Chapter 1

Chapter One

I hurriedly get out of my car and head towards the building knowing very well that I was late and a mess.

I comb out my bed head with my fingers quickly, while at the same time pulling out my phone to check the time.   

11:50 it read, and I sped up, already knowing that Dr. Cyre was going to have my head.

The bells on the door rang to to my appearance. The entire hall was filled with Dr. Cyre's patients.

Other than being my sister, Dr. Cyre was the only psychologist in town with affordable pricings for sessions. She is also how I make money during the summer.

The people in line groaned as I quickly walked passed them and into the door that read Dr. C.

Though Dr. Cyre’s sessions were affordable, more people tended to come here, which explains why the lines were so long and why most were tired of waiting.

Some gave me glares, thinking I was purposely cutting in line for some type of reason. Others blatantly pretended not to notice.

I ignored them like usual.

Entering the office, Dr. Cyre gave me a very cynical glare. A glare I knew well.

“Sorry I'm late Doc.” I apologized.

"I'm with a patient right now." She tells me. And without a word she walks into the session room to continue her session with one of our regulars.

I nod, knowing there was nothing else I could do, and hang up my jacket. I grab my own personal lab coat and silently got to work.

Dr. C left me, and continued through the day giving me piles and piles of paperwork for me to do.

This being my punishment, I gladly accepted it. It could have been much worse, knowing my sister, but getting the silent treatment and loads of paperwork wasn't so bad of an option.

As the rest of the day passed by, I diligently do as I was asked, until finally Dr. C came up to me.

"Liv." She scolds.

"Yes." I smile.

"You were late today, care to tell me the reason?"

"I overslept." I answer.

Dr. C scowls.

"Course you did." She grumbled under her breath. "I knew I should have woken you up before I left this morning."

"Ah so you're willing to admit that this is your fault, right?"

Dr C. Shakes her head incredulously and turns away.

"We have one more patient, appointed for today before closing time. Pull out his paperwork, okay?"

I nodded.

"Name?" I ask.

"Jeremy Teal, age 18, ID number 20186028." She says automatically.  

I do as she instructs and look for his papers.

He's not hard to find. His file was thick and heavy, leading me into thinking that this guy had a lot of problems.

I don't look in his file though, even though it was tempting. Instead I obediently handed it to Dr. C.

She nods in thanks then pulls out her reading glasses and opens his file.

I watch as she scans over the print. Her face is scrunched up as she reads some parts, or simply curious.

Five minutes in, there's a quiet knock on the door.

Putting on my false facade, I smile and call out sweetly, "Come in, the door is open."

The father entered first, seeming very serious in a black and grey suit and a suitcase in his one hand. His stone grey eyes looked annoyed, appalled that the had to be here right now.

Then it was the mother, looking more along the line of nervous then annoyed. She looked tired, exhausted really, but still kept her head up in confidence.

Then next it was Jeremy himself. He looked and dressed like any other normal guy his age. Nothing about him immediately shouted out that he needed help in any kind of way.

His honey brown hair looked recently cut, drawing attention to his moss green eyes.

He, unlike both his mom and dad, didn't seem the least bit bothered. He walked in with a confident air around him, smiling at particularly no one.

I clear my throat.

"Are you Mr. and Mrs. Teal?" I ask gently.

"Aren't you a little too young to be a Dr.?" The father asked in a irked voice, looking at my sister's PH.D’s hanged up behind me.

"Yes. I say a little strained. "So it's a good thing I'm not the doctor, just her assistant."

The mom steps up almost apologetically.

"I'm sorry, it's just that we're in a hurry."

I nod, pretending to understand.  

"I understand. Please give me a minute.”

I got up from where I sat at the front desk and peered into where Dr. C sat in the session room.

"They're ready when you are." I tell her.

She nods and stands.

"Mr. and Mrs. Teal." She greets them. "It's a pleasure to meet you. This is our first appointment together, yes?"

Mrs. Teal nods.

"Great, this way please."

Dr. C. Leads them towards her desk inside the session room.

I return back to my desk quietly and wait.

In boredom 10 minutes in, I couldn't  help but listen into their conversation.

I mostly heard murmurs, but some parts were clear.

"When did his symptoms first start?"

"Around 9-10 years old, I think." The mother answered timidly.

"And how is he now since then?"

"Worse!" The father shouted aggravated. "Ten times worse!"

I spotted Jeremy sitting nearby the door listening in.

His face was blank, almost unmoving. He sat by the wall by himself, arms crossed in a laid back stance. His eyes seemed lifeless though, as if he wasn't really there to hear the way his father was talking about him.   

"Explain to me what you mean by worse?" Dr. C asked.

"What he means is that Jeremy has a..."

"He's out of control!" The dad interrupts.

"We've been to twenty other doctors before you and none were able to figure out what is wrong with my son."  

"I understand but can you give me an example of how his behaviour is like on an everyday basis?"

The rest of the conversation is hushed, so I couldn't hear a thing.

I almost miss it when I turn back to see that Jeremy had disappear out the door by himself.

I quickly stand up and accidentally spill a pile of files of today's sessions.

"Sorry." I muttered to the mess. Then quickly, I slip out of the room.

Jeremy stood by the window.

The hall that used to be packed with people this morning was now absolutely empty. It was only us two and the sleeping receptionist by the exit.

Slowly, I walk up to approach Jeremy.

"Hey." I greet. "Jeremy right?"

The guy doesn't answer. He continues to stare out the window.

