When Brinley's mom signs her up for a weekly therapy group for teens, she doesn't expect much. However, when she meets a skinny boy with demons as fierce as her own, she realizes that opening her heart might be the first step in recovery.
//a Luke H...
Thursday, August 27, 2018 6:00 p.m. Sidewalk on Malbury Street
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I sigh. Of course she forgot to come pick me up. The only time she was supposed to drive me to and from these sessions was the first one so that she felt like a good parent, giving me encourage me or whatever. However, since I failed to go last week, now she insists on taking me, but it seems as though she has forgotten me already. It's not surprising, though. I would forget me too.
The door to the therapy building opens and closes. I stay on my phone, prepared to wait half an hour for my mom to arrive. I just flip through some of the comments on my Instagram pictures from two summers ago. Back then, I was smiling for real and wore bathing suits. I never wore them confidently and only wore ones that covered my stomach, but I wasn't depressed. The comments range from how chubby I looked to how I didn't have any friends to spend summer with. I remember crying over those comments, but now I just feel numb reading them.
"Do you need a ride?"
The voice startles me as I whip my head around. The setting sun momentarily blinds my eyes. I blink and squint. Luke smiles nervously, his hands shoved into his jean pockets.
With a push of a button I turn off my phone. "That's okay." I glance at the building's glass door reflecting the colors in the sky and wonder how long he's been standing there for.
Luke shuffles his feet. "It'd be no problem, really, if you need a ride. It's going to get dark soon."
I peer behind him at the sunset and realize that the sun would be below the horizon by the time Mom pulled into the parking lot in her SUV. I look back at Luke. "Sure."
⎸ So the chapter lengths vary if you haven't noticed.
