Page 1 of Fight or Flight

CHAPTER I

CLAIRE

I concentrate on my therapist’s hand as she plays with her pen. Click, click.

“Claire?” I hear her annoying voice as if from a distance, when in reality, we’re sitting almost face to face in her small office.

Click, click.

With each click, I have to fight the urge to rip it from her chubby little fingers.

“You seem agitated today,” she says, and I direct my sight toward her cold, blue eyes.

I smile at her sweetly and relax back in the plushy armchair. “I’m not. What gave you that idea?”

She licks her lips, which are covered with remnants of crusty, red lipstick before she smiles at me knowingly as if we have more than a few secrets to share between us. As if we are friends.

“You just seem tense. Are you balancing your medication well?”

“I am,” I lie simply and look back at her hand. Click, click.

“Well, then. I’m glad. So, why don’t you tell me how your week is going so far?” She asks pleasantly and lifts her notepad that is lying in her lap as if to get ready to write a report.

I blink at her, my smile intact, but inside, I feel the liquid fire lick at my insides, basically asking me to attack her. The aggression spikes should be a pretty good indicator that I am on a straight path to cuckoo town, but I squish it down quickly.

“Haven’t you watched the news, Ms. Edwards?” I ask with what, I hope, is a neutral tone.

She tilts her head to the side and writes something on the piece of paper as she questions, “What is it that you would like me to see there, Claire?”

For a second, I wonder, what exactly is she writing? It’s probably some nonsense to make her look professional or some other bullshit. Well, she can’t fool me. She’s so bad at her job. Ms Edwards is way more concerned with trying to find a husband and flirting with my dad whenever he’s picking me up than actually getting to know me, let alone help me.

As soon as I’m eighteen, which will be in four agonizing months, I’ll be cutting my ties with that woman ASAP. My father won’t be able to make me come see her anymore.

“Claire?” She prompts me to answer with her eyebrows furrowed in plain frustration.

I try to once again keep my anger at bay when I eventually reply. “My best friend had to run from her psycho dad. You know him. Your beloved sheriff David Wallace,” I can’t contain the sneer that comes over my face as I spit his name.

She makes an unpleasant face but keeps her voice soft. “Your friend, Jennifer, was always a very troubled young lady, Claire. From my understanding, no one knows what happened to her exactly. She was clearly a bad influence on you, and now she’s a runaway. You know we are a small community here at Bell Ridge, and Sheriff Wallace...”

“Almost burned a fucking guy alive because he discovered what that piece of shit been up to!” I explode and grab onto the handrests just so I don’t squeeze the life out of this useless creature that keeps staring at me in shock.

It was the first time when I showed so much emotion and animosity toward her, and I could see by the sharp intake of breath that she did not see that coming.

Before she can compose herself, I jump up from my seat and glance at the giant clock on the wall.

“I have to go to school. I’ll see you next week, Ms. Edwards,” I say hurriedly and grab my backpack from the floor.

“Claire, wait, we still have...” she scrambles from her seat, her face getting a little red.

I swing my bag on one shoulder and open the door to exit the office in haste, passing by my surprised father, who was sitting in the waiting area, reading some kind of sports magazine.

He jumps up from his seat when he sees me and opens his mouth to speak, but I just mutter, “I’ll wait in the car while she tattles on me.”

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I STARE DISPASSIONATELY through the windshield of my father’s car at the kids standing in front of the school, laughing together, talking about insignificant shit. Plotting to skip classes and planning the next party they will throw at the Mill.

It wasn’t that long ago when Jenny and I were a part of it.

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