Okay, so I know you haven't seen a lot of Summereth, but I promise um...there should be some soon. I have had major writer's block so bear with me. Thank you guys so much for the ideas, because I really need them and I have decided to change an idea I had, because I think everyone would hate me. So please review, I don't think this chapter is depressing at all, but hey, that's me. Keep reviewing, it keeps my spirits up!
Summer walked into the therapist's waiting room. Bree already sat there, her blonde hair messy. She seemed to have been crying, but that was a normal occurrence at Willow Creek. Summer wanted to ask Bree about it, but she felt it was not her place.
Bree had actually found out that her grandmother died a few days ago, and death was always an immediate send to therapy. Bree had been close to her grandmother, before everything happened. Bree began not eating, and if she did, it was thrown up. The disorder went on for a year and a half before anyone really noticed. Not many people cared about Bree, they had used her. They thought she would always be there, to be the backbone of her deteriorating family. They lost it when they found out about the disorder, sending Bree to Willow Creek her family hadn't visited her sine when her trial. Four and a half months ago. Only her grandmother came. And now she was gone.
"Hi," Summer greeted Bree as she sat down.
"Hi," Bree put on a happy face for Summer. No one really knew Summer very well, only Nicole. Nicole was the loudest and the worst to keep things secret of all of them, but Nicole never budged about Summer. So far. "It's probably gonna be a little bit more. One of the older patients lit something on fire. All the therapists had to go. It's a mess down there."
"Oh," Summer commented, looking around for something to do.
"So, you live in Orange County?" Bree was trying to cover up her pain.
"Yeah, right by the beach," Summer was careful not to say, 'Newport.' She didn't want anyone to know that she went to Harbor. It brought up too many memories.
"I used to live there, but we moved away. I used to go to Harbor and live near this girl, Gabrielle Palenicki. Ever hear of her?" Bree asked.
"I think so," The name did sound familiar. Marissa had been lab partners with the girl.
"Oh, she was in that Harbor shooting. Died instantly, along with...um, I think 19 others," Bree commented.
"22. 23 people were killed, 54 injured," Summer didn't like talking about the shooting.
"Oh. Whoops," Bree looked at Summer, trying to figure out why she was in there. Anorexia? Suicide? Maybe both. But it wasn't nice to analyze the other patients. They all had problems.
The therapists walked in, looking exhausted. Both Summer and Bree stood up and walked into the rooms. Kelly was shuffling through papers as Summer sat down. She was ready to talk about her messed up family.
"Now," Kelly started as she sat down in her chair. "I thought we could discuss something new. How does that sound?"
"Fine," Summer answered. What did Kelly want to talk about? She had just gotten used to talking about her family. She had a bit more complaints about her mom.
"So, I think we have a good understanding of your family dynamics. So let's talk about friends, school, activities," This was exactly what Summer was fearing. "Do you do a lot of activities?"
"Some," Summer mostly did what Marissa did, only less.
"Do you like school?" She didn't know how to answer. She hated it, but she couldn't say that. Then they would dwell on school, and that was a no-no.
"It's okay," She answered. Hopefully Kelly wouldn't keep asking questions.
"How do you do in school? Do you know any of your grades this quarter?" Kelly wasn't going to stop.
"No," Summer didn't look at Kelly. She stared at everything else. The carpet, the paintings, windows. The carpet was an interesting design. It was so involved. It had twists and turns, and a mind of its' own. Summer was so into it that she had lost attention with Kelly.
"Summer," Kelly announced louder this time. Summer fell back into reality and looked up into her therapist's eyes. "Now, when was the last full day you went to school?" A lot of troubled teens sometimes skipped school for long periods of time.
Summer had to think about this. When was the last time she had a full day of school? That was a long time ago.
"Halloweenish, I guess," Summer answered. Kelly guessed it was that long.
"Why?" Kelly asked. She wanted to know if Summer went to Harbor.
"I don't know," Summer knew she just didn't want to tell Kelly.
"I think you do," Kelly told her.
"No, I don't," Summer argued. She wasn't going to tell.
"What kind of school did you go to?" Kelly kept interrogating.
"Private," They were getting closer. Were there any other private schools in Orange County? Pacific, Oliver had gone there. There was a 50 chance she went to Harbor. Summer wanted this conversation to stop.
