Disclaimer: Neither show is mine, but I've written enough for them :|
"Carly, what's my problem?"
Carly looks up from her magazine from where she's seated on her chaise. "Hm?"
I'm stretched out on her bed, my head hanging upside down over the edge. I like lying this way. It feels different. I like to be a rebel in even this, plus it makes my head swim quite nicely. I slide a little further off the bed, stretching my spine out exquisitely. Ah. It feels good to stretch. "What's my problem?"
Carly turns, looking over at me. She giggles, "Well, you're upside down for one."
I halt my graceful slide off the bed, scooting back up and rolling onto my stomach. "Besides that."
Carly looks at me curiously. "What do you mean?"
"Ruben thinks I have problems."
I shift to the side as Carly stands, crossing to the bed and sitting beside me. "What problems?"
I shrug, rolling onto my side to face her. "He won't tell me."
Carly frowns. "But... he's your therapist... how else are you supposed to know?"
I sit up a little. "I know, right? But he won't tell me. He's all 'Errr, you have to figure out your own problems, I can't just tell you hurr.'." Carly giggles, pushing me in the shoulder. I grin back at her. "So, tell me Carls..." I wipe the grin off my face, looking at her seriously. "What's my problem?"
She grins. "Maybe it's that you have to see a therapist." I roll my eyes at her. "Seriously though?"
I nod, gesturing for her to continue.
She raises an eyebrow at me. "You could try breaking the law a little less."
"Carls, I already know that. I'm not stoopid!"
"And there's your sass." She says wryly.
I frown, looking behind me.
"No, Sam your sass." She giggles. "You're always... mouthing off, talking back."
I nod thoughtfully. "So you're saying that if I see someone acting like a complete nub I shouldn't say anything?"
She nods. "Exactly."
I stroke my chin. "Interesting theory Carls. You did good!" I check my phone, rolling off the bed. "Good work kid, now let's see if it pays off."
"Let me know how it goes."
I nod, grabbing my bag. "Sure thing Cupcake."
I hate monotony. And that's exactly what this is. Same time every week, same office, same magazines, same Heather saying a stuttering greeting and telling me to sit down. I hate it. I don't even know why I bother getting here early, I never get in on time. I just... I don't wanna fuck this up.
There's something, at least, that breaks the monotony, although if it happens every week, it could easily become part of it. The red velvet haired girl is back, opening the door meekly. Her voice is so soft, so girl-y... it bugs the hell out of me. She hesitates when she sees me, before going and sitting in the same chair as before. I think about what Carly said... maybe I shouldn't antagonise her. But then, Carly didn't realise how boring this place is. I'll... try to be nice. Better than kicking magazines off the table and toying with my switched off phone like usual. I sit up, turning towards her and leaning forward. "You're... Cat, right?"
She looks surprised, nodding.
"I'm Sam."
Her eyes widen, a hand flying to her mouth. "You are Sam!"
I frown. "Yeah..."
She giggles. "From iCarly! Oh, you're so much shorter in person."
Don't do it Sam. Try to follow Carly's advice. Dammit, she's the same height as me! Who is she calling short? "Mmm. How 'bout that?" I say through gritted teeth.
"Me and my friends back in Hollywood used to watch you guys all the time!"
I raise an eyebrow. "Hollywood?"
She nods enthusiastically. "Yeah, but then I came here because..." She trails off, her smile fading. "Because... I... my parents... wanted to."
She's lying. And she's not doing a very good job. I know enough about lying to tell. It's interesting, to see her sudden change in mood. It's better than reading a magazine, anyway.
Introductions out of the way, I decide to get to what's bugging me. "Why are you here so early?"
She frowns. "What do you mean?"
It's like wading through a swamp. She's obviously not the sharpest tool in the shed, and that's coming from me. No, try to be nice. Carly had a point. I just didn't think it would so hard this early. "I mean, you go in after me. Why do you get here an hour early?"
Cat frowns, picking at a bracelet on her wrist. "It's just the time I get dropped off. I mean... I told them it wasn't until later, but... they didn't listen."
I think I have a lot in common with those people, because I'm close to not listening myself. I lean back, swinging my feet up onto the coffee table again. "What's with your hair?" I say bluntly. I'm not here to make friends. I'm here to satisfy the court and try to do it with as little boredom as possible.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She bursts out, looking upset.
I blink. I wasn't expecting that reaction. "I... I just meant it's an odd colour." Dammit. That took me by surprise. What the fuck is wrong with her?
