Sora rubbed her left shoulder as she stood in front of Miami Beach Senior High’s psychologist’s office; Ms.
Patterson wasn’t there at the moment, and there was a reason for it.
Doctor Mary Jernigan—a highly regarded psychiatrist who specialized in teenage development—was borrowing the office during school days to meet with her, since the time suited Mary’s schedule.
She was the fourth one that her father had hired to help her work through her ‘troubles.’ Taking a deep breath, Sora’s hand hovered over the blocked window, showing a chart with a happy face at the top and a frowny face at the bottom.
When can I finally be through with all these people… No one helps me anyway.
She glanced up and down the hall where a few seniors seemed to have snuck out a few minutes early since the end-of-school bell was about to ring.
If only I could get out early to see her at ‘her’ office rather than here… At least then she’d be doing something for me.
Sora knocked on the door.
“Come in.” Entering the cozy office, Sora dully scanned the far-brighter-than-needed atmosphere; it reminded her of how she hated the school psychologist always waving at her in the hallways as if she didn’t know what was happening.
At least she didn’t have to deal with her BS.
A couch and cushioned chairs were put in a circle to ‘share emotions’ with filing cabinets and a computer desk strategically placed.
Different tests and games meant to gauge aptitude were sorted by age group on shelves, and the ordinary school carpet was covered by many colorful rugs.
Odd abstract paintings adorned the walls—things her father might like—attempting to make the room even more vibrant.
Sora slid off her backpack to drop it beside the couch, falling into the well-conditioned leather in silence.
Mary gave her a small smile before it fell a tad as she scanned a thick clipboard filled with papers.
She’s going to make me start!
“Gah… always the same… There, I started.
Happy?” Her psychiatrists were some of the few people she could actually be openly hostile with and not face many consequences.
Mary puffed out a small stream of air, swapped her legs in the opposite direction, and set the documents to the side.
“Good afternoon, Sora.” “Mmmgh…” Trying not to look at the smiling woman, Sora crossed her arms.
It was challenging not to, with how the chairs were set up as Mary sat facing the couch on one of the cushioned seats.
In her mid-thirties, she was a thin lady with a kind face, standing a little taller than Sora with curly brown hair.
Her speckled navy-blue dress shifted with her legs, drawing attention to her similarly colored six-centimeter cutout heels.
“Did you have a good day?” Hidden left index finger tapping against her side, Sora’s green eyes slid to her knee-length black skirt, trying not to let her temper get the better of her.
“What does it matter… Can we just skip past all this nonsense about you actually caring?” Pushing herself straighter, Sora refused to make eye contact.
“Humph.
Nothing’s going to change.
You’re just like Dr.
Mason, Dr.
Jones, and Dr.
Hallmark, after all.
You’re going to pretend to be sad for me and then stab me in the back.
You’ll make my dad believe I’m an attention whore, and keep me in this hell hole.” She bit her lower lip, stomach twisting as the silence stretched after her outburst.
Several seconds passed before Sora caught Mary moving her clipboard off of her lap to the desk beside her.
Sighing deeply, the psychiatrist started, “Haaa… It’s been four weeks since I took over for Dr.
Hallmark, and I’ve had a chance to go over many of the records they’ve kept, which I will say has been… concerning, to say the least.” Sora forced a toothy smile, trying to release some of the tension in her breast.
“Great!
So, we can move past all the monotonous crap so I can go home and cry into my pillow?” Mary folded her fingers together in her lap, a frown on her lips as she studied her in that perplexing way that didn’t let on what she was thinking.
“Mmh… Would you mind if I started this time, instead of me allowing you to repeat everything and further agitating you?” “Huh?
Heh.
You want to tell me how I should be feeling?
Wow, we skipped a ton of sessions!” “Let’s see… You’ll be turning sixteen soon, right?” “Ten days… Why—want an invitation?” she mocked, rolling her eyes.
“I don’t expect anything from you, Sora… Your father hired me after Dr.
