100 reviews, hell yeah! Haha. Thaaaankyooooouuuu :) (Whoa. You know that little voice that reads things to you in your head? Well I just reread that long thankyou there and the voice sounded exactly like my older brother's voice, not even my own. I'm a strange child.)
Enjoy the new chapter. (I'm smiling evilly at the moment, if you were wondering. Which you weren't.)
Max POV
My therapy session was... interesting, to say the least.
After Stevens had finished his announcement, the kids moved off straight away, walking out the door and out of sight immediately without a second word. I spotted Brigid moving towards us where we were just standing there, unsure where to go. Ari was following behind her like the faithful doggy he was.
Sam and his gang were lagging behind slightly, apparently reluctant to go to therapy but as Brigid reached us she waved her hand at them and said impatiently, 'I only need the newcomers. You know the drill. Get moving!'
JJ scowled and looked like she was going to say something, but Sam quickly grabbed her arm and tugged her along with Lissa and Aedon, dragging her to the double doors of the room and disappearing from sight. She waved gloomily at us as she backed out. Bye...
Brigid waited until they were gone before she turned to us. 'Well, obviously you know what's going on, but I need to take you guys to meet your therapists and help you settle in well. Is that alright?'
'Do we have a choice?' I muttered and she shot me a quick glare before giving a fake toothy smile.
'Well no, you don't actually. Are you ready?' She gave us all a quick look over, as if judging our strength and I couldn't help but notice how her gaze lingered on Fang for a moment too long before she looked away.
Oh, ew. Can we say paedophile, maybe? Honestly. She was at least twenty two and he was only sixteen. But that didn't stop her from eyeing him up. The cows were going to come asking for their eyes back if she didn't stop soon.
Brigid strode away and exited the room, giving us no choice but to follow her and she set a brisk pace down the hallway, apparently eager to get her job done and ditch us with our therapists.
We walked quickly through another corridor, which was lined by doors that led to I don't know where and then through a gym, which must be part of where we exercised. I was surprised by the quality of the equipment I saw in there. I guess they took their fitness seriously.
Once we'd exited the gym, we came to another corridor that had doors along the side and Brigid stopped and turned to face us. Ari came up behind us, smirking about something.
'Okay, this is the psychological wing.' Brigid said. 'We are very proud of it. Some of our psychologists are among the best in the world.'
'Yeah, and the rest of them don't know the difference between a fork and a spoon,' muttered Ari under his breath. I don't think he knew I could hear him. But boy did his remark fill me with confidence!
I caught his eye (accidentally) and he gave me one of his wolf's grins that I was quickly learning to recognise as his trade mark. I gave him a smirk of my own and looked away again.
'James, you're first,' Brigid said continued on, unaware of Ari interrupting. 'You have psychologist number 38, Dr Charles Bray.' Jeez, even their therapists had numbers. 'Have fun,' Brigid said as she opened the door for Iggy.
'Oh, I will...' he said softly as he entered, winking at me as he went past. Oh dear. I feel for the poor therapist. Not that I planned on giving my guy hell or anything.
We moved on as Nudge was dropped off with some guy named Dr Curtain, I think. It was something fabric-y. But he was otherwise known as number 54. I wondered if there was some system to the numbering they used.
We walked on in a strangely tense silence and then Brigid halted once again. 'Nicolas, this is your stop! Number 24, Tamara Brooke.' She gave a breathy laugh and he blinked. 'Well, in you go. Have fun,' she gave him a very special smile (read: flirtatious) and he only just managed to squeeze through the door before shutting it on her face. Hah. Burn.
She blinked a couple of times and then pasted another fake smile on her face (she is totally pro at those – she without a doubt practises in the mirror) and then she looked at me. 'I guess it's just you and me Max! Oh, and Ari I suppose,' she added dismissively, flicking her long hair over her shoulder at him. Ouch. On a scale of one to ten, how rejected do you feel Ari?
We headed down the hallway in silence until we were right at the end and Brigid opened the door for me. 'In you go! You have number 4 Max. Dr Tony Bass. Good luck.'
I raised my eyebrows as I entered. Like I needed it. It was Dr Bass who needed the luck.
The door shut softly behind me and I looked around, taking in the desk in the middle of the room, the book shelf off to the side, packed full of books, a couple of certificates hung up on the walls in simple timber frames. Simple enough room.
In the middle, sitting at the desk was a man with greasy black hair and pale, almost colourless eyes. He was watching me with a neutral expression on his face, his hands clasped in front of him on the desk. He didn't look too old, maybe thirty five, but he was obviously one of those types of people who had been picked on when they were in high school because of their nerdy habits.
I looked back at him for a moment and then he spread his hands out to me and attempted a smile. (He failed horribly.) 'You must be Miss Maximum. Well, please take your seat. We have a lot of things to get through in this session, Maximum.'
A single eyebrow of mine rose as I took the seat on the other side of the desk. 'It's Max. Not Maximum and definitely not Miss Maximum. Get it right.'
He blinked. 'Right. Sorry... Max. Well I'm Dr Tony Bass, but you can call me Dr Bass if you like.'
'No, I think I'll stick with Tony. More... homey, you know?' I smiled sweetly and his eyebrows contracted slightly. Ooh this would be easy. I hadn't even been in here a minute and I was already getting on his nerves.
'Dr Bass please, Max. Now I was wondering, how old are you exactly?'
