Matt couldn't bring himself to tell Sebastian when he got back that weekend. He kept putting it off or talking himself out of it. Soon it was Monday.
Classes were a blur for him. He hardly noticed anything until Health, where he had to take notes and was forced to listen.
"Alright, we're moving on to a new unit. Well, an old unit you should have already covered. Mental illnesses."
She looked at the class, usual stern expression softening. "If any of you happen to have one of these that we're covering, please feel free to step out of class if you need to."
She cleared her throat and the teacher exterior was back as she turned on her slide presentation. "Although there are many more out there, this is a list of the ones we will be covering."
"Why isn't depression on there?" someone asked.
"Good eye. Tree, give me a symptom of depression."
"Self harm," Sebastian answered without thinking.
"Good. Boots, give me a symptom of autism."
"Um... Some sort of communication issue, right? Like impaired social skills?"
"Good. See the time difference between those answers? That's why depression isn't on here. You already know about it. Here, just shout out a symptom of depression as they come to you."
She picked up a whiteboard marker, writing down the symptoms they said.
Depression
Self-harm
Sadness
Unwell feeling
Numb
Suicidal tendencies
Fatigue
Guilt
Hopelessness
Insomnia
Restlessness
"Alright, that's enough. Now, tell me some symptoms for PTSD, or post traumatic stress disorder."
There was a pause, nobody immediately thinking of one.
"Um, depression?" someone guessed. She wrote it down.
"Anxiety?"
There was a silence after she wrote that one down too.
"Irritation," Sebastian spoke up quietly. Nobody else said anything, so he continued. "Flashbacks. Hostility. Self-harm. Self-destructive behavior. Fear. Mistrust. Feeling detached. Insomnia."
There was a pause between each of his words, expecting someone else to say something. Nobody did.
He was uncomfortably aware of everyone looking at him and stopped.
"See, that," she capped the marker, "is why we aren't going over depression. You already know it. PTSD? Aside from one well-researched person, you know practically nothing. PTSD can cause anxiety and depression, they aren't symptoms of it." She wiped those two off of the board.
"Guess osmosis taught you a thing or two, tree," she joked.
Sebastian grinned. "Maybe so."
YOU ARE READING
Back To Our Roots, Book One
FanfictionThad hasn't had the easiest life. It doesn't help that he's been called a 'she' for most of it. After attempting to end it, he enrolls in Dalton Academy. Meeting an old friend whose life he saved without knowing it, his old friend's boyfriend who i...
