He stared at the yellow walls of my office for nearly five minutes.

"Are you ever going to say something? Or are you just going to stare at the walls?" I pressed.

"Why are they yellow?" Joe asked in confusion.

I snickered. "Um. To promote happiness," I replied.

He shrugged. "I'm not feeling the happiness," he told me honestly.

"Do you want to tell me why?" I asked hopefully.

Joe shook his head. "Not really."

"Okay, then. I have some paperwork to do, but when you're ready to talk, I'll be here," I told him. With that, I grabbed a stack of files off my desk and began flipping through them. I made a new file and labeled it with Joe's name on it, just in case he decided to actually talk to me. I made a few notes in Karen Smith's file.

"I..."

I looked up, as his voice broke through my thoughts. "Yes?" I prompted.

"I did some really bad things," he admitted quietly.

I carefully dropped my pen on my desk. "Like?"

Joe looked down at his shoes. "Drugs?" He said it like it was a question.

"What kind?" I prompted.

He mumbled something that I couldn't here.

"What?" I asked.

"A lot, actually. But my drug of choice was...um...heroin," he finally said.

I nodded. "Okay, this is a start," I told him. "What made you do heroin?"

Joe leaned forward in his seat. "All of this just stays between us, right?" he questioned worriedly.

I nodded. "There's a confidentiality agreement that all patients sign. Of course, you haven't signed it, but when we're done here, I'll give you the paperwork. It says that it I tell anything to anyone against your wishes, I can get sued and get in big trouble, and so on," I explained.

"Good."

"Okay, so...what else?" I asked him.

Joe hesitated. "My brothers and I all went off in separate directions a few years ago, as you probably know. I started doing drugs maybe two years ago?"

"And what made you stop?" I asked, as I began to take notes on a piece of paper.

"When I realized that the whole world would know if I ever overdosed," he said quietly.

"Mhm," I said. "And what made you come here?"

He shrugged. "Well, I stopped maybe three weeks ago...but it's been really hard. Last week, I, uh...did it again. I gave into the pressure, because some of my old...dealers were calling me."

"So you decided you needed help?" I offered.

Joe nodded. "Pretty much."

"Well, that's a good sign," I said with a smile. "That's really good that you decided to come here. Have you thought about maybe going to rehab?"

He shook his head quickly. "Absolutely not. Everyone would know. That's why I came here...as sort of an alternative," he explained.

I folded my hands on top of my desk. "Well, I'm not sure how much I can help you. Usually I deal with recovering addicts who have already gotten help and gotten clean. They come to me to help them stay clean. I don't usually help people get clean," I explained carefully.

"Oh," he said sadly. "Maybe I should just go, then."

He was about to stand up, when I said, "No. Wait. I'll try to help you. I never turn anybody away without at least trying to help them. I'll try to help you."

"Really?" he asked hopefully.

I smiled. "Really...now would you mind filling out this paperwork?"

--

"No way!"

"Yes, way," Lilly replied.

Lilly's friend, Brianna, was in shock. "Really?"

"Yup," Lilly revealed.

"Wow," Bri said. "That is so cool. How surprised were you?" she wanted to know.

"Very surprised," Lilly told her best friend. "But it was so weird...thinking of how he used to hang out with Hannah. You know?"

Bri nodded. "Yeah, I mean. That is weird. You're helping one of the guys who Miley ditched you for. That kinda sucks."

"It does," Lilly agreed. "Oh, well. That was all s very long time ago. Miley and I stopped being friends seven years ago," she said sadly. "Anyway, what movie are going to watch tonight?"

Does anybody still want to read this? I know a lot of people did a year ago, but if you still want to, let me know.