'One hundred and three.' I told him sincerely. 'I take special pills to help me look younger. Can you tell?'
He frowned some more. 'Max, I am used to dealing with criminals like you. You might as well just tell me, because I will get it out of you eventually.'
I laughed. 'Trust me Doc, you've never met anyone like me. I am... unique. So you just try get it out of me. See how far you get.'
His eyes narrowed and I slowly saw his pretence of being a kind person falling away, layer by layer. Well, he hadn't been too good at it in the first place. 'Maximum, I know full well you're sixteen. I only asked you that question to gage how co-operative you were. And as it turns out...'
'A rabid lion is easier to deal with?' I suggested mildly. 'Yeah, I get that a lot. Tony.'
Dr Bass sighed and rubbed a hand across his forehead, pushing some of his hair back out of his face. 'Let's just... move on. What's your favourite colour?'
'And this has to do with what?'
'Just answer the question.'
'Why should I?'
'I'm trying to help you Maximum. There is no need to be so difficult.'
'Yeah and there's no need for you to be so ugly either. Trust me Tony, wash that hair more than once a year, put a bit of meat on those bones, and hey, maybe you'll even get your first girlfriend!'
'I have had a girlfriend before and slighting someone's appearance will get you nowhere in life, Max.'
'You call yourself a psychologist, but you're delusional yourself Doc! I hate to break it to you, but that cheerleader you stalked back in eighth was not your girlfriend, whatever you believe.'
'I will ask you once more, Maximum, what is your favourite colour?'
'Rainbow.'
There was a moment of silence as Dr Bass took in a deep breath. Hah. This was fun.
Then he asked, 'Do you have a good personal image of yourself?'
'Do you?'
'What about you parents? Did they treat you right?' He asked me, choosing to completely ignore my question.
'Look at where I am, Doc.' I said sardonically. 'Would good parents bring up a child who managed to land herself in prison before she was even an adult?'
Dr Bass looked at me steadily, although I could see it was an effort. 'I hope you are not trying to blame your current position on your parents, Max.'
'Nope! Course not!' I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. He gave me a look, obviously trying to keep his temper.
'Let's move on.'
Dr Bass reached under his desk and when he re-emerged, he was holding a stack of thick white plastic cards with little indistinct pictures drawn on each one. Oh goody, he had flash cards! I could work with these!
'I am assuming you know what these are.' Doc said, indicating the cards. 'And what they are for?' I just looked at him until he broke my gaze. I thought therapists were supposed to be the ones making you uncomfortable with their prying questions, not the other way round. This was one sad excuse for a psychologist.
Dr Bass held up the first card, which seemed to be a picture of a dark red blob. 'What do you see when you look at this picture, Max?'
I suppose most juvy criminals would say like, a pool of blood or something else gruesome. But not me. No, I said 'A donkey.'
'Max.'
'Yes?' I flashed him an innocent smile.
'I want you to be serious for a moment here.'
I sighed as though I was defeated and said, 'Alright, Dr Bass.' I saw a spark of something light in his pale eyes. Oh. He thought he'd won.
'So tell me again. What do you see in this picture?' He showed me the red blob again.
I took it from him and studied it carefully, then looked back up at him. 'So?' He prompted and I took a deep breath.
'I see...' I paused for a moment and then smirked. 'A freckle on your nose.'
'Maximum!' Bass threw his hands up in the air and I grinned and sat back, satisfied.
He took a few deep breaths and I waited patiently for him to recover. After a few moments, he sat back up and looked at me. 'Let's continue.'
You think he would have realised that it was better for him to just give up.
Fang POV
After I had finished my therapy session with Tamara Booke she told me that I had to wait Brigid to come collect me and the others and take us to the exercise area, where we could do whatever we wanted apparently, as long as it included fitness.
The therapy had been surprisingly okay. Tamara was smart and quick witted and she wasn't even an eyesore to look at, which was a plus. She immediately picked up on my 'silent and dangerous' vibe and accommodated herself to it, making the most out of my short answers and picking up a surprising amount about my personality while she was at it. According to her, the reason I was so quiet was because 'something bad had happened to me when I was younger and it had had a lasting effect on me, even though I wasn't ready to talk about it yet.' Well I could have told her that. But kudos to her for figuring it out on her own, right?
But I couldn't help but distrust her. I mean, after what Sam and the others had said at breakfast? Yeah... kinda doesn't help install a good firm, open relationship between psychologist and patient, you know?
Once Brigid arrived with Iggy and Nudge in tow, she picked me up and we left Tamara to go get Max.
When we reached the door, it swung open before Brigid could reach the handle and a man with black hair and light grey eyes held it open for us. He seemed all too ready to get rid of Max.
She, on the other hand, looked perfectly comfortable with him.
'Bye Tony!' She said as she walked – no, strutted – out the door and joined us, giving him a little voice as she went. He looked like he wanted to murder someone. Preferably Max.
He slammed the door and there was a moment of silence before Max said happily, 'That was fun! We have them again tomorrow, right? Awesome.'
I just shook my head along with the rest of us.
Yeaahhh. That really was fun, I know where you're coming at Max.
So. I was listening to my iPod today and the song 'Run, Don't Walk' came on. I didn't feel like listening to it, so I skipped to the next song, which was 'You're Stumblin'. I skipped that one too and the song after that was 'Just Dance'. I am now confused as to what my iPod is trying to tell me. Do I run, stumble or dance?
Review please!