I nod a little unsure of how to proceed.

"I'm Livia." I try again.

He's quiet still, and we both just stand there until suddenly, he talked.

"You're Livia." He restates almost as if he's reminding himself.

He turns to face me quickly, surprising me.

"Why are you talking to me Livvviiaa." He draws out my name like a song.

"Because..."

He laughs.

"Livia! He shouts, startling me.

His laughing face turns serious in just a matter of seconds.

"You should leave Livvviiaa. Don't talk to me." He frowns and looks back out the window.

I don't know what to say to that.

I stand there awkwardly, wanting to leave but at the same time not wanting to give up this weird conversation.

"Well then... I won't talk." I tell him.

And so, I lean against the window frame and stare out the window with him.

He looks at me dubiously but doesn't stop me.

"You don't listen." He mutters annoyed.

"I don't." I say back, completely dropping my nice assistant act.

He snickers, then whispers, "Livvviiaa." To himself.

I smile, noticing that he's almost like a kid.

But then his eyes narrow at me and he scowls too quickly for me to realize what was happening.

He pushes me away from the window, with enough force to knock me down. Then storms towards the exit.

I struggle to get up and go after him. His long legs caused him to take longer strides than me so before I knew it he was out the door and descending the spiraling steps.  

I run out after him.

"Wait Jeremy, stop!" I call out for him, but he ignores me.

He  darts left on the sidewalk outside.

I follow relentlessly. "I can't lose a patient." I tell myself as I ran. "This might ruin everything for Dr. C or else I'll definitely be blamed and maybe even fired.

"Jeremy!" I call out.

I'm slowing down, running out of breath. I've never been the best endurance runner or runner period. Jeremy on the other hand, seemed as if he ran all his life. He was fast, too fast for the life of me.

But I force myself to keep going. I can barely see him in the distant now. I know there was no way I was going to catch him now, but I don't stop.

"Jeremy!" I call out as I ran about corners and alleyways he could have hid in. "Jeremy?"

The sky has darkened down, and I know the meeting with Jeremy’s parents would be over by now. They probably have already realized we were gone.

I've been out looking for Jeremy for almost over an hour with no sign of him.

He could be anywhere now.

I started walk back toward Dr. C’s office place again dejected.

I'm hoping Jeremy had gone back, but I know the likelihood of that happening was slim.

I mentally blame myself, for provoking him in the first place. I should have just stayed where I was, doing the paperwork.

Now because of my nosy self, I've got a missing patient, and an angry Dr. C waiting for me back at the office.

I kept my eyes down as I walked back, counting the cracks on the sidewalk. I counted 43 when I suddenly I heard a car horn honk really loudly to my right.

"Get off the road kid!" An angry voice called.

I turn sharply towards the voice in surprise.

And there was Jeremy, crossing the street without a care, despite cars passing by and halting at his presence.

"Jeremy!" I call quickly beckoning him over to me.

"Please don't run away," I beg to him in my mind.

And he doesn't. Instead when he spots me, his eyes brighten and he comes charging at me.

"Livia!" He calls.

I don't even question his bewildering behavior. I'm just happy to have found him.

"Jeremy, I've been looking for you for hours, where were y--"

He cuts me off.

"Livia, are you okay? Are you hurt."

He looks at me genuinely concerned.

"I didn't mean it. I really didn't."

"Didn't mean what?" I asked.

He grabs my arm and carefully looks at it.

"It's red." He says.

I look at where he's talking about.

"Oh this? It's nothing, I bruise easily."

He starts to gently blow on it, and I gasp, pulling my arm away from his grasp quickly.

"W-what are you doing?"

"Blowing it?" He asks unsure of himself.

"It's fine." I say quickly. " I'm good."

"You're good? It doesn't hurt?"

It does, but I don't tell him that.

"I'm good." I confirm.

And he smiles.

"Good."

My skin still tingles from where he blew on it.

I ignore it and turn to face Jeremy again.

"Okay so Jeremy, we have to go back. You're parents are waiting."

His eyes suddenly went wide and he looked like he was ready to bolt away from me in any second again.

"No. I can't. At least not yet." He says.

"Why not?" I ask, hands on my hips, annoyed.

"This'll be my last time out."

"Out of what?"

"Outside." He says sadly. "By the looks of what happened at the office, dad's probably not bringing me back. He convinced that no one can fix me."

"What needs to get fixed? You seem normal enough."

Sort of.

"I don't know. They don't know. That's what makes it so frustrating for them."

He looks away, and his eyes go blank like before.

He starts walking before I have the chance to realize.

"Jeremy? Where are you going?" I call out, immediately following on his heels.

"That's not my name." He says, suddenly sounding angry.

"Then what is it?" I ask.

He doesn't answer, instead he breaks out into a run again and I groan, then yell,

"Jeremy!"

He stops almost as soon as he started, then looks back at me.

He gives me a puzzled face for a second but then it changes and he's smiling again.

Before I knew it, he grabbed my hand and pulled me toward him. His moss green eyes pierced into mine excitedly.

"Let's go Livia." He demands.

The way he says my name draw shivers from me.

His words are cold and completely different from what his smiling face read.

I'm starting to think he's bipolar, but something tells me it runs much deeper than that.

Something like everyone else couldn't explain.

"let's go." I repeat after him and force a smile.

Let's play safe, and do as he says, just in case, I tell myself.

He smiles back and pulls me along with him.

Together he and I run away.