STARGIRL

68. Sorry

    "Arabella, you have exhibited all the symptoms of complex post traumatic stress disorder," Dr. Li said to the teenager who was sitting right across from her.

Arabella didn't even blink. Instead, she kept a bored and unimpressed expression.

Arabella sighed as she raised the hood of her jacket over her head, "I had no idea."

Dr. Li disregarded the sarcasm, "You were diagnosed this summer, but stopped our appointments before I could even tell you anything."

"I wasn't ready to talk about it. I still don't know if I can."

"That's okay. Treatment isn't always linear. You have my word that me and Dr. Mendoza will go at your own pace."

The teen inhaled a sharp breath and slowly nodded her head to show that she reluctantly agreed.

"The most important thing is that you're here now," Dr. Li concluded, "Ready to go over a treatment plan?"

Arabella wanted to crawl into her own skin and disappear.

She swallowed her spit, "Yeah, I'm ready."

—

Rosario was sitting all alone at lunch when her two friends reluctantly approached.

"Hi!" Gwen greeted Rosario who merely looked up at the two of them for a moment.

Gwen softly nudged at Tamia's side with her elbow.

A sympathetic smile crossed Tamia's gloss stained lips, "I'm sorry for what I said and for what I did."

Rosario slightly shrugged, "It's okay, it was a blessing in disguise. I would of looked dumb."

Gwen chuckled and grabbed onto the straps of her backpack, "Especially after what I saw."

"What?" Rosario inquired as her friends sat down across from her.

Gwen leaned over the table, "Arabella and X. Caught them kissing."

Tamia curled her upper lip with disgust as Rosario tried her best to not care.

"I thought it was just a rumor," Rosario mumbled, "Well, they deserve each other."

Her two friends remained silent as Rosario slowly began to collect her things.

"I guess I thought," she paused, "I mean... I don't know? I held on to these delusions that maybe he would realize she wasn't the one for him and give us a shot again."

Tamia sighed, "It's been hard for you. I know we're always like, get over it but if we would've known how fixated you were-"

"Ew," Rosario laughed at how stupid she sounded, "I really need to focus on school more. I got a F on my physics exam."

Her friends said nothing about how she glossed over their conversation and went along with what she was saying.

"I haven't even thought about what college I want to go to," Rosario added, "Have you guys?"

Gwen nodded, "I sent in apps to like 7 schools already."

"Yeah, I'm trying to get into Georgia Tech, but whatever school offers me the most I'm taking it."

Rosario frowned, "You guys are so smart. I'm sure you'll both get into the school you want."

"You don't have to go to college if you don't want to Ros."

Rosario nodded, "I know, but I will. I just need to sort out my grades."

Tamia sat up, "We'll help you study. We can have little study sessions."