Abby looked at her hands, and realized they were shaking.
"It's alright Abby. You've done really well today." Miss Watts said, smiling warmly.
Abby nodded; her breaths just as shaky as her hands.
"Try to relax. Am I making you nervous?" she asked, noticing how Abby was a bit fidgety, and that her hands were trembling.
"A little." She replied truthfully.
"Well, the bell's just about to go, so that means our times almost up. We've talked about what you could do instead of hurting yourself, so I want you to really focus on those this week." Miss Watts walked over to her desk, grabbing her appointment book.
"I do however want to see you next week."
"Oh. Again?"
Miss Watts smiled. "You didn't think you were getting out of it that easy did you?"
Abby shrugged, wishing that she had been.
"Ok. Next Friday, period 4. Is that ok with you?"
"I guess."
"Good" she said, writing Abby's name in her book.
Abby cleared her throat, wanting to ask the question she was dreading even thinking about.
"Um, your not going to tell my mum are you?" she asked timidly.
"Well, I don't think there's any need just yet. You seem to be in control of what you're doing. Naturally I would prefer to talk to parents about these kinds of issues, but if you're really against me telling her, which I can see you are, then I respect that."
Abby took a deep breath, glad that's he had asked, but still not entirely convinced that as soon as she left the room Miss Watts wouldn't be on the phone to her mother. Truth be told, she really just didn't trust her yet.
"If I really needed to talk to her, or I felt it necessary for her to be aware, then I would always warn you first. I'd give you the option of either being there with you while you told her, or me just telling her, but I promise you I wouldn't do anything behind your back. Ok?"
"Ok. Thanks" Abby said, getting up.
"No worries. Look after yourself, and I'll see you next week." Miss Watts said, opening the door for her.
Abby half smiled, eager to get out of the room.
"So…How did it go?" Carter asked when he found Abby at lunch.
"It was ok I guess. She's not going to get my mom involved just yet anyways."
"That's great. Did it help at all?"
"I don't know. At times I thought it was, but other times it just felt like she was being nosy."
"Do you have to see her again?"
"Yeah. Next week. I don't think I'm going to be able to get out of this either."
"Well maybe it's best if you don't try and get out of it."
"True…" Abby replied, and Carter could tell that she wanted to get off the subject entirely.
"So…have you seen Susan around?"
"Ah no actually" she said smiling, glad that he had taken the hint. She suddenly thought of something she had been going to do, but had been interrupted while on the way.
"Hey I'm sorry Carter, but I've got to go find someone. I'll catch you after school" she said over her shoulder, already walking off.
"Yeah, catch ya" he said quietly, as Abby had already hurried off without a second glance.
Abby took a deep breath before turning the corner where Miss Walker's office was. Her hands were shaking again, but she really wanted to talk to her. Or more importantly, apologize. She turned the corner, startled when she saw Miss Walker headed in her direction.
"Hi Miss Walker" she said shyly.
"Hey Abby."
"Um, can I talk to you for a sec?"
"Sure" she said, leading her back to her office.
Once inside, she shut the door and sat on her desk.
"So what's up?"
"I ah, just wanted to say sorry for snapping at you before. I was out of line, and I shouldn't have gotten so worked up about it." She said, her gaze focused more towards the ground.
"It's fine Abby, really."
"No it's not" she said a little louder, her fist clenched. "I had no right to speak to you like that. You were only trying to help me."
"Honestly Abby, its fine. Don't stress yourself out about it." She said, trying to make eye contact with her.
Abby nodded, still focusing on the ground.
"Did you go to your appointment?"
"Yeah. It was…Um…difficult. But I'm going to work on it."
Miss Walker smiled, relieved that she wasn't fighting her about this anymore. She was so sure that Abby would never speak to her again. The fact that she had come to apologize was definitely a good sign.
"I'm glad to hear that"
