Something About Alice Murphy: BOOK 1

P A R T - F O U R T E E N

Chapter fourteen; Initiation.
January 17th
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"So what can you tell me about yourself Alice?"

"Um," Alice hummed quietly, sat in the middle of the large pale yellow couch of Dr Cote's office that was placed on the high street next to a small family owned spa that was fairly popular with high school seniors. Her eyes carefully scanned the interior, seeing the calming soft duck egg blue walls and large window with a view that looked over a stretch of garden at the back , its colours beginning to fade as the sun set. Everything inside the room followed the colour scheme of calming pastels with the occasional white or grey tone to blend it all together, Alice thought the pale colours would calm her, but they made her skin feel slightly cold and uncomfortable. "I guess I'm a fairly calm person." She said slowly and looked back into the eyes of her therapist as she shifted in her seat.

"Mhm," Dr Cote nodded, her short dusty blonde hair brushed to one side as she looked at Alice over her clear rimmed glasses and waited for her to elaborate. They were sat opposite each other, in a way Alice believed to make the discussion more relaxed... but there was nothing relaxing about this room... there was a faint citrus smell in the air, that smelt cheap and overused... as if the candle that was emanating the scent on the desk behind Dr Cote had been left burning for weeks at a time.

"My parents suggested it was a good idea for me to come here and talk to you." She continued, flicking her hair back over her shoulder without using her hands. Alice's heart beat slowly and steadily, and her eyes wandered again and glanced down and the notebook Dr Cote was writing in before looking back at her face. She thought about what observations that Dr Cote could be making about her and let her mind drift to thoughts about what Magnus had told her about when he'd read his own file.

"And why do you think that is?" Dr Cote asked, noticing Alice glancing at the candle again.

Alice sighed and adjusted the way she was sitting once more as she looked at the certificates on the wall behind Dr Cote's glass desk, her attention was drifting... she didn't want to talk about her feelings, she didn't want to talk about what they meant, she was too interested now in figuring out who this Dr Cote was behind the fancy glasses and notebook. "They think it's a good idea for me to talk openly to someone who isn't them," Alice said gently, but the tone of her voice was slightly hostile, which was something that Cote noticed immediately.

"And you don't agree?"

"I don't think it's-" Alice stopped and stared vacantly at a discoloured patch on the cream carpet by the desk for a moment, remembering something Magnus had said when she had been interviewing him just under a week ago. Tell them what they want to hear. "Maybe it is," she sighed and laughed a little coyly. "I've just been really stressed because of school and stuff... I just was ignoring my problems and I kind of shut down, which obviously stressed out my parents."

Dr Cote noticed the subtle yet sudden switch in the way Alice spoke and made a note of it. "Shut down?" She questioned, writing her observation down still and underlining it and added a question mark.

"I get a little distracted with my thoughts." Alice smiled, tilting her head slightly to the left. "How do you do it?" She asked suddenly, causing Dr Cote to raise her eyebrows briefly.

"Do what, Alice?" she asked with curiosity as the innocent faced sixteen year old seemed to stare at her without blinking.