"Do you have anything to say for yourself?" The counselor asked the student, a gnawed on pen pointing at her from his right hand.
"…" The girl folded her hands above her chest, a finger tapping on her elbow.
Doug Rattmann sighed for the eighth time that hour as the girl remained silent, allowing his head to lean sluggishly on his thin and calloused knuckles.
Before him, the teenage girl was standing with her face set in a show of stoic sternness, her eyes glaring stubbornly, silently into his own. In the last rays of sunlight that danced within the otherwise empty counseling room, nobody uttered a word.
"…Look, Chell." The counselor said as he uncomfortably turned away from the girl's gaze. "I'd like to say know what you're thinking, but I don't. Unless you speak up for me here, I can't help you."
The girl's gradual tapping became faster as she continued to glare at the man, her long patience wearing slowly thinner with each word.
I don't need any help.
The thoughts echoed in her mind, loud enough for her that they could have sounded in reality.
"So here's how I understand it." The man cleared his throat again as he began to recite the events. "You lunged onto a fellow student, Stanley Wheat after hearing him say that you were adopted. You then proceeded to grab him by the collar and punch him repeatedly, all while growling like a feral animal. The kid came crying, you know."
"…" Now it was Chell's turn to look away.
"See? You feel bad about it too." The man sighed again, looking away. "Chell, I know you're a good kid. I just don't understand why you have to keep being so rebellious."
Chell frowned. I'm not rebellious.
"Aha, I know that look." Doug said as he pointed at her, a small smirk spreading throughout his face. "You're trying to prove me wrong, aren't you?"
Chell looked away again, guilty of being guessed right.
"Look, being rebellious isn't a bad thing. Being belligerent maybe, but being rebellious isn't a bad trait. Being stubborn isn't bad, either." The man smiled, his mouth curving up on a skewed right than it did on the left. "It means that you're capable. Independent. It means that you can rely on yourself – and in this world of everything happening and not knowing what might happen next – being able to rely on yourself is the best thing you can hope for. Because when nobody's there for you, you could at least be there for yourself."
Chell looked towards Doug slowly, her eyes widening as she heard his words.
And you think I'm all that?
"And I think you're all that." Chell blushed – her mind seemingly read as she looked down.
"Okay there Chell?" Doug tilted his head in confusion. "Well, either way, I'm letting you off with a note this time. No need to call your parents. Just make sure this never happens again, okay?"
Chell nodded quietly, still looking down.
As she turned to leave, Doug sighed, his hands unconsciously massaging his tired knuckles in relief.
"Oh and Chell?" The girl turned back. "I wasn't joking when I said I thought you were a good kid."
Her face still burning, she turned quickly, quietly to leave.
Based on a cute prompt I found in Tumblr.