(16) Intrigue
Dr. Shay is not what I expected at all. I thought she would have been older and frumpy. She is surprisingly young. She has curly auburn hair twisted into a fashionable clip and couldn't be older than thirty. She smiled as I entered the room and set her coffee mug on her desk. Tons of papers scattered her desktop while a flat screen computer monitor perched near the edge of her desk.
I plopped into the chair opposite her desk and took a deep breath. She had a poster behind her that read, "Expectation is the root of all heartache." Written in bold swirly font laid on top of a blue background. William Shakespeare? I stared at the quote for a while until Dr. Shay cleared her throat. That brought my attention to her again.
"How are you, Bella?" She leaned forward and I noticed the tiny wrinkles around her eyes. It wasn't age defying simply endearing.
"Okay, I guess." I chose my words carefully in case Dr. Shay decided to keep me in this place for the rest of my young adult life.
"Do you like Serenity?" She asked calmly and brought out a pad of paper from a desk drawer. The steno pad was worn and had a few pages left to write on.
"Sure." I wanted to keep my answers one or two worded. My goal was to be evasive so I wouldn't give away too much information like an idiot.
"Hmm. Okay you are a Senior in High School?" Dr. Shay smiled again.
"Yes." I agreed even though it was a rhetorical question. She had my file including my school information.
"My son is a Junior right now." She shared a private piece of information with me. I looked up and wondered how her son was so old when she looked so young. Curiosity won.
"I didn't think you had children old enough to be in High School." I murmured and stared at the doggy clock with a mechanical tail.
"Oh heavens I am flattered. I have two kids. Evan is a Junior and Scott is a Freshman."
"Oh." I said lamely and peered at the time. Five minutes that's it. "Do they go to Forks?"
"No, they go to Easterly near Tacoma." She admitted and gave me a heart-warming smile. Easterly was two hours from Forks she must drive far to come here. I noted her far traveling and she tapped her pencil on the notepad.
"Okay." I shrugged and pulled my jacket close around me.
"Bella, do you like school?" She peered at me waiting for my response.
"Sometimes." I gestured with my hand. "It's a hard semester to get through. Tough classes." And the reason for my existence is gone forever. But I couldn't say that not to her.
"That's too bad." She smiled again. She shifted in her chair and opened my folder. It was pathetically small since I was not a troublemaker or bounced around to different schools.
"Bella, you are an exceptional student. It appears your grades have changed drastically from the beginning of this past year. Any reason for that?"
"Look, I know you have my journal. I don't feel like talking about my school right now." Not now or ever. I leveled my gaze at her and wanted her to bring up my journal. I didn't like dancing around the subject.
"Okay." She brought out the pretty blue journal I bought at the shop. It looked so normal and girly who would ever guess I filled it with my grief. She opened the journal and stopped at a page.
"It's not what you think." I explained before she asked me a question. That caused Dr. Shay to raise her hazel eyes at me.
"What is it then? You tell me." She waited for my answer and held the journal open to the page. I bit my lip and studied the background. Why did I have to go through this? Would she even believe me if I told her the truth?
Take a deep breath, "I write in my journal to help me deal with my emotions."
Dr. Shay nodded at me.
"It's comforting and I feel better after I write. Everyone knows that what you write in your journal is the half-truth." I attempted to explain my stupid reference to Edward as a vampire but Dr. Shay was quietly studying me.
"How long ago did he leave?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Umm, a few months ago. Honestly I don't remember." I lied. I remembered everything about that day the way he looked, the clothes he wore, and his words that tore my life apart.
"Hmm." Dr. Shay drummed her polished fingernail on the desk.
"Are we done?" I looked quickly at the clock. It was fifteen minutes past the hour.
"For today." Dr. Shay put my journal back in her desk and I scrambled to get out of her office.
I bumped into Myra in the hallway. She was sashaying towards the office and she smirked.
"How was Dr. Shay?" She led me towards the living room. We were alone and I sat in the recliner next to the fireplace. It became my favorite place to sit since nobody could sit next to me. I shrugged my shoulders and grabbed the nearest magazine. Seventeen? Great I didn't want to get stuck reading it the whole afternoon.
"Was that your boyfriend who came today?" Myra leaned over the couch and I could see her dark eyes waiting for my answer. I ignored her and flipped the pages stopping at an article about humorous pranks.
"The hot guy. Wow is all I gotta say. If he's not with you do you mind if I talk to him?" Myra smiled widely and peered at me. Her black fingernails propped under her chin.
"What?" I looked up disgusted. I didn't like Jacob like that but Myra was not his type. "He's not interested in girls." Meaning you I inserted into my brain.
"Why is he gay?"
"No." I said too quickly and regretted it. Myra's eyes narrowed and she pursed her red lips.
"Then why wouldn't he like me?"
"Because he's not dating." I lied and focused on the prankster story about a girl who spread Nair on her boyfriend's chest while he was sleeping.
"How do you know?"
"Myra, he's my friend. Please, don't it will be weird." I leveled my gaze at her. "Jake's my friend and I won't let him be manipulated."
"I'm not going to manipulate him. I just wanted to talk to him. It's so boring here I need a male's attention." Myra stretched her back bringing her hands over her head. For an instant I wanted to flip her over the couch and wipe that smug smile off her face.
"That's not a good idea." I revealed and closed the magazine. I'd rather be in my room than listen to her speaking. I got up and Myra swung her legs in front of me blocking my way back to my room.
"I just wanted to say. I'm not asking your permission to speak to him. Now that I know it bothers you I'll make sure to give my undivided attention to Jacob. It's too bad because men can't resist my charm." Myra held her feet in front of me. I stared ahead and felt her eyes burning with defiance.
"Do whatever you want." I quipped and walked through her feet. She leaned forward when her feet fell to the side.
"Bella, you're going to be sorry you did that. You hear me! I'm going to make you're life a living hell while you're here. I'm looking forward to it." Myra blurted and brought her hands behind her head.
I turned around and stared at her. Really? All this over Jacob? I saw the delight dancing in her eyes and I continued to my room.