Brick By Boring Brick excerpt

Trainwreck

I sat in my room, playing with strands of my hair, hoping my parents would be here soon. I hadn't seen them for roughly a month, only spoken with them on the phone twice in that time, and they had said they were ready. I had told them I was ready. Now that the day was actually here, I wasn't so sure. I had been here for a year! I had came here the summer after my sophmore year. God, what a horrible time that had been. I had thought things were going good, that the meds were working. How wrong I had been. After all that happened that summer, my parents thought it best to bring me here, Shadybrook. It was a mental health clinic. It was about 2 hours away from where we lived, in Seattle. My father Carlisle, was a very respected doctor, where my mom Esme, was the most wanted interior designer on the west coast. My brother Edward was what people called a musical genius, always having some kind of recital or practice to deal with.

I continued to play with my hair, finally hearing footsteps coming down the hall. I looked up, expecting it to be my parents, but instead it was my doctor. I stopped messing with my hair, knowing he would say something about it. I smiled, gesturing him to come into the room.

“Alexis, how are you doing today? Feeling any anxiety about going home?” he asked me, casually leaning against the desk on the other side of the room.
“Honestly, a little yeah. This is what I have been working towards, right? To be able to walk out of here, go home and lead as normal a life as possible. Now, I have that chance, and I am so scared. Scared that I am just going to ruin it.”
“Alexis, there is no ruining it. You just go home and take it a day at a time. You may have set backs, thats understandable. Its going to be completely different then being here. Your going to start school in a couple of weeks, take these next few weeks to try and reconnect with old friends, maybe even make new ones! Spend this time reconnecting with your family! That is going to be the most important part. I know that you have kept in touch through technology and their visits, but this is going to be different, you will be around each other constantly. You are going to be relearning who these people are. Remember, as much as you have changed over the past year, they have probably changed just as much.”

We talked for a few more minutes, when I heard the distinct sound of my mother Jimmy Choos in the hallway. A smile grew on my face, as she turned the corner. I jumped off my bed, running to her. We collided, holding onto each other for our lives. No matter what had happened in the last couple years, my mother had always been there. Her belief in me had never wavered, when otheres had. She was my rock! She kissed my forehead, standing back to look at me.

“The amount of meat on your bones would feed no one! Have to change that at home wont we?” she asked me, a smile on her face.
“Mom, where is everyone?” I asked, expecting that they all would have come.
“Don't worry, Lex, their here. They are downstairs. Alice is going through your suitcases, grabbing anything that she feels shouldn't come home with you, Edward is putting as much of the luggage in the trailer, and your father is signing paper work. They all came. Lets grab your bag and head downstairs.” she said, placing her arm around me.

I grabbed my bag and we left the room.