The Sun is Shining

000

The waiting room was slowly emptying, leaving a young married couple and one teenage girl to themselves. The girl wasn't as captivated in her book as she thought. She slowly kept glancing up at the couple, noticing the little things. 

Firstly, they were married. She could tell from the big, fat diamond that kept sparkling in the afternoon sunlight. Secondly, they were angry with each other. They sat in two different chairs that were placed right by a chair for two. That chair, seemingly ignored by them, said a lot. But the one thing the girl couldn't place, was how this couple could be angry, seeing the woman in her maternity dress.

She was showing. Not very much, but showing. The girl smiled at this, wondering if she was in the second trimester. At the thought, the girl placed one of her hands on her stomach. Now, mind you, she was not pregnant, but she remembered a time when someone she loved was.

"Miss Kemp?" She stepped out of her daydream, seeing her psychologist standing in the doorway, in a very dashing suit. The girl gently placed her book in her backpack, before sliding the pack over her shoulders and following him. After joining him in a very familiar room, she sat down in her chair, her hands under her legs. She swung her feet, feeling the anxiety shoot through her.

"How was school today?" Robert asked, placing his reading glasses on. Robert's notebook was in front of him, with the girl's information at the top. He studied her body language, her tone of voice as she spoke, and any detail most people would consider to be nothing. He'd been seeing the girl twice a week since they both moved here.

"I-it was alright, I guess," she stammered at first, "Um, we were given a topic for debate today." She stared at the floor, her eyes scanning the individual strands of carpet. It kept her mind off of what today meant for her.

"That's good," Robert smiled as he wrote. "Now, today is unnerving again?" He glanced at her, wondering her reaction. The girl sighed, as silent tears fell down her cheeks. He began to write again.

"I-it was awful. St-tella and Gabe kept asking me w-what was wrong, b-but..." The girl dissolved into her tears. It was too overbearing. None of her friends knew the truth about her move to Michigan. And, surprising as it was, neither did Robert. Robert got up from his seat, and removed his glasses.

"Hey," Robert stated calmly, sitting next to her, "We've been at this for, three years. You know that I won't force you to talk about things you don't want to talk about," the girl looked at Robert through her blurry eyes, "but sometimes, holding in those memories and feelings will make you even more withdrawn. 

"Heck, you've made some really close friends since you got here. Have you opened up more, this year?" The girl suddenly stopped crying, remembering her first day of high school. She hiccupped and smiled, just thinking about it. Robert noticed this and wrote something he hadn't written down in a while. In that single moment, she looked truly happy.

"There we go. I'm seeing your smile again," he nudged her knee, making her sit up straighter. She wiped her tears away, but they kept coming. Robert cleared his throat. "Tell me what's new with your friends." The girl placed her arms on her legs and thought.

"Uh, well, Jordon spent the summer with her family in London. She got me a bracelet," the girl held out her left arm, showing it off. Robert read the inscription, Soul Sisters. "Taylor had invited all of us to a picnic this past weekend. I-i didn't go." Robert frowned.

"Why not?" The girl shifted in her seat. "Violet?" He placed his hand on her knee, to which the girl jumped and moved in her seat at the unexpected touch.

"I-i don't know. I-i just decided, not to go." Violet knew exactly why she didn't go, and for some unknown reason in her gut, she kept quiet about it. The last time she had a group of friends, they did some things they couldn't speak of now. She wasn't about to let anything happen to her new friends, if it killed her.

Robert Pierce let out a sigh and continued to write. Just thinking about how each visit she had always ended up the same, made him feel like he wasn't helping her. The only knowledge of Violet's past that he even knew was that her parents had died, leaving Violet in her uncle's care. The coincidence of the two of them moving to the same place at the same time was stranger to say the least.

Meeting Violet on that plane for the first time told him a lot about her. She had been through some pretty traumatic times. From what little knowledge Violet ever gave him, he discovered that she'd lost many people she cared about in Maine to horrific accidents. The only thing that truly puzzled him though, was Violet claiming they were never accidents.

"What if you had a friend's day?" Robert spoke up, Violet's eyes drifted away from the carpet to his brown eyes. She had a confused look on her face. "Invite some of your friends over to your house for a few hours. It just might make you feel better knowing you have people that care for you around."

Violet's heart swelled. The idea of having her loved ones all in her house with others she trusted made her feel a bit better. Not that she would reveal the terrible things in her past, but maybe she could make her friends feel better by telling them about the better things she had enjoyed in Maine. Robert grabbed Guess Who from his game shelf and ended up playing four rounds with Violet per usual, before her appointment was over.