Waiting Room
After submitting a fictional yet revealing essay for English class, Andrew finds himself mandated to therapy, a place he desperately wants to avoid. Forced into the waiting room, he encounters Ryan Sullivan, the school's golden boy, shattering Andrew's assumptions about who needs help. This unexpected meeting sparks a tense connection between two seemingly opposite individuals, both carrying burdens unseen by the world.
The slammed door echoed through the quiet street. Andrew Jackson Jennings, fueled by frustration and a deep-seated anger, grabbed his bike. The cool air did little to calm the storm inside him. He pulled the hood of his black sweatshirt over his head, a familiar shield against the world's stares. Two years. Two years since the accident that took his arm, his father, and his sister. Two years of being "that one-armed kid."
Now, thanks to a stupid English essay, he was also the kid with "deep-seated trauma" and "suicidal threats." Idiots. They'd made his mother cry, and that was unforgivable. Therapy. Twice a week. And he was early. Half an hour early. Nothing like sitting in a waiting room, feeling exposed, while people judged him.
