Chapters 9 & 10

Chapter 9 Description:

Piper is stressed out. Too stressed out that she almost does something risky. She seeks professional help and meets someone new. And even starts developing a new crush for this new person. Who the heck is this individual? Read to find out! Enjoy.

       It's been a full week and I haven't had any contact with anyone. No phone calls, texts, emails, IMs, letters, etc. I've isolated myself from the outside world. It was just Marley and I in our lonely apartment.

       Most nights, Marley would cry and cry for hours. I would try to calm her down, but it seemed like nothing worked. Sometimes I felt like I wanted to scream because of all the stress and sleep-less nights she gave me.

She made me so angry, that one night I held her high and just wanted to shake her to death. I grasped my hands around her and looked up into her eyes. Just when I was about to shake her, I stopped myself. 'Am I really going to risk her health over my stress?' I thought. I slowly cradled her back into my arms. I was becoming crazy. I had to seek professional help.

       I first went to the doctor. I had to see if Marley was in healthy condition. "I have tried to feed her, comfort her, change her, but nothing seems to work. I have no idea why she won't stop crying," I confessed to the doctor. He was sitting in the chair across from me.

"Well, she's an awfully healthy baby. Have you been stressed lately?" he asked me. And the first thing I thought was, 'How'd he know?'
       "Um, yes," I responded, nervously scratching the back of my neck.
       "Well, when you're stressed, a child can sense that. That might be the main reason she's crying all the time. If you become unstressed, she'll become unstressed."

"Okay, well you see, I don't know how to get out of my stress. Is there any kind of medication that could help me or something?"
       "Well, I don't think that your case is that serious for medication, but you can visit a stress therapist if you think you can't manage it on your own."
       "I think I might need that."
       "Well, okay. There's a therapist office next door. I'll give you their phone number so you can call them. When you call them, just tell them your name, and they'll make an appointment for you."
       "Okay." He got up from the chair and got a card out of a pile of cards. He handed me the card with the phone number on it.

       And soon enough, that's where I ended up. At the therapist office, the place that I always thought I would never end up at, at any time in my life. But look at me now, that's exactly where I am. I sat on the couch, shifting my position every few moments. I was patiently waiting for the therapist to come. It was a woman who was on the phone, so I was expecting a woman to be my therapist.

And was I wrong. I heard footsteps come in the room. When I looked up and made eye contact with the person, all I saw were beautiful blue eyes. I was in awe for what felt like minutes just staring at his eyes. "Hi, my name is Andrew," he said in a deep voice. I stood up off the couch and shook his hand.
       "Hi," I said nervously. I took a seat back down on the couch. The therapist, Andrew, sat on the opposite couch.

I just stared at him. I forgot all about Felix. I didn't even care about him anymore. I didn't care that he would be marrying Macy. My focus was now on this guy.
       "So I've heard you've been stressed lately. Can you tell me why?" he suddenly asked. I came out of my trance. 'Should I tell him?' I asked myself, 'Should I tell him everything?' I finally decided what I wanted to do.

       "Well, it all started one night with my boyfriend, Johnny..." Yep, I was going to tell him about the night I was raped, my kooky aunt, the time I found Macy kissing my boyfriend, the fight between Sadie and Macy, meeting Felix, the night with Felix, finding out I was pregnant, my "stalking" adventure, my haircut, my trip to the hospital, moving homes, more fighting with Macy and Sadie, and finally Marley crying all the time. I practically told most of my horrible year to him.

"Wow," was all he said. Men these days with their one worded responses, geez. I talked for about two hours and that's all he could say. "No wonder you're stressed," he finally said. I shifted in my seat once more. I felt like I was naked sitting in front of him. I just exposed everything to him and I hardly knew him.

"What you need, is to find something joyful in your life once again. I mean, you said when you were with your boyfriend before he raped you or with Felix before he met Macy, you felt happy. So if that makes you the most joyful, I recommend you go on a dating site and find the one you are perfect with. I'm not a relationship counselor or anything but I do think that will help you from your stress. It'll get your mind off the bad things and onto the good. Find someone who will respect you and care for you. Find your soul mate, as some people would say." His words shot through my heart like an arrow. "You know, you're a very beautiful, smart woman and anyone would be lucky to have you." My heart fluttered. I was speechless.

