Secrets Remain Untold
By AngelMorph
I walk down the hall towards the office, clutching the note from my teacher in my right hand. I walk up to the front desk and pass the note to the secretary. She nods, hands the note back to me and says, "Just keep on straight down the hall. It's the second door on the right. You can't miss it,"
So I continue down the hallway and stop in front of a big metal door with a name plate that reads,
"Mrs. Joanne Larsen
GUIDANCE COUNSELOR"
It's not a place I want to be but my homeroom teacher sent me. She claims that the way my grades have been slipping lately, it's obvious that there's something bothering me. There's something bothering me all right. It haunts my every waking hour and turns my sweet dreams into nightmares but it's not a problem that can be solved by speaking to a guidance counselor. It's a secret that I can't even reveal to her or anyone else no matter how much my heart is hurting. Well I might as well get this over with. I knock on the door and a smiling woman in her mid-thirties opens the door. "Can I help you?" I hand her the note. She takes a few moments to read it and then says, "Come right in my dear and take a seat."
I sit down in the seat in front of her clustered desk and wait for her to speak. I am determined to say no more than necessary. "Well dear what is it that you would like to discuss with me?" she asked.
"Nothing, really, my teacher sent me," I answered.
"Well if your teacher sent you there must be something wrong. Are you having problems at home or perhaps with friends?"
Sure I'm having problems. My whole world's falling apart. Ever since my friends and I met Elfangor that night in the construction site I haven't been able to trust anyone, not even my parents. I haven't had a good night's sleep in months because every time I close my eyes I dream about the Yeerk pool or one of Visser 3's hideous morphs. Of course I can't say that to the guidance counselor. Instead I say, "I don't really have anything to complain about,"
Her reply was, "I see. Well, I can't help you if you won't speak to me,"
I really wish I could tell you my secret but I can't trust you. I can't trust anyone. "Thanks for your concern Mrs. Larsen. But I'm not in need of any help," I say getting up.
She walks over to door to let me out and as I walk past she says, "I just wish you would let me help you. No one should have to face hardships alone. If you change your mind, I'm here for you."
"I won't change my mind," I respond and I turn to walk back to class.
My heart is as heavy with pain as it has been for some time now. It is hard to remember a time when things weren't as they are now. Of course there was a time when I was still an ignorant child. I am still child but the secrets I hold inside have forced me to mature before my time. I want with all my heart to be able to tell her my secrets.
She is right about hardships. No one should face them alone. I don't face mine alone. I have my fellow Animorphs by my side all the way but sometimes that just isn't enough. It's not easy for five teenagers and an alien youth to face a secret invasion of alien slugs all on their own.
The only thing that keeps us from giving up is the fact that we are all that is stopping the entire human race from falling into the hands of the Yeerks. I will fight and my secrets will remain. In the mean time I have to play out the masquerade that is my life and therefore attend the rest of my homeroom class.
Edited for minor typos 04/29/05