Hallmark left the state following his… accident, and I was recommended to him.” “Yeah, do you see the pattern?” Sora growled, arms tightening against her stomach.
“I get a psychiatrist, and they end up booking it to a new state and get hurt—a new country for Dr.
Jones—heh, I’m the cursed, attention-seeking client that ruins practices.” Mary’s fingers unwound to pick up her clipboard again.
“I don’t think you’re attention-seeking or cursed, Sora… Despite what I’ve read so far from Hallmark, Jones, and Mason… I think you have been severely overdiagnosed, so I’m taking you off all of your meds.” Mind coming to a screeching halt, Sora’s eyebrows came together as she studied the unhappy psychiatrist.
“Excuse me… I don’t need to have Howie or Ron watch me take my meds anymore?” “No,” she promptly replied, flipping through a few pages of the thick stack of papers she was browsing, “and I notified all the concerned parties before our meeting.” “That’s… You’re lying,” Sora snapped, unable to believe the abrupt change.
“You will be able to confirm it when we are finished, and to be clear, we shouldn’t take you completely off your antipsychotic medication all at once, and we don’t want to upset the balance on the others too quickly, but we can slowly start cutting it down…” “I knew it!” “You can confirm what I’m saying with Ron and Howie, if you want.
I totally understand if you have trouble believing me after everything I’ve read.
To be honest, after speaking to Ron and Howie, I have confirmed you have experienced adverse effects congruent with a severe misdiagnosis that is… most troubling,” she mumbled, flipping to a new page.
“I’ve gone over your school history, the tests administered by your previous psychiatrists, their notes, interviewed hotel staff, your previous caretaker, and many statements you’ve made—” “Not all of those are mine; some are lies!
I’m not making it up!” “I believe you.” A shiver ran down Sora’s spine at the declaration.
“I’ve… heard that before.
You’re just trying to trick me.
T-To keep me calm.” “Hmm… One recurring theme I’ve seen in these files is a lack of foundation at the start for many of the medications they’ve put you on… Some I’m appalled at, and find the evidence given for their diagnosis quite lacking in regard to any of the DSM standards, which is… troubling considering the reputation and standing I’ve heard of my esteemed colleagues.” She put a finger on one of the pages.
“There is quite a bit of characterization regarding the girl named Kari, and an… unusual amount of coverage and emphasis on her innocence to the accusations you’ve levied against her.” “She’s the worst!
I swear, she has mind control powers!” Sora hissed, leaning forward in frustration to dig her nails into her thighs.
“You say all this, but give it a few weeks, and you’ll be calling her an angel like everyone else, but all she does is bully me!
And no one believes me!” Tears forming in her eyes, Sora coughed.
“I just want to go to a new school… I want to leave!
Why do you doctors always convince my dad I need to stay here?
That I’m lying and want attention?!” A small puff of air came from Mary.
“It’s not a hard case to make… If I’m being honest, Sora, your father is away on business as a highly regarded financial consultant for Fortune 500 companies and is often away for months at a time between jobs.
You refused any more caretakers after your previous one quit…” “Nobody but Ron and Howie even try to understand; they’re all so patronizing and bossy!
I’m just this spoiled rich girl that doesn’t deserve anything.
No, I have to give people money or expensive stuff, and if I don’t, they’ll rip my clothes or put gum in my hair!
What am I supposed to do?!” Mary slowly nodded.
“I’m not saying they were right, Sora.
What I’m saying is that it isn’t a hard case for someone to make.
Your friend Wendy cut ties with you—” “Kari!
It was all Kari’s bullying!
Wendy didn’t want to get involved with her—I don’t blame her.
It’s- no, everything is Kari’s fault!” “Mhm… Everything goes back to Kari… Three years ago, when she moved to Miami from Russia, is that right?” “She’s a monster!
A succubus or something!
I know I sound crazy—but I’m not!
She has p-powers over people or something!
Everyone’s scared to talk about her.
So… So, I had to go to someone who will help me!” Mary’s lips pulled in, her vision lifting to study her.
“What… did you do, Sora?”