Oddity

12

I did not like therapy. His name was Dr. Jacobson, but he insisted that I called George.

I called him Dr. Jacobson.

Dr. Jacobson asked a lot of questions. He asked me why I was there, and I told him that Mom and Dad made me. He asked me why Mom and Dad made me, and I told him that I did not know.

He asked me how many friends I had, and I told him one. I talked to him about Mitch for a long time, and I liked that part.

Then, he asked me to talk about myself. I did not like this part.

He informed me that I spent 11 minutes talking about Mitch, and only 4 talking about myself.

I explained to him that this was because I liked Mitch, and I did not like myself.

He asked me why that was, and I told him that there was nothing about me to like.

"Mitch likes you."

So, I had to explain to him that it was subjective. Just because one person liked me, it didn't mean I was a likeable person. There were more people that did not like me than people that did like me, so it made sense that I was not a likeable person.

Although I did not like therapy, I had to go back every Wednesday. It was always repetitive, and I did not like answering questions.

Going back to school was not fun. Having time away from Michael Turner had been nice, but he was right back to being mean once we came back.

I could tell that it was taking a toll on Mitch, and that made me sad.

The worst part of ninth grade didn't come until there was only a month left of school. I was at home, staring at my homework.

I didn't want to do it, because I didn't understand it. So I called Mitch, because he helped me with the homework I didn't understand.

Mitch did not answer his phone.

That's all it took for a suffocating feeling to settle over me. I called again, but Mitch didn't answer his phone.

I texted him, asking if he was busy. I waited 10 minutes, but Mitch never texted me back.

I picked up my phone and headed out of my room and downstairs. "Dad, can you drive me over to Mitch's house?"

Dad looked up from some paperwork. "Can you wait until after dinner? It's almost done."

"No," I replied simply. "I would like to go now please."

He glanced back up at me before sighing. He stood up and scratched the back of his neck, "Alright. Lauren, will you keep track of dinner?" he questioned at Lauren who was sitting in the living room.

"Mmhmm," she replied, absentmindedly staring at her phone.

Once we were in the car, Dad did not begin to drive, instead, he turned in his seat so he was looking towards me.

"Can I ask you something?"

I nodded.

He nodded as well, "Alright, I was just wondering if...and I won't look at you any different if you do...but...do you like boys?"

"Yes. But I also like girls," I added, hoping to ease the clear discomfort in his tone.

Dad nodded again, "So uh...you and Mitch...?"

"Mitch doesn't like boys," I informed him.

I couldn't help but frown at the fact that Dad looked relieved before he began to drive.