you the attack, and I feel so bad."
"It's okay, S." And I mean it. She's yelled at me like this before when she's in a bad mood, but I've never had this kind of reaction.
"Are you sure?" Salish says, sniffling and wiping her nose on her sleeve.
"Yeah, I'm sure. This is really a me-problem." A very scary me-problem.
"Wait, Salish, what happened at school? Is everything okay?" Dad asks.
"Yeah, you seemed completely fine when you got home," Mom adds.
"Can we just... not talk about it right now?"
"Honey, you can always talk to-"
"Please, Mom. I really don't want to talk about it right now. Can we please just snuggle?"
And that's how the next hour goes. Mom, Dad, Salish, and I snuggle together, for once being able to not think about our problems, just enjoy each other's presence. I think we all needed that in our own way.
YOU ARE READING
Mental.
Ficțiune adolescențiBrooklyn, a 13 year old girl obsessed with time and clocks, is starting middle school after being home schooled her whole life. Something horrible happens on her first day that will change her life forever. She also learns to navigate queerness in h...
