Being Wrong | ✓

Part 25

Charlie had been on the brink of giving up on this whole proper mental health care thing, but Travis had had an idea. They were going to see the school counselor, who Travis liked, and ask her to refer Charlie to a psychiatrist who would be a better match for him.

Travis had made an appointment for them to talk to her during their lunch break, and as soon as they showed up the receptionist in the school office waved them through.

A woman in her late twenties with blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail looked up from her desk as they entered the small office, her eyes locking on Travis. "Travis, I haven't seen you in a while. I think this is the first appointment you've ever made with me that didn't come with an angry note from one of your teachers attached."

"That's because I'm here for Charlie, not for me." Travis held up their linked hands. "He's here voluntarily."

"I didn't realise you knew voluntary appointments existed, Travis," she said. "Have you considered using them to talk about your problems?"

"Ha," Travis said as they sat down across from her.

"No? Okay. Hello, Charlie, I'm Clara. What can I help you with?"

Charlie looked to Travis for help. He didn't know what to say. The question felt too big.

"We need a referral to a psychiatrist who doesn't suck," Travis said.

"Doesn't suck, huh? Well, I'll try." Clara clicked her pen and poised it over her notepad, ready to write. "What non-sucky attributes would you like in your psychiatrist, Charlie?"

Charlie just shrugged. He didn't really know what he hadn't liked about the other one. It just... hadn't worked.

She jotted something down anyway and then pushed a jar full of lollipops across her desk towards them. "Have a lollipop. They're one of the great perks of doing this job. We're out of red ones because I ate them all."

Charlie picked a blue one, unwrapped it, and stuck it in his mouth. Having something to focus on besides her made him feel a little better.

"So you're a bit shy, yeah?" she asked, and Charlie nodded. "Are there any particular problems you're having that you want to focus on?"

Charlie took the lollipop out of his mouth. "I suck at life."

"Hmm, okay, yes, I see," she said. "More than is typical for a teenager? Because man, I have seen some things."

Charlie shrugged. "Everything just gets overwhelming so fast and I can't deal with it."

"It's not just normal emotional teenage shit," Travis added. "Even when he's having a good time he can crash without much warning and then he take hours to recover."

"That does sound like it's reaching into abnormal levels on the shit scale." Clara tapped her pen against her notepad. "And you'd like to see a psychiatrist who doesn't suck. Can you tell me what that would be like? Or wouldn't be like?"

"I don't know..." Charlie said. "We just went to see one and I don't want to see him again. He kept staring at me to try to get me to talk."

"He did a really shitty job of making Charlie feel comfortable," Travis added.

She gave Travis a critical look. "Travis, did you get into an argument with the psychiatrist?"

"No!" Travis said. "Not really. No, I didn't. Not that exact thing that you just said."

"I see..." she said. "And Travis will be going with you to your appointments with whoever I refer you to, Charlie?"

Charlie nodded.

"Then I suppose part of the good psychiatrist criteria will have to be that they don't feel like enough of an authority figure that Travis decides he wants to fight them."