"Harbor, correct?" Kelly was sure. It was so sad. Everything made sense. Summer was in the shooting.
"What?" Summer's eyes widened as she stared into her therapist's.
"You went to Harbor, Summer, didn't you?" Kelly was going to get somewhere today. Somewhere deep.
"Why would you say that?" Summer didn't want to talk about this.
"Summer, your attorney, Mr. Cohen, had mentioned that you live in Newport," Kelly proved her point.
"Oh," There went that. She was screwed, and would have to speak.
"Were you in the shooting?" Kelly asked Summer. She didn't answer at first. "Summer?" Kelly asked again. Summer nodded.
Kelly had to think of how to take this. This had to be hard to deal with.
"Were you hurt?" Kelly didn't know how to work with this. She only knew how to get to it. Not anything after that.
"No," Summer spoke, looking down at her hands. She could remember everything so clearly. It had only been two and a half months ago.
"Um...were you close to anyone hurt?" Kelly was frightened to ask questions. She never dealt with someone in a school shooting. It was a new experience.
Summer's thoughts went to Seth. She hadn't been close to Seth when it happened. In fact, she hadn't spoken a word to him since she had slammed the door in his face.
But Summer didn't want to mention Seth to Kelly. They would get in deep with him and she did not want to talk about Seth, especially now.
Kelly knew something was up. Summer went though more than she predicted.
"Summer?" Kelly asked again. Summer didn't want to answer. She refused to. Talking about Seth hurt. "If you don't cooperate, we can never get anywhere and you'll have to stay here longer," This usually got patients to open up.
"I knew someone," Summer consented. She wanted to get out of here.
"Are they okay?" Kelly was concerned. It was such a scary thing to go through.
"I'm not sure," Seth was fine from the shooting, but everything else made Summer unsure.
"Who was it?" Kelly didn't quite expect an answer. She wasn't going to go real deep into it. Yet.
Summer didn't know if she should answer. If she didn't tell them about Seth, she might be in here longer. Seth was a huge part of her life.
"My boyfriend. Ex-boyfriend then," Summer softly answered. She had almost been in here a full week. Only seven more to go.
"So he's alive?" Kelly had to make sure. This was turning out more difficult to talk about than guessed.
"Yeah," Summer replied after a moment's pause.
"How did you react when you first learned he was hurt?" Memories were coming back to Summer, more than she wanted. Students running in terror, all the screaming, the person dying at the table next to hers in the library.
It seemed forever ago, but it wasn't. Maybe it was because of Summer not going back to school, but it felt like years ago.
"I was sad. But I knew he'd be okay. Everyone thought that. Initially," Summer said ever so lightly, barely audible. She tried her hardest not to let tears fall. She knew they would soon.
"What do you mean 'initially'?" Kelly kept going with this. Whenever Summer wanted to stop, she would.
"He fell in a coma two days later," Summer went back to when Marissa told her. The yearbook, the first one, floated into her head. She was weakening.
Kelly grew silent. Now where could she go? Push on, or leave it at that?
"How did you react to that?" Kelly asked. She now had to be careful what she asked. This was where the root of Summer's problems came form. Kelly didn't know that, she just knew this had to be a touchy subject.
"I stayed in my room for two days and threw a yearbook out my window," Summer wouldn't look up at Kelly. If she did, the tears would fall. She had to concentrate on the carpet more.
"Did you visit...um..." Kelly wanted to know the guy's name. She hated just identifying him by 'him' or 'he'.
Summer didn't want to give away Seth's name. But she supposed she would have to.
"Seth. I visited Seth only once," Summer did visit him twice, but the first time he wasn't in the coma. She remembered crying and agreeing to go to that carnival.
"Why's that? Did he wake up soon?" This was one of the most interesting stories Kelly ever worked with. There were so many levels to it.
"No," Summer didn't want to go much farther. She wanted to stop and run out.
"How long was Seth in the coma?" Kelly looked at the top of Summer's head. She had yet to look up.
"I think he said 49 days," And Summer was in her room for about 50.
"Wow, that's a pretty long time. What did you do during that time?" Kelly kept going.
Summer didn't know what to tell Kelly. How could she say "I didn't leave my room for 50 days and tried to kill myself numerous times," and make it sound sane? She couldn't. It was impossible.
