Mena sat beside him, her face closed to everyone else.
When we traipsed in, Miss Connors looked us over and announced, "Well…is there special significance that Corrigan is in the middle this time and Sheldon isn't?"
Corrigan didn't say anything. Neither did I.
Bryce shrugged and commented as he looked out the window, "No significance."
Her eyes looked us over again and studied each one before she harrumphed and leaned back in her chair.
"You know," she spoke flatly. "If I'd judge from our last session, I'd think that this was another dog and pony show for me. So…is it? I come down on you guys about protecting Sheldon, so you put Corrigan in the middle this time? Is it going to be you, Bryce, next time?"
Bryce failed to react and Miss Connors' eyes sparked at that.
She asked, sharply, "Sheldon…I was told that you skipped every class yesterday. Did you?"
"No," I murmured and looked at the door.
"Really? Because I have the attendance sheets."
"I didn't. I went to first period."
"Right." She sighed and asked, "So how about you, Bryce? You were missing all day yesterday. Where were you?"
He laughed, chokingly, and shook his head. Our eyes met briefly and we both looked away.
He'd been inside of me. And then someone else had taken his place.
"Fine," Miss Connors took another deep breath. "Someone wanna clue me in on the very large, very white, invisible elephant that's in this room?"
Crickets chirped.
"Alright. No one wants to tell me. I'm not going to ream you out like yesterday." She sighed and reached for a book. "How about today we'll just read a story. You guys can sit and listen. It's probably appropriate and if you don't pass my quiz at the end, I'm going to require daily sessions."
"What?" Corrigan asked.
"Ah!" Miss Connors smiled. "And the middle-man speaks. Now, story time so sit and listen, little children."
She opened the book and sighed as she sat straight, "So there was once a little girl fish, named Spooky, who loved to swim, but she'd never been taught to swim. And there was this frog named Harry Green. He liked to chirp to the friendly pond that he called home." Miss Connors paused dramatically…
"Are you serious?" Bryce asked, annoyed.
She looked at him with chilled eyes. "No. Talk time was earlier. This is story time. So zip it."
He opened his mouth again—
"Zip it," she cut him off. "And if you're going to complain again—whip it!"
Corrigan laughed.
"Mr. Raimler," Miss Connors chastised.
"Why am I Sheldon? Corrigan is Mr. Raimler? And Bryce is Bryce Scout?"
"Can you three please make up your minds? I'm not a puppet for you to string along. If you want to talk, let's hear what the white elephant is and if you don't—you're going to listen to my stories."
"Your stories?" Corrigan asked, eyebrows arched.
"Elephant or story. Your choice." She raised her own eyebrows to match his.
"Story," Bryce said automatically.
"Elephant," Corrigan voted.
"I had sex with Denton Steele," I named the elephant and startled myself.
Without missing a beat, Miss Connors remarked, "Well, that makes sense." She was serious.
Everyone looked at her, puzzled.
She sighed and said, "You found someone you knew and considered a friend dead. You're normally cut-off, Sheldon, but quite a bit's been going on. You realized how truly crappy your parents are. You found someone murdered. You're getting threatening letters. And…I got a phone call from your father. He said your mother came home yesterday. I'd say for someone who usually flies under the radar, emotionally-speaking anyway…you needed a different avenue to avoid everything that's been going on. Sex with someone you don't love—that makes sense."
Sex with someone you don't love. Those words echoed in me.
She continued, "And I've seen his latest movie." She whistled, "Hot stuff."
Bryce asked as he stretched his legs out, "What do you mean? Sex with someone she doesn't love?"
"Ah!" Miss Connors grinned coolly and replied, nonplussed, "That's what you heard out of that whole speech." She nodded my way and said, "I bet she's thinking the same thing."
Corrigan laughed.
Miss Connors ignored him and looked at me, "Because you do love him, Sheldon. And guess what? That's a decent thing for you to do. To be with someone that you love." She looked at Bryce, "She might not know it, but she loves you."
"My father called you?" I asked, quietly.
Corrigan stopped laughing.
Miss Connors nodded and murmured, "I called him yesterday to let him know that I saw his daughter for a successful session. I couldn't tell him anything, but he called me back and told me what was going on." She leaned forward. "For the record, Sheldon—he sounded sorry about everything that's gone down."
"What'd you tell him?"
"Just what I said right now. Sheldon came in for a session with her two best friends and I felt it went very well. That was it."
"Nothing else?" I prompted.
"Did I divulge all your secrets? No."
Corrigan suddenly asked, "Can we get back to Sheldon's question? Why am I Mr. Raimler, she's Sheldon, and Bryce is Bryce Scout?"
Miss Connors grinned and said, "Because you're so informal that you're formal. A formal title only makes sense. Bryce is a legend. He deserves two names. And Sheldon because, half the time, she forgets her own name."
Huh?
"What?" Corrigan echoed my sentiments.
Miss Connors shrugged, "You'll get it. Someday, maybe."
"I get it," Bryce said softly and leaned forward. "Mr. Raimler because you flirt so much to actually be real. It comes off as kinda impersonal or…formal." He shrugged. "And Bryce Scout because she said it herself, she hears about me from all those girls. I'm not really real, but… I don't know, like a celebrity or something." He took a deep breath, "And Sheldon because…Sheldon forgets that she's human sometimes. She tries to be a robot all the time."
"A robot who has mad passionate sex," Corrigan joked.
"Not appropriate, Mr. Raimler," Miss Connors rebuked quickly.
Corrigan muttered, just as quick, "Sorry."
"I think," Miss Connors spoke firmly. "That the biggest question in the room today is if Sheldon is a decent person or not. She talked about it yesterday. She told me that she wasn't a decent person. Leisha was a decent person, but Sheldon wasn't. Her words, not mine. So…" She looked between Bryce and Corrigan. "What do you think? Do you think Sheldon is a decent person?"
Corrigan spoke first, "Hell, yeah."
Bryce didn't say anything for a moment, but then he sighed, "She's a decent person when she remembers that she is a person."
I looked over, surprised.
He shrugged and met my eyes, "You just…I just don't think you feel half the time. You're so harsh sometimes to other people and I think it's just because you're worse to yourself."
"I think the bigger question is what Sheldon is going to do when she leaves today. She felt something yesterday and look where we all got. So what about today?" She finally looked my way and asked me, "I know you're feeling something today—so what are you going to do when you leave this office and you enter that world where you can't feel to get by? What 'indecent' thing are you going to do?"
I shrugged and looked away.