Fangirl School (Percy Jackson)

The Therapist

October was going by smoothly. Once a week, I went with my friends to help with the different rehearsals after school. No drama. Just a heck of a lot of work. Edit Making was fun, but about half the class, I could tell, was going to fail Crossovers, since all we did was take notes about what would happen if a fandom crossed over with Percy Jackson, and most kids in our branch only had one fandom.

Sometime in mid-October I noticed that Lucas was looking really tired. He didn't have dark circles or anything, he just looked and sounded absolutely exhausted, like he wasn't getting enough sleep.

When I asked him what was wrong after lunch one day, he hesitated. Delphine was nearby. I wasn't sure why he didn't want her to know.

"Can we talk in recess? I'll ask Walker to get me away from Delphine," he said.

"Sure thing," I told him.

Double Fanfiction Writing dragged by. Fiona and I ended up playing the dino game after finishing our assignment, and then I found Lucas.

He was yapping with Walker about God knows what. I tapped his shoulder, and he turned to me.

"So are you going to tell me now?" I asked.

"Can we sit?" he sounded absolutely exhausted. We went to the stairs that led to the second floor and sat on the bottom step. I made sure to keep a respectful distance, but still close enough to be able to comfort him.

"So what's going on?"

"Well... my stepdad wants me to transfer out of Fangirl School."

My jaw dropped. "What? Why?"

"He says I'm a 'man' and I need to go to regular school and play ball or whatever. And my stepbrothers are being really mean to me."

"Mean how?"

"Pretty much saying the same stuff their dad did. They've been hiding my things. My brothers defend me when they're around, but when they aren't..."

Poor Lucas. It couldn't have been easy being the youngest of nine, but going to Fangirl School too? Being a nerd was so normalized here I forgot people outside our school must've thought we were really weird.

I wanted to say something, but I knew this was beyond my ability to fix. Lucas needed professional help.

"Why don't you talk to your mom about it?" I asked gently.

"I've tried. She's so busy and stressed out trying to run a house of eleven, and every time I do tell her she says we're siblings now, and I should get used to it."

"Have you tried talking to anyone else?"

"I'll come off as whiny. I don't even know how you're not sick of me by now."

Hearing that made me even sadder than him. How could I ever be sick of Lucas?

"I could never be sick of you," I said quietly.

He didn't even glance at me, which stung a bit. "I just wish I could go back. When it was just me and my four siblings, and my mom. Before all this stuff started. Before crushes and dating."

"Delphine giving you much trouble?" I smiled a little smile.

"She's a bit of a handful- don't get me wrong, she's great, but I feel like I need to spend every waking minute with her."

"I kind of get that," I admitted. "Fiona and I have been hanging out a lot without her lately. But she likes you a lot, you know."

"I know," he said. "I just wish I'd get a minute to myself."

His problems just kept piling up and up.

Lucas needed help. And since he wasn't going to look for it himself, I was.

The second I was home from school I turned on my laptop and started looking for a suitable therapist. Not a really old one they'd just say "get off that dam phone," but someone with a degree, a ton of good reviews, and suitable age.

Because that was what Lucas deserved.

I spent days on end trying to balance schoolwork and looking for someone for Lucas. Fiona ended up helping me with my homework a lot during recess, since I wasn't walking around with Lucas anymore. Every day, I'd go home and open up my laptop, going on to different websites and staying up a little longer than usual to find the perfect help.

Finally, after about a week, I found one; a 25-year-old lady called Marlina Loughty, who had 4.2 stars and comments that said she helped people get over depression. I emailed her and she agreed to come meet me outside of Fangirl School the next day after school.

So I did my hair a little neater the next morning, made sure I looked presentable, and checked to be positive no one else was around.

She was a rather short lady with a tan, dark brown eyes, and curly brown hair that she let run free.

What I hadn't mentioned in my email to her, however, was that Lucas wasn't going to be paying. I knew he couldn't possibly pay thousands of dollars for help, and clearly neither his mom nor his stepdad would pay. My final part in this was to convince her of that.

She shook my hand. However, the second I told her my request she shook her head.

"I didn't go to college for years to do therapy for free," Marlina told me. "I'm sorry, dear."

"Please?" I asked. "It's really important. He needs it, and he doesn't have the money, and- he's really, really important to me. Please. You'd be doing both me and him a huge favor."

She looked me dead in the eyes, and I thought she was about to cuss me out, but instead her face softened.

"You care about this boy?" she asked, which was not what I was expecting.

"Yeah. I do." I blinked, surprised at her change in demeanor.

"Well, since you clearly care about him a lot," she said, "girl to girl, I'll do it."

"Really?!" I was shocked I'd convinced her this fast.

"Yes. Now give me his number before I change my mind."

Still baffled, I gave her both his number and mine, thanked her, and went home.

Two days later exactly Lucas came up to me, his eyes wide. He still looked exhausted, but his eyes weren't red anymore. Instead they were twinkling.

"You- I-" he sputtered. He lifted his arms as if to hug me, then hesitated. "How? Why?"

I shrugged. "You needed it."

"I don't know how to thank you," he said. "Seriously, Y/N, this means the world to me."

He smiled for the first time in a while. I don't know why the sight of that made me so happy.