"Stuff," Summer answered, hoping not to be asked more. She really didn't want this to go on.
"As in?" Kelly wasn't going to stop. She was really getting somewhere.
"Staying in my room," She was going to give the smallest bit of information. That way, telling everything would be put off.
"How long did you stay in your room?" Kelly thought maybe a few days, but nothing near how long she really had stayed in the room. Summer wasn't going to tell. They were getting too deep.
Summer could clearly remember sinking into the water and waiting to die. Counting the seconds off of her life. Tick tock, tick tock. There had been only seconds left in her life. But Seth would come into her head and it would rise above the water.
She remembered spinning, staring at Ryan and Marissa flirting, while she got sick with herself and grew suicidal. Going on the Ferris wheel where her friends laughed and she tried not to break down. Walking behind the couple through the fun house, inching near losing it.
Summer remembered tagging behind them so bad and losing herself in the mirrors. She was never the same after that. It showed the truth of her, and how she didn't deserve to be here. She hit the mirror, and another, and kept going until she was too tired.
She looked down at her palms. The scars were deeper than they should've been. She let the skin grow over them and it was a lot harder to get them out. She'd get to remember that night forever.
You could see every one of her scars perfectly. All the lines, the slices of her pain.
"Summer?" Kelly was getting annoyed having to repeat herself all the time.
"I lost count," Summer lied. She knew exactly how long she was in that room. 50 days.
"When did you lose count?" Kelly wanted to know.
"I don't remember," All the images from the last three months were coming back to her. She yearned to be in Seth's arms. Summer missed him more than she ever had before.
"Summer, if you fail to cooperate..." Kelly was getting pissed.
"I know!" Summer yelled at Kelly, a fury running through her. She stared at Kelly intensely for a moment before breaking down into sobs.
Summer couldn't take this. It was hurting too much. She didn't want to think about the time Seth was gone. She wanted to be with him, now.
Summer brought her knees to her chest and backed away from Kelly. Every bad moment was running through her head. This was too much. She wanted to run, leave this stupid institution. She couldn't even make it a week in here without wanting to leave.
Kelly sat there, looking at what she had done. She shouldn't have pushed this much.
"Summer, you need to calm down. It will be alright," Kelly brought her chair closer to the couch. She touched Summer's hand and saw scars on the back of it. She was confused, but let it go for the time being. Kelly would make a note of it though.
"I want to go home," Summer cried. She wanted to run so badly. Thinking about the shooting was killing her.
"I know you do, but you can't. You're here for two months," Kelly informed Summer of what she already knew.
"I miss Seth so much. It wasn't fair," Summer commented to herself.
"What wasn't fair?" Kelly grew confused.
"It wasn't fair that he got shot. He didn't deserve to go in that coma. He shouldn't have jumped," Summer answered. She wasn't paying attention that she was telling all this to Kelly. That was not supposed to happen.
"Jumped what?" Kelly asked. Summer knew she should've let that part of the comment out. Kelly already knew too much about Seth.
"What?" Summer looked up, her tears slowing.
"You said, 'he shouldn't have jumped.' jumped what?" Kelly reiterated.
"Nothing," Summer regretted saying what she did. She knew barely anything about what happened with Seth jumping. Kelly didn't need to know anything.
"Jumped what, Summer?" Didn't Kelly learn? Summer didn't want to tell. Couldn't she see that? Couldn't she let go of it, at least for today?
"Nothing," Summer said again. Now she wanted to leave more, if that was possible.
"Answer me Summer. Jumped what?" Kelly kept going.
"Nothing!" Summer began crying again, she couldn't wait until this session was over. Wasn't it near time yet?
Kelly didn't ask again, she let Summer cry. Words were not going to help her at the moment.
"Can I go?" Summer looked up at Kelly, and waited as she checked her watch.
"I suppose," Kelly gave in and Summer got up. "You did well today, Summer."
Summer turned and left the room and walked alone back to the ward, calming down.
Tons of thoughts were running through her head. Seth mostly. She wanted to see him so badly, to hear his voice, to just be with him. If she ever was to run, she'd run to him.
Summer wondered how exactly she had landed herself in Willow Creek. Was it the suicide? The break down in the school? The 50 day stay in her room? Seth? Maybe it was a combination of them all. It had to be.
