The Soul of Me (Part 6) (standard:drama, 4079 words) [6/11] show all parts
Author: Maya	Added: May 09 2001	Views/Reads: 2618/1936	Part vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
Heidi trys to get back to her life.

After meeting with Dr. Lane, I walked though the rest of my classes with
a new understanding of me.  There was a light at the end of my tunnel, 
and I didn’t have to die to see it.  The road ahead of me was a long 
one.  I had a lot of work to do with Dr. Lane, but there was a physical 
reason for feeling the way I did.  A treatable reason.  Maybe the 
taunts and teases, the disgusted looks and the giggles would continue.  
After all, people could be cruel even if they didn’t mean to.  I could 
learn to deal with these issues and the feelings they caused me.  I 
didn’t have to believe what people said about me.  I could believe what 
I wanted to believe.  Talk, trust, and believe.  That’s what Dr. Lane 
said.  I was going to do everything in my power not to let her or 
anyone else down. 

Jody was waiting for me at our locker after classes.  “So, how did it
go?”  She was anxious to learn all she could about what had happened at 
the meeting. 

“It went okay, I guess.  My mom and dad were pretty upset, but I think
they’ll be okay.  They thought they should have been able to see what 
was happening with me.  Dr. Lane really helped them understand that it 
would have been more surprising if they had actually noticed something 
was up.  I can put up a pretty good façade.  People like me usually 
can.”  I thought for a moment.  “How much about your life and what your 
feelings are do you think your parents really know?” 

“Probably not as much as they think they do.  I guess there are
somethings that I don’t think they need to know, for whatever reason.  
Is that kind of how you felt about telling your folks the things that 
were going on in your life?” 

“Yeah, it is.  Maybe teenagers do keep a lot to themselves, but I think
this teenager needs to learn that it is okay to talk to her parents.  
They’ve been teenagers, right.  My mom has gone through some of what I 
have to deal with.  They both probably have a lot of good advice to 
give if I just ask and listen.” 

“I think you right.  So, what happens now?”  As soon as she said this,
she seemed to want to justify her question.  “You don’t have to tell me 
if you don’t want to.  I don’t have to know, but I sort of want to.  If 
I know the game plan I think I could help you better, and I really want 
to.” 

“It’s okay,”  I said.  “I don’t mind if you know.  After all, you’re
sort of responsible.”  I got my homework out of my locker, and closed 
the door.  “I’m going to start seeing Dr. Lane every Thursday 
afternoon.  She’s a really nice person.  I like her a lot.  She thinks 
there is some drug therapy that can help me, but she’s having me go to 
my regular doctor for a physical first.  Mom was going to make an 
appointment for me.  We’ll see what happens after that.”  I was down 
playing things a bit, but that was basically the gist.  I didn’t tell 
Jody about Dr. Lane asking my parents to remove anything dangerous from 
the household.  That might have sounded a little too intense.  “So, I 
guess that’s it.  Well, not exactly ‘it’.  I have a lot to work on, and 
it’s not going to be easy, but I’ll just take things one step at a 
time.” 

“You won’t have to take those steps alone.  You understand that now,
right?”  Jody was loosing her sense of humor over this.  I didn’t want 
to bring her down. 

“I do.  Thanks, for everything.  I guess now I just want to get back to
being a regular person again, okay?  I don’t want to spend all my time 
thinking about it.  I want you to treat me like you always did, not 
like I’m something fragile that will break if you look at it wrong.”  I 
gave her a heartfelt look.  “Can you do that for me?” 

“Of course I can.  You’re still my best friend.  You always will be.  I
just want to be sure you know that you can come to me for help if you 
need it.  I guess I also need to know that you will come to me.” 

“I do know and I will come to you for help in the future.”  I smiled at
her.  “Okay, so, that’s it.  No more talk about bummer stuff.  Let’s 
talk about something happy.” 

“Like what?” 


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