Page 38 of Just My Puck
Aria
My first day without Caleb went smoothly, though it was definitely bittersweet. I watched his first away game last night on TV, and I wished I could have been there with him to celebrate their win. The girls invited me over to watch it together, but I preferred to stay home. Truth is, I already had my PJs on at five-thirty when Marissa called. It was kind of lonely, watching it alone, and I was on the verge of texting Caleb about five hundred times. But I decided against it. He’s out there working. He doesn’t need the distraction.
The rest of the day was spent reading and writing in my journal. I started scribbling about what my daycouldlook like instead of what it actually was—which was far from riveting—and found that process a lot more enjoyable. After that, the social worker came by, and she seemed truly interested in helping me navigate these waters. She’ll stop by again after the holidays, when she’ll help me get a new social security number so I can start working again. She even gave me a prepaid credit card.
Now, I’m on Day Two. I have my next session with Dr. Stuart in an hour, so I make sure to do my homework and write down what I did yesterday, as well as how I felt. We discussed my entries a lot during our last session, and I want to make sure I have material for us to work on.
Despite having crammed to finish my homework, I make it to his office just in time for our appointment.
“Good morning, Aria,” he says with his signature calm voice, inviting me in. “How are you today?”
“I’m good.” Grinning, I stride into his office. “I survived my first night alone, as you can see.”
He offers a smile and grabs his notebook. “You were apprehensive about that yesterday. Do you feel more confident now?”
I nod. “I think so. The alone time has been good for me, actually. I enjoyed it.”
“I see you brought your journal. Can you walk me through your day?”
“Sure thing.” I open the cover and flip the pages for quite a while before I find yesterday’s entry and read it aloud to him.
“Good,” he says, writing something down in his notebook. “Looks like you’ve written a lot since yesterday.”
My cheeks warm. “Yeah, but it’s all nonsense. Instead of sticking to the assignment, I wrote about what my day could look like—you know, if my life was more interesting.”
He offers a soothing smile. “I think many people would argue that your life is extremely interesting, but I understand your point, and I think it’s a great idea. You don’t have to restrict yourself to the assignment. Those pages are not for me but for you, and if writing about a hypothetical day feels right to you, then that’s what you should do.”
“Okay.” I wring my hands in front of me. “It’s just more interesting, and I like being able to disconnect from the real me. This girl I’m writing about, she has a lot more perspective.”
“Then keep going. See where herstory goes,” he says. “I have a few exercises we can work on today, and then I’ll let you return to your riveting fiction.”
I smile, because he’s right. The first thing I’m doing when I get home is exploring Ava’s world again. She’s just about to discover who her family is, and I can’t wait to find out.
When I wake up the next morning, my heart flutters to my throat when I see a text from Caleb.
Caleb
Hey. I was just thinking about you. Hope everything is okay.
My pulse quickens, and I sit up straight. He was thinking about me? Just when I’d finally pushed him out of my thoughts, he comes back swinging. I brainstorm a few different answers before settling on:
Aria
Hey. All good here, no worries. Your house is still standing.
Caleb
I’m more interested in you. How was therapy?
Okay. What’s happening? Since when am I more important than his house, and why is he openly admitting that to me? I order my heart to calm down, but it doesn’t listen, fueled by Caleb’s words.
Aria
No changes on the memory front, but I’m sticking with it.
Caleb
Good. Remember, you’re playing the long game.
