"I can't believe you did that! You eavesdropped on us?"
"You haven't answered my question," my mother calmly replied.
I rolled my eyes at her, "I don't know why you think I said that. I don't know anyone named Owen. You must have heard me wrong," I glanced out the window in exasperation and watched the world pass by.
My mom raised her voice and started to challenge me but my dad suddenly came to my defense, "Honey, this is exactly what we don't want to happen. Dr. Carlisle said we should..."
My mother turned her anger on my father, "I know what Dr. Carlisle said and I know what I heard!"
"Alright, that's enough!" my dad momentarily lost his reserve. He took a deep breath, "I'm sorry," he sighed. "I think we should all take a minute to calm down. Your mother and I only want what's best for you, Livie, and right now we are just confused by our own concerns. We can talk about this later, once we've had a chance to think about everything. What's most important now is you and the last thing we want to do is add to your worries."
My parents rarely fought and it was very upsetting to hear them speak so angrily to one another. I wasn't sure what to say or what to do so I just nodded and apologized, too, hoping it would ease some of the tension they were both feeling.
"Your father is right," my mom sighed. "I'm sorry I got so upset. We can talk some more later."
The rest of the ride home went by in silence. When we got there I mumbled that I had homework and made my way upstairs to my room. I tried calling Tyler but he didn't answer. I didn't bother leaving a message knowing he would see my number on his missed calls and try to get in touch with me later. After I hung up I put my things away and got started on my work.
Eventually my mother called Lizzie and I down to dinner. I was still a little anxious about having to face my parents and the inevitable conversation I expected to have with them. Neither one of them brought up my visit to Dr. Carlisle, though. Once or twice I thought about mentioning it myself, just to get it over with, but I couldn't find the courage and instead decided to leave well enough alone.
It was a relatively quiet and unanimated meal. Lizzie ended up doing most of the talking while my mom, dad and I offered a few bits and pieces of conversation whenever the silence threatened to go on too long for comfort. Once everyone finally finished eating I asked to be excused and as was our custom, Lizzie and I cleared the remnants of our dinner away.
"Everything alright," she asked as we rinsed and stacked the dishes in the dishwasher.
"Yeah, I met with the therapist today and, I dunno, Mom and Dad didn't like her, I guess."
"Did you?"
"Yeah, I thought she was really nice. I liked talking to...hmm..."
"What?"
I chuckled nervously, "I was going to say that I liked talking to her but now I'm not even sure I remember what we talked about!" I tried smiling to hide my nervousness.
"Ooh, did she hypnotize you?" Lizzie asked jokingly.
I shook my head, "Don't be ridiculous! But she did ask me to try meditating this week."
"You mean like," Lizzie held her hands up and pinched her middle fingers to her thumbs. She closed her eyes, "Um," she breathed, "um."
I swatted her with the hand towel I was using to dry off, "No! You fool! I'm supposed to look something up online."
"Oh?" Lizzie seemed curious.
"She said there were a lot of different techniques and that I should find one that works for me."
