Wildest Dreams [ON HOLD]

❝ need someone to numb the pain ❞

Can't go home alone again,
Need someone to numb the pain.
You're gone,
And I gotta stay,
High all the time,
To keep you off my mind.

"Habits (Stay High)" -Tove Lo

Even though I was supposed to leave the day after for the road trip, my mom still made me attend my session with Devon on Sunday.

When I arrived he was talking to a woman with long brown hair in the lobby. She looked vaguely familiar, but before I could get a good look at her, Devon noticed me. "You can go wait in my office, Lucia. I'll be right with you."

A paranoid part of me though they were talking about me, since that's what Mom and Dad had done for months after I started seeing Nik. Ask me to wait somewhere else while they talked about me in hushed tones. Then logic and common sense kicked in and I realized there were tons of more reasonable explanations as to why Devon didn't want me around while they talked.

Like maybe she was a movie star (since I was almost certain I had seen her in a film or something once or twice) and he didn't want to risk me taking a picture of them together and selling it to the media. I wouldn't, but I didn't expect him to trust me that much.

Or maybe he just wants privacy. Like a normal person.

Just as I pushed the door to Devon's office open, I heard him say, "-can look after Summer-" The door shut behind me, cutting him off.

See Cia, they're not talking about you. Stop being a paranoid bitch. I took a seat across from Devon's empty armchair, staring at the thin folder with my name on it. Devon walked in then, and sat down on the other side of the table.

"Was that your girlfriend?" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

For some reason, I couldn't picture him having a girlfriend, or any semblance of a personal life. I couldn't imagine him doing anything except sitting at his desk, arms folded in front of him ashe listened to some teenager drone on about their problems.

Devon raised an eyebrow. "No."

"If you're worried about me telling the media, I won't," I volunteered.

Does he even have a personal life? Maybe he just works a lot.

"We're not in a relationship," he told me firmly. "Raine is married and I have a boyfriend."

"Oh. Okay. Sorry."

He gave me a curious look. "Do you do that often?"

I blinked at him. "What?"

"Make up stories like that."

"It wasn't a story, just an assumption," I corrected. "It was a valid question."

"Do you like stories?" he ased.

I shrugged, not quite sure where he was going with this. "I'm not much of a reader." Not anymore. I had read a lot throughout middle school but that stopped since I started getting busy with school.

Devon nodded, then flipped open my file and made a note of something on a blank sheet of lines paper before looking back up at me. "So how are you feeling today, Lucia?

"Fine," I replied.

"Excited for the road trip?"

I shrugged. "Not really."

"How do you feel about Jacen?"

I bit my lip. "He's okay.

Devon raised an eyebrow, but if he was annoyed by my nonchalant attitude and short answers, he didn't show it. "How do you like California?" he asked instead.