I got lost in his blue eyes. He had a great smile also. Oh, and hair. Nice, blonde hair. "Well, I guess that reaches our three hour mark," Andrew said out of nowhere.
       "Wait, can I come back?" I eagerly asked him. He stood up from the couch.

"You can if you want too. You'll just need to tell me or call and say what day you want the appointment and what time."
       "Okay, can we do it tomorrow?" I was really hoping he would say yes. I stood up.

"We'll have to see. I'll call you when I have things figured out. Just write your phone number on this piece of paper." He handed me a small piece of paper. I took it and wrote my name and phone number on it. "Okay, I'll call you tonight to tell you." He smiled at me. I smiled back.

Then there was just this moment when we were just fascinated by each other's eyes... "Okay, well, I guess it's time for you to go," Andrew said, snapping out of it.
       "Okay, so maybe I'll see you tomorrow?" I asked him.
       "Yeah," he said, smiling once more.

I began to walk towards the door, I looked back once I was at the door to see if he was still looking at me. And a matter of fact, he was. I waved, smiled, and walked out. He smiled and waved back. Once I reached the parking lot, a wonderful emotion came over me. I felt light-hearted again. I couldn't WAIT for tomorrow.

Scroll down for Chapter 10!

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Chapter 10 Description:

In this chapter, you get to learn the real dibs on how Piper's parents died, Piper makes plans with a guy, gets with a friend, and sees someone that "shocks the socks" off of her. What is it all about? Read to find out! Enjoy.

       After I got home from the therapist, I felt like I was ten years old again, waiting for that one special boy to call me.  I went back in time in my mind into my childhood days...

       I was a skinny little girl with humongous green eyes and soft, brown hair. My days were mostly filled with laughter and hopefulness.

I was best friends with Sadie at the time, like I am now, and she wore her red, wavy, slept-on hair with a small clip in it.

My mom had blonde hair, with green eyes. She's the one who I got my green eyes from.

My dad had rich, brown hair with small brown eyes. He's the one I got my brown hair from, obviously. 

Usually after my mom would finish with my hair on the normal morning routine, I would eat the delicious, warm waffles that my dad made for me every morning. He was an astounding cook, and my mom, well, you could say she can't boil water if it was to save her life. But either way, I loved them. They were my family, and I always believed that they would be there with me forever.

       But forever, didn't last that long. A few weeks after I turned eleven years old, one afternoon my mom, dad, and I were in the car driving home because we just ate out at a restaurant. I had my window open, feeling the warm, summer breeze just brush through my hair and my mom and dad were both in the front seat singing out loud to their favorite song. I was smiling and trying to sing along with them, but little ole' me couldn't get one word in tune. But I didn't care, because I was having fun. I remember we stopped at a stop sign for a second and there were absolutely no cars on the road.

       Once we started driving again, I saw a car speeding fast towards our car. It just seemed like it came out of nowhere. And it didn't stop. In a blink of an eye, it slammed against our car, causing us to spin off the road into the grass.

I shrieked when the car drove over bumps and holes, spinning around and around. I was lifted out of my seat and thrown out of the open car window. My seat buckle hadn't been clicked all of the way, so that's what caused my little body to just be easily picked up and tossed.

All I saw was a blur of trees and sky before I landed in the grass, luckily, only breaking an arm. But my parents were still in the car, which was now against a tree.

I got up, for my body was all shaken and I began to limply run towards the car screaming out, "Mom! Dad!" There wasn't a response. I ran up to the side of the car and made a blood curdling scream at the scene. "Mom! Dad!" I cried out, wanting them to respond in some way.

Both of my parents had been stabbed by an awfully low branch on the tree. My mom was stabbed in the stomach, my dad was stabbed in the chest. The branch broke through the glass and just stuck into my parents like a toothpick in Jell-O. I shakily opened up the car door and touched my mom on the shoulder, who was in the passenger seat. She didn't move. Her body was soaked in warm, red liquid making her shirt bloody red. My hand was tainted with her blood as I lifted it up off her body. I looked over at my dad, and he was just the same: bloody and still.