She brushes her ruby hair forward, calming down with a quick smile. "Oh. I just liked it. I like red velvet cupcakes, so I thought I'd make my hair that colour too... but it still tastes like hair."
"Yeah..." I eye her doubtfully. I think her hair colour is the least of her problems now. I think there must be something loose inside her brain, because normal people don't skew all over the place like this. I glance over at Ruben's door. I'm actually sort of worried that she'll cause him to retire as well. I've barely spent ten minutes with her and she's already driving me mad. Heh. At least I'm in the right place.
Ruben's door opens finally. God knows I've been willing it too. As his client leaves, grunting to Heather on the way out, I stand, practically springing to my feet. He gestures to Cat, motioning her over. Dammit. I watch curiously as he chats briefly to her. She might have problems, but she's interesting to watch. Her face is an open book, and it's telling a tragedy. Her eyebrows turn up, her eyes growing wide. She looks so lost, so confused... so disconnected, her stare blank like Ruben isn't even there. I strain my ears, trying to hear what's got her so upset. It could well just be nothing. He could just be saying it's going to rain later or something... it is Seattle after all. She put me off balance with her reaction. I hate being off balance.
Still, I'm surprised to feel myself feeling a little sorry for her. She walks slowly back over to her chair, the bounce gone from her step, sitting down absentmindedly. Whatever he said to her, it crushed her. She reminds me of a little kid that hasn't learned how to behave in public, that hasn't learned to hide their emotions.
"Sam?" I tear my gaze from her despondent form, edging past Ruben into the office. I sit down heavily with a sigh. I just wanna get this over with. Ruben sits opposite me with one of those sounds old people make... like it's an effort to do anything. "So Sam, how have you done?"
"Oh, yeah... good... great." I try to nod convincingly. "I sass people too much."
Ruben's eyebrows furrow. "Sass?"
"Yeah. Talk back... argue... insult."
He nods, scribbling something in his notepad. Thanks Carls. "Mhm. So why do you think you do that Sam?"
A muscle under my eye twitches. What? Fuck. I didn't... how didn't I see this coming? "B-because people are idiots." I stammer, my mind racing.
He nods, his pen scribbling away. It's irritating... I want to know what he finds so fascinating, what words he's writing about me to show to the judge. "And they're idiots because?"
"They... say stupid things, do dumb stuff."
"And you feel compelled to tell them that?"
I twist my mouth. "Well... yeah."
"And why is that?"
Damn. I'm off balance again. "Because it's fun. They should know."
"Why is it fun, Sam?" He looks up at me when I don't respond. "Sam?" I lick my lips, mouth dry. I... I don't know. "Is it because it gives you a sense of power Sam? Does it make you feel smarter than them?"
I swallow hard. "I... I don't want to talk about this."
He makes another note, and I feel another rush of frustration. Damn it Carly! He backs off after that, but I'm still shaken. I hate being questioned, being torn apart. It's where I would've threatened my other therapists, pinned them to the ground, but I can't do that with him. I need to tell him the truth, and I don't know what it is. But I can't just close up like I'd like to. He has to report me making some progress, and he's too smart to be fooled with lies. Fuck.
I get up eagerly at the end. I just... I want to forget and pretend like this whole thing never happened. Ruben ushers me out, speaking softly to Cat who's still sitting where she was when I went in, in exactly the same pose. He tells her he'll only be a moment, that he's got some notes to finish. Notes about me, I know. Dammit. His door closes softly, and I take the chance to raise a hand to my forehead, sighing. I flinch as something lightly brushes my arm. God. It's Cat, looking at me curiously. How did she get over here so quickly? I didn't even hear her. She's really starting to bug me, and this is the last thing I need. "What do you want?" I snap at her.
She cringes, but she doesn't move away. "I just... thought you looked upset." She says softly.
I move a couple of steps away from her. She's standing too close. "Yeah, well, I'm fine, okay?"
She gives a small nod. "Okay."
I push past her leaving quickly. Today's been... it's been awful. As fun as it was to hang with Carly, I think it's time to go and sass her. It'll make me feel better.
A/N: Oh you! You there! With the face and the clothes... can you help me?
I need your opinion... you see, I wrote this story and...
You should totally review, like OMG so much.
It's like if you hugged a duck and you loved it so much you couldn't express it, and then it swallowed your earring. Just think about how that feels... that's how reviewing feels. DO IT!
"Oh duck, I liked that earring! It's okay, I still love you." 3 :3