She began to think of the good times between the four of them. There were some fun ones that didn't end in misery. She'd give anything to have one of those.
Walking into the ward, her eyes looked to the left rather than to the front. There was a tiny living room type area, but it gathered dust. And in between that and the nurses' station, were three phone booths.
Summer headed into the first one and sat down. Was she allowed to make phone calls? She had no clue. No one ever told her. She picked up the receiver.
"Excuse me," Summer said, finding herself to have stopped crying.
"Yes?" A nurse had picked up the other line.
"Am I allowed to make phone calls?" She asked, probably sounding stupid.
"Who is this?" The nurse inquired.
"Summer Roberts."
"One second, let me check," Summer sat in the phone booth for what seemed like forever. "There are only certain phone numbers you can call."
"Is the Cohen residence one of those?" Summer asked.
"What number is that?" She told the nurse the Cohens' number and waited for the nurse to check. "That's an accepted phone number. Hold on," Soon enough, Summer heard a ringing tone.
Seth had finally made it back home. He didn't leave his room, Kirsten and Sandy were talking about him. Deciding what to do with him.
It was making him sick. He had no say in it, which sucked. Plus, he had to go to school tomorrow, and he hadn't been there since Wednesday.
A hell of a lot happened since Wednesday. Way too much. He jumped off the pier, and nearly killed himself and Ryan. Did that make Seth feel even worse? Yes. Was he going to try to hurt himself again? Hopefully not.
"Seth looked at his wrist, which was wrapped up. He felt bad for what he did, and he wanted to get help. But that would include telling a stranger all about his suicidal thoughts.
Yeah, that would work out perfect.
Seth got up and looked down at his waste basket. All the pictures were still there. It was disgusting. The yearbook was hidden somewhere Seth had already forgotten. His head was not working well since he woke up this morning.
It had given him one hell of a dream last night. Nightmare to be specific. He didn't remember much of it now, but it had scared him. Seth had woken up in the middle of the night, afraid to sleep. His eyes refused to close for about two hours and during that time, he went a little crazy.
Too much was happening in Newport. That was Kirsten's main point for the argument. At least that was it from what Seth could hear. She had said it at least six times in the last hour. Yeah, he was counting. Kirsten and Sandy were arguing while doing chores and such, so the argument was on the move.
Seth can't leave now. That was Sandy's main point. Seth agreed more with that one than his mother's. were they actually thinking of sending Seth away? At first, Seth thought they were going to send him to Willow Creek, but that was wrong. Really, his parents were debating on sending him to live with a relative.
Seth's only relatives lived in either Newport or New York.
There was no way Seth was going to New York. Even if they tried to, Seth was almost eighteen. He would be an adult.
Yeah, that also scared him a little bit. He'd have to go to college soon. Had he even applied to any schools? He couldn't remember. Damn brain. He didn't have amnesia, but it sometimes felt like he did. I mean, losing a month and a half of your life is just like forgetting a month and a half.
It annoyed him, knowing that he had lost a full seven weeks of his life. He wouldn't know what happened during that time. No one wanted to tell Seth exactly what happened.
Seth's eyes went to the photo of him and Summer that he put back on the dresser from his bed. They were smiling and it made him want to see her.
It occurred to him that he was like a stranger in his own room. He wasn't the same Seth that lived here. If only he could go back to being that Seth. The Seth that lived here was fun and had a sense of humor. Seth lost his sense of humor.
Seth's phone rang. He turned to look at it, debating whether to pick it up. He could let his parents pick it up. What if it was his aunt telling them she was ready to take him? No, he would have to change that.
It rang a second time. Go pick it up, Seth told himself. Why the hell wasn't he picking it up?
A third ring. Summer was losing hope. Maybe he wasn't home. The answering machine would pick it up soon.
Seth gave in and walked over, hitting the talk button as he grabbed it.
"Hello?" He said, expecting someone who wasn't Summer.
"Hey Seth."
So...what do you guys think? Lame, I know. I'm pretty sure everything I mentioned will have to do with something coming up. Oh, and thank you sooo much for the ideas. You helped a lot. And, keep them coming! I mean, I put down all my ideas, and now I have a lot. But I might need some more. So please review and tell me your ideas and thoughts!