     My breathing became unsteady and my eyes were filled with tears. I sat at my mom's feet in the car and laid my head on her legs. She still felt warm. Then all of a sudden, my mom's hand moved. I sat my head up and instantly grabbed it. She tightened her grasp around my fingers with the both of our hands covered in blood. I held her bloody hand up to my face, caressing it. And as quickly as I did that, her grasp loosened and her arm went limp. I cried out to her, but there was no movement. I screamed as loud as I could, wishing I could turn back time and somehow just prevent the incident from happening. But my life felt like it was over, and my parents were dead and gone, just like that.

       A tear ran down the side of my face as I was bringing back the mournful memories. Then suddenly, I jumped and fell out of my chair because the phone began to ring. I quickly put my hand back on the chair to assist my body back up, wiped the tear off my face, and then I grabbed the phone. I sniffed my snot-clogged nose. I stood up.

"Hello?" I said, trying to sound peppy again.

       "Is this Piper Johnson?" the deep voice on the other end said.

       "Yes," I responded.

       "Hi this is Andrew, your therapist. I just want to inform you that your appointment will be tomorrow."

       "Oh, okay. Thanks."

       "Yeah." There was awkward silence.

"Are you single?" I blurted out. I bit my lip regretting asking it. There was a silence. "Hello?" I said.

       "Um, yes, why do you ask?"

       "Uh, I was just wondering. Oh, um, I've got to go now. Um, bye." I quickly said, hanging up the phone. My face was sizzling. I felt so embarrassed. But hey, this therapist Andrew was sure getting me out of my stress already.

       The next day, I made sure I was wearing something that made me look HOT. I tried on multiple things. And then, finally, I found the right outfit. And right when I was about to head out of the house, the phone rang.

"Hello?" I said when I picked it up.

       "Hey Piper," I heard Sadie's voice say.

       "Sadie?" I questioned, I hadn't heard her voice in almost two weeks.

       "Yeah, um, I was just wanting to apologize from the last time I was at your house. I'm so sorry. I just let my mean side come out and I really didn't mean to hurt you in any way, shape, or form."

       "Oh." There was silence.

       "Um, so, uh, to make it up to you, is it all right if I take you out to eat for lunch because I know today is your birthday and everything...I just thought celebrating would be the right thing to do, unless you're busy." I almost forgot that it was my twentieth birthday.

"Oh, um, sure. Well I have an appointment that ends at eleven o' clock, so maybe you can pick me up at eleven-thirty?"

       "Sure! Yeah, that would be great." She sounded joyful once again.

       "Okay, well I'll see you then."

       "Okay, bye then."

       "Bye." And I hung the phone up. Then, I quickly called a babysitter to watch Marley while I was gone. Then once the babysitter arrived, I headed out of my apartment to meet Andrew.

       Once I arrived at the therapist office, I sat down with Andrew to do our talking thing. "Okay, well you know how I said that Macy and Sadie got in a fight at my apartment? Sadie just called me, before I left to come here, to apologize to me. She wants to take me out to lunch to make it up to me, since it's my birthday and everything." I told him. He leaned back on the couch putting his elbows on the top of the couch, put a foot up on his knee, and looked at me. I watched his eyes as they examined my body.

"How old are you as of today?" he asked.

       "Twenty," I replied.

He smiled. He smiled that unique smile of his that always made me feel warm inside; well, at least since yesterday. "Well anyways, I think you should go with her," he replied.

"Really? I mean she was a kind of a complete bitch to me."

       "Just do it. If you have been friends with her for a long time, a silly argument shouldn't break you guys up."

       "Okay, okay."

We sat in silence staring at each other. I was beginning to become nervous and shifted myself in my seat. I cleared my throat and looked at the floor.

       "So, um, about yesterday when you asked me if I was single, what was that all about?" he said, rubbing the back off his neck.

       "Oh, yeah, that, um..." My face felt hot, I was really nervous.

"Am I the one?" he asked suddenly.

       "What?" I asked, confused. He breathed out a puff of air.

       "Am, oh gosh..." his voice trailed off. "Do you like me?" My heart stopped. I felt like I couldn't breathe. I couldn't bring out the words. All I did was sit there, silently, staring at him like a mentally disabled person.

       "What do you want to hear me say?" I asked him, that's all I could think of at the moment.

"Well, you see, I'm strictly not allowed to have any kind of relationship with any of my clients."

       "Oh." I looked down at my feet.

       "But I like you...and that could be a-"

"Wait, you like me?" I said, cutting him off.

