I nodded, my eyes scrunching up in a smile. “Well, the first thing about Cherri was that she was the opposite of Milo. You couldn’t ignore someone like that if you tried. She had these wild tangles of red, curly hair, but the most apparent thing about her was her attitude. She was always making trouble with staff at the clinic, pushing their buttons in any way she could. I remember her calling one of the clinicians stupid. Can you imagine? A shell--a creature with a low IQ, social problems, and coordination problems--calling a clinician with a p.h.d stupid.”
Melissa giggled at that. “I can’t help but be jealous of her, but she sounds very likeable. But wait, are you saying all shells have low IQs? You seem completely normal to me.”
I shook my head. “No, not all of us, but most of us. My IQ is around one-hundred, according to Rosy, one of my therapists. Some of us are… what was that word? Savants. That’s what Lyle was classified as, although I think they’re stupid for classifying him like that. He just… didn’t have good social skills. That didn’t mean he was a savant. He was brilliant at math and writing, unlike me. Frankly, even I had to be prompted to get this good at speaking to people.”
Melissa cocked her head to the side. “Prompted?”
I blushed at how incompetent I used to be even at the simplest things. I sank in my chair I was so embarrassed. “They had to feed me introductions when meeting new people and give me topics to have conversations about.”
Melissa found herself grinning, overly charmed by my quirky problems. “I can’t imagine someone like you ever being unable to come up with conversation starters!”
We both laughed at that, and then I talked a little bit more about Cherri. “At any rate, Cherri was brave, outrageous, and loved to provoke. She did the things all of us shells wished we could do. I decided that I needed some of that… defiance in my life, so I secretly dated her.”
"Secretly?" Melissa's bafflement at the life shells led continued.
"Shells aren't allowed to date." I said.
"Oh..." Melissa frowned.
From there, we continued our conversation until we finished our drinks, and then we took a walk together, during which I gave Melissa the bat toy, and then I went home.
The first thing I did when I got home was call my therapist. “Hi, this is Kay. I wanted to ask you--how do I move out?”
It sounded like a stupid question, but I legitimately didn’t know how. My therapist told me that I could just check out, and I thanked her for the quick information.
My therapist asked me a few follow-up questions, like where I was moving in and who I was moving in with, and I gave her all the information she wanted. She sounded happy, but apprehensive about me moving in with someone else. She made sure to tell me to tell Melissa that my therapist would be visiting us on Saturday.
I hung up the phone with a song in my heart. I began packing up all my clothes, humming softly the whole time. I was excited to be living with Melissa--I was happy to be living with anyone.
I didn’t own much, which made packing easy. I folded my three pairs of jeans nicely and placed them in my suitcase, and then I folded up my six shirts and did the same with them. I sat on my bed, thinking of anything else I needed to pack. Oh! Shampoo and other toiletries! As I headed to the bathroom, I saw the pot of lilies standing on my nightstand. I smiled.
Can’t forget those, either.
I spent the rest of the day relaxing, just watching documentaries and family-friendly movies while tucked into bed. When I eventually got bored, I started reading books on math, psychology, and various other professions that the clinic had provided me upon graduation.
In the midst of trying to understand a complicated word from my psychology text, there was a knock on my door, making me jump. I cleared my throat, glad no one was around to see me jump like a dork. I straightened my clothes and smoothed my hair back, hoping I looked presentable.
I opened the door to see Dr. Green standing behind it.
I was surprised, when I saw him earlier, he made it sound like it would be the last time I would ever see him. “Hi Dr. Green. I promise I haven’t been making any graffiti of you and--”
Dr. Green leaned against my door frame, clearing his throat to interrupt me, smiling ruefully. “I actually came by to tell you that I’m sorry for how I acted toward you.”
I blinked rapidly, not knowing what to say.
He stood up straight, taking a deep breath while shoving his hands into the pocket of his trench coat. “There was no call for the things I said to you when you graduated. All I had to say was that I wasn’t interested in you, but instead I… well, you were there. You know what happened. I’m sorry about it. You’ve proven yourself to be very smart and independent.”
I was speechless for a moment, and then I managed to squeak out, “Thank you. Th-there’s no need to apologize, though! I get where you were coming from, I--”
Dr. Green held up a hand to silence me. “Don’t apologize. I was the rude one. I want to make up for it.”
There was a pause, during which freezing cold, night air whistled in through the open doorway, making my teeth chatter and making me dance from foot-to-foot.
Dr. Green chuckled at that, and then he reached into his pocket and pulled out two movie tickets. “I was gonna go see a movie tomorrow with a coworker, but she had a change in plans. So, I thought I would offer it to you, instead, to make up for how rude I was.”
My jaw nearly dropped at his kind gesture. In fact, my eyes turned glassy at it. I wanted to immediately say yes, but…
I wondered if Melissa would mind or if she wanted to make plans with me tomorrow.
“I would love to go, but I should check with my girlfriend first to make sure it’s okay with her.” I finally said, regret gnawing at my heart from not immediately accepting.
Dr. Green nodded. “Absolutely. I don’t really have anyone to go with, so why don’t you take both tickets for now? If you can’t go with me, you should go with your girlfriend.”
I felt dazed from how sweet he was being. I took both tickets and gazed at them as if they were my favorite food. I wiped an oncoming tear from my eye. Dr. Green shook his head incredulously at my tears.
“You act as if you’ve never been treated kindly in your life.” Dr. Green stated.
“It’s been awhile since I have, ever since I graduated.” I replied, wiping my tears away.
Dr. Green peered over my shoulder and saw that I was packing. “Are you going somewhere?”
I nodded. “I’m moving in with Melissa--my girlfriend.”
Dr. Green’s face fell at my words, his lips moved--he wanted to say something, but clearly felt the need to think his words through. He looked down at his feet with a frown. In another second, he forced a smile and ate whatever words he previously wanted to say. “That was fast. You must have clicked really easily. I’m happy for you. Well, see you later, then.”
He turned on his heel, intending to go, but I called out, “Wait!”
He looked over his shoulder, waiting for me to continue.
“I don’t really know many people. Melissa’s really the only person I know who I can depend on. Can I get your phone number in case something happens to me? Oh, and I also need it so I can call you if Melissa says she’s okay with me going to the movies with you.” I said.
Dr. Green turned around. “Sure.”
He gave me his number, and when he asked for mine, I had to look it up on my phone. Dr. Green was grinning the whole time while I did. “A word of advice: Take time to memorize your number. It’ll save a lot of time in the future.”
I grinned sheepishly. “Good advice. Thank you.”
“No problem. Well, I should be on my way--good luck with your lady.” Dr. Green said.
“Wait! I have a word of advice for you, too.” I said hastily.
Dr. Green paused again, waiting for me to continue.
“We talked about this in the clinic, but you should smile more often! It’s a gorgeous smile.” I said. “You’ll be more happy if you smile more often.”
Dr. Green laughed. “I can’t help my frowns. I was just born to be a downer, I suppose. I’ll keep your advice in mind, though. It is pretty sound, after all."
He went on his way, then, and I watched him go with a lovesick gaze. After that, I finished packing and drove over to Melissa’s house.
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