in which she swims to forget all the pain, but he sees it all because dallas edlen is not ok and, having loved her for years, seeing that was no task.
ONE BREATH
MINIMINTER
SIDEMEN
DEATHLIES 2016
[COMPLETED]
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TWENTY FOUR d a l l a s
"Alright," Morris says, setting her pen down once more and folding her hands as if this were a professional meeting, not a counselling session for a teenage girl.
Dallas did not look so professional or well-kept with the bruise brilliantly purple underneath her right eye and with her elbow resting on the desk, her chin atop her hand and her eyes staring right at Morris just waiting until she could leave.
She didn't want to be here. Not that she didn't appreciate what people were trying to do for her. It was just that she would rather be elsewhere.
"So, Dallas, how've you been feeling recently?"
"Like shit," Dallas replies simply.
"And why is that?" Morris pushes and Dallas rolls her eyes.
"Because don't know what I've done wrong." She sighs heavily and impatiently, leaning back in the chair and glancing to the clock like she'd been doing every five seconds since she'd entered the room.
"In terms of what? With your parents?"
"No, not with my parents. I have nothing to do with their divorce and I'm not stupid enough to even consider that. No, I'm talking about where I went wrong with Simon, but that's not what I'm here to talk to you about today, is it?" Dallas says forcefully, surprising Morris and setting her on edge ever so slightly. Dallas sees this and settles herself back into the chair. "Sorry, continue."
"As you know, I'm new to this school and I understand that you had a councillor prior to me who you... did not get on with to say the least. I want to talk about the impact your brother's death had on you as I know that was never something he understood."
"Adam's death was unexpected," Dallas responds softly. She looks down at her hands in her lap, begging herself not to weaken. "We didn't expect him to go out that night and never come back again."
"But how did it make you in particular feel?" Morris gestures to her with her meaty finger.
"Me?" Dallas laughs, letting her head fall back to stare at the ceiling. "I've never been the same since."
"How so?"
"I can't remember the last time I had a good night of sleep. It just doesn't come to me anymore. I gave up trying a long time ago and put effort into school work and swimming instead," Dallas explains, her eyes training in on the painted white ceiling.
"What time do you go to sleep now?"
"Well, that depends on a couple of things such as how tired I am, how busy my mind is and how much I think about the bad things. The most important factor is probably my mood. If I'm in a down mood, I'll go for a swim instead of crying myself to sleep like a baby would." Dallas rocks the chair back onto its back legs.
"And you're ok with that?"
"There's nothing I can do but be ok with it, even if I'm not ok as a whole. I'm a joke, Morris, you've got to understand that. My parents are divorcing, my brother is dead as the result of chance and the girl I thought was my best friend was sleeping with my boyfriend behind my back. How can you look me in the eyes and take me seriously?"
"I think you've had enough for today," Morris suggests gently, looking down at Dallas' fingers clenched around the arms of the chair, knuckles white and eyes brimmed with tears. "I'll see you next week, Dallas. Be sure to make a note of your sleeping patterns, ok?"
"Alright, Morris." Dallas lets the chair fall back into all four legs. "Will do."