       "Well...yeah. Please don't tell anyone though, I don't want to get fired." It felt like he was so cautious, but casual about it all. I guess he was a guy who didn't like to hide his feelings.

       "Okay, so if I like you and you like me, and we, oh I don't know, go out on date,...well, could we go out on a date?" I asked him.

       "I'm not disagreeing, am I?"

       "Well, no, but how are we going to do this without anyone finding out?"

       "I'll think of someway, just come to my office, maybe next week and we'll figure things out."

       "Okay." And that was the plan.

I felt like a bad chick, making secret plans to be with this guy. I just hoped it'd be worth it, and not have him be a phony, like Felix.

       So later on after the therapist appointment,  I drove home very quickly so I could be ready for Sadie to pick me up.

I gussied up and eventually, Sadie arrived at my apartment.

I opened the door to my apartment and she looked really pretty. No, I mean h-o-t, HOT.

"Oh my gosh Sadie, what did you do to your look?!" I happily screamed in her face right when I opened the door. She carefully wiped my spit off her face, chuckled, and shook her hand off to the side.

       "Well, hello to you too. Do you not like my new image, or something?" she asked.

       "No, I love it! Your hair is so soft and your clothes are so cute! You look amazing, why in the heck did you change?" I said feeling her long red strands.

       "I don't know, I was kind of tired of being a tomboy bitch. I mean, I got really stressed out. After I had fought with that two-timing bitch, I cried for hours because I thought I hurt you really bad. I wanted to call you, but I was afraid that you were going to blow up at me just like I blew up at you."

"Aw! I could never stay mad at you!" I said and I hugged her.

        "Are we going to go?"

        "Oh, yeah! Let's go." And off we left.

       We arrived at my favorite fast food restaurant, Benny's Burgers. The place always felt like a second home to me. We arrived there, and took our food outside. We sat down at a picnic bench.

"So how have you been doing for the past week and days?" Sadie asked as I was struggling to get my legs over the bench seat. Sadie sat the food on the table.

"Well, I've been seeing a therapist." I confessed as I finally got situated. Sadie began to unwrap her hamburger.
       "What for?" she asked.
       "I've been stressed, I guess. I mean it's nothing big or anything, it's just I thought I needed a little support."
       "Is it all because of me?" Sadie looked at me sympathetically, holding her hamburger in her hands.
       "No, I've been stressed for a very long time. If I didn't get help, I would of probably ended up killing myself."
       "You've been thinking of suicide?"
       "No, but I was thinking I was going to go into depression which would of lead me to suicide."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Piper. I should have been there for you more, but I was too busy being a bitch," she said, taking a big bite out of her hamburger.
       "Well, it's all good now. Because I've met this really awesome guy."
       "Who is it?" she asked, with her mouth full.
       "Well, you're never going to guess who it is."
       "Well tell me then!" she said, spitting hamburger bits across the picnic table. I laughed as I grabbed a napkin and cleaned it up.
       "It's the therapist!" I said excitingly.
       "You like your therapist? Holy smokes, Piper, does he know you like him?"
       "Yeah, and he likes me too. He told me, face to face. Isn't that so sexy? How he can just come out to me and say these things?"

"Yeah, I guess, but can't you get into trouble for that? I mean, if you're the client and he's the....oh gosh, Piper, what are you getting yourself into?"
       "I don't quite know exactly. But we're going to meet together secretly and stuff; doesn't that sound dangerous?" I asked, enthused.
       "Yeah, it-" and then she stopped talking and chewing. She was looking past me. "Oh my gosh," she spoke, slowly starting to chew again.
       "What is it?" I said, tempting to turn around.

"Don't turn around," Sadie quickly said, still staring at whatever she was looking at.
       "Why can't I turn around Sadie?" I said smiling, but she was still serious. It was freaking me out.
       "Just don't, turn, around, do you hear me?" she said, looking back at me.

"Oh my gosh Sadie, what could be so bad when I turn around?" I turned around. My body froze, my heart stopped. I wish I had followed what Sadie had said.

I saw Johnny, and he was making eye contact with me; and not the good eye contact. He was staring me down. I gulped. 'This isn't good,' I thought.



Gasp! What's Johnny going to do? Click the picture for Chapter 11 :)