Castaway || mgc

32

therapy

          my eyes follow calum as he stares at his feet whilst making his way towards the only empty seat left opposite me.

          "sorry i'm late, harvey." his monotone voice is complimented by a blank visage, making it clear;

          he doesn't want me here.

          "it's alright, calum." harvey sends him a timid smile and i can feel the confusion in my mind. he moves to grab some papers and sits back on his chair.

          i don't want to think much about it. ashton did say that therapy helps him a lot so why won't it help me, right?

          "i hope all of you can give our new friend here a warm welcome, yeah? michael, would you like to introduce yourself?" harvey smiles at me and i raise an eyebrow.

          introduce myself to a bunch of lunatics?

          "i-i, uh..." i stammer, looking around at the other five except for calum who's avoiding my gaze. "i have nothing to introduce. i'm just michael and i-i, i don't know what is wrong with me."

          i blurt out whatever that comes to mind without feeling the need to filter my words. therapy, from what i've heard about before, is supposed to be dealt with full honesty.

          "then why not we all open up to each other, yeah? chris, why don't we start with you? tell us why you're here today." harvey motions to the first person on his left and i can see that chris is hesitant.

          chris stands up, fumbling with his hands. "h-hey. i, um, i'm chris and i-i was put in here by my aunt because i just w-won't eat."

          i. chris - anorexic.

          "i'm leslie," the girl after chris stands up, "i was put here because my mom's schizophrenic and i just lost my shit."

          ii. leslie - traumatized.

          "can i go last?" calum says when it's his turn and harvey presses his lips into a thin line before nodding. i don't understand what calum is hiding.

          "my name's eva. i got in here because i was obsessed with self-harming and my parents couldn't handle it."

          iii. eva - OCD

          "i-i guess i'm just depressed? m-my father used t-to abuse me. i'm p-penelope."

          iv. penelope - clinical depression.

          i gulp, but harvey seems to let me off the hook. i don't know why i'm here and i just can't tell. but right now, harvey urges calum to speak and before he looks down, i swear i see tears in his brown eyes.

          "i'm calum," he says, not standing up and then i hear him sniffle. he's crying. "i-i got in because... because i k-killed mali."

          "and who is mali, calum?" harvey asks, obviously already knowing the answer.

          calum chokes on a sob, "mali's m-my sister." and he breaks down as i sit still, speechless.

          3. calum hood. cause of insanity: homicide.