Saturday and Sunday passed by slowly. The beatings from her parents were inevitable, but less severe than normal. They were happy to know that she hadn't actually gotten expelled, and were also grateful that Miss Mills had been willing to make that phone call, which softened the blows of anger that rained down on her as punishment for getting in the fight. She had refused to tell them how the fight had started, which only infuriated them more. Emma was anxious to see her therapist again, to thank her again, and to vent some of her feelings. She didn't plan to tell her about the beatings at home; she knew she would have to report them.

When Monday finally rolled around, Emma woke up reluctantly and stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at herself and hating her reflection. She reached for the scissors in the cabinet and stared down at them. After a few minutes, she lost the staring contest with the sharp edges of metal and put them down, making the difficult decision not to engage in her habit. She looked back up and stared at herself again instead. Tucking her hair behind her ears, she sighed, dreading the day to come. Please let Austin call out sick today, she prayed, begging whatever gods existed not to make her face the senior boy who had nearly brutalized her the week before. Continuing the prayer in her head, she gathered her books and her backpack and made her way downstairs where she skipped breakfast and ran out the door to catch the bus, nearly missing it.

Once on the way to school, she sat in the very last seat and put her headphones in - her only solace. As music streamed through the tiny speakers, she shut her eyes and leaned her head back against the window behind her, feeling it vibrate as the bus bounced over each bump. Other than sitting in Miss Mills' office, it was the only moment of peace she could find. Unfortunately, the ride was only 15 minutes long, and she was stirred from her one relaxing moment as the bus screeched to a halt in front of the high school. She put her headphones away quickly - she wasn't allowed to use them in the building, even during the morning homeroom period - and felt her heart start to palpitate. Oh, God... Oh, God...

Luckily, she didn't see her bully on the way to her first classroom. She kept her head down for most of the day and sat by herself at lunch, eating nothing, since she hadn't packed a meal. Just as she went to her next class, she ran into the boy in the hallway.

"Well, if it isn't the little dyke. How's your face feeling, dipshit?"

"It's fine," Emma muttered, clenching her fists and resisting the urge to lash out and strangle him.

"Just remember," he hissed, "if you ever touch me again, I'll break every bone in your homo body. Understand?"

Emma swallowed her pride and nodded, keeping her head down. Austin laughed and, to Emma's surprise, left her alone, making his way to class without another word. She was thankful she didn't have any classes with him; she couldn't bear to look at his stupid face any longer, and she didn't know how long she could resist fighting him. But something inside her longed to please her doctor, to try to make her proud. Something kept her from acting out, from giving in to her instincts. She knew if she did, her therapist would be greatly disappointed. Not to mention, like the woman had said, Regina couldn't only fight the school administration for so long.

For the rest of the day, she stayed silent and, as usual, did not participate in any class discussions. She did, however, complete all of her homework during her study period. At the end of the day, she was more than relieved to hear the bell ring. She took the bus to her doctor's office and sat anxiously in her seat, her heel tapping up and down as she waited for her therapist to call her into the office. When Regina appeared in the doorway to the waiting room, Emma breathed a sigh.

"Hi, Emma," Regina said, smiling as they walked down the hallway together. "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you, too," Emma said earnestly.

"Is something the matter?" Regina asked sincerely, a look of concern on her face.

"No," Emma said. "Yes."

She looked confused.

"No."

Emma's head was spinning.

"I mean, I don't know. I like coming here," she confessed.

Regina smiled and said, "I'm glad. I want you to feel safe and comfortable here."

"I do. I just... It feels weird. I... I have no one else to go to, and it makes me depressed."

The doctor nodded.

"I understand that. I had zero friends when I was your age. I don't even have many now..."

The woman trailed off, and Emma looked intrigued.

"Why not?"

"I suppose people don't find me very likable."

"I do," Emma said softly.

"Thank you, Emma," she said with sincerity. "I appreciate that."

"I'm just being honest."

"And I appreciate your honesty."

A smile curled Emma's lips upwards slightly as she looked into the doctor's eyes.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me," Emma said.

Regina nodded.

"I still feel like I'm letting you down. I feel like you don't think you can trust me."

"I... I do, I guess..." Emma told her. "I just have a hard time trusting anyone. But you're the only person who hasn't let me down yet."

"Do you expect me to let you down?"

Emma nodded weakly.

"I understand that, too," Regina said. "I think that's a natural feeling to have when you've been betrayed so many times. How many foster homes have you been in?"

"Too many to count," she said, but Emma knew, and Regina could tell she was lying. "I guess I'm just not very likable. None of them wanted me."

"I don't think that had anything to do with you, Emma. I think it had to do with them and their own problems. The foster care system is greatly flawed. You know that. You're not the one messing up. It's them. I know how it is. I used to do social work for the foster care system, and I saw all too many parents who were careless, neglectful... abusive..."

Emma looked down, swallowing hard.

"Emma," Regina said softly. "Do they abuse you?"

Emma shook her head, but Regina knew this didn't mean 'no.' It meant that Emma knew she couldn't tell without having them reported.

"When you're ready, you can tell me anything."

The blonde nodded and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. She stayed silent, so Regina decided to speak first.

"Do you want to talk about something else?" the doctor asked.

Emma shook her head.

"Alright," Regina said. "I have something I wanted to talk to you about, though."

"Okay," Emma mumbled.

"When I did social work, we used to take the kids out and do things, and a lot of times, that made them feel a little bit more normal. Do you think that's something you'd like to try this Friday?"

Emma looked a little surprised as she thought about this, but she nodded her head weakly.

"But I'm not a kid," she said sternly.

Regina looked into her eyes.

"I know you're not, Emma."

They stayed quiet for a moment, sitting in mutual understanding.

"What would you like to do?"

"I don't know. What kind of stuff did you normally do?"

"Well, with the younger kids, we went to the movies. With the older... individuals... we sometimes went shopping, or bowling."

"I've never been bowling," Emma told her.

"Really?"

"Yeah. I'd like to try it - if you don't mind, I mean."

"Of course!" Regina said, smiling. "That sounds great. I'll pick you up here and I'll drive us over?"

"Yeah. That sounds great, actually."

"Alright. Our time's just about up, but I'll see you on Friday."

Emma left the office smiling.

She decided not to tell her foster parents what the plan was - just in case they didn't approve. The idea of doing something special with Regina somehow filled her with excitement. The woman was right. It was finally something normal she could do without being judged or stared at by her peers. Hopefully, she wouldn't see anyone she knew there, but she knew that if she did, Regina would be with her, which quieted her fear. For the rest of the week, she looked forward to their session.