Excerpt from Chapter 5.    Dr. Richards

 

 

We finally arrived and no second too soon I lunged out of the car before she had a chance to utter a word. This was odd I did not see Mrs. Dome out in front of the school yet I was greeted by Bethany. This was something different which I needed and enjoyed very much. 

           

            “Hi Alex.” she said standing before me, then she moved about as though she was pondering, almost anticipating the next move as in chest.

            “Hi,” I said curiously yet cautiously.

            Circling around me, Bethany said with a mocking demeanor about her, “Where is your master? You look lost without her.”

 

            I could kill her for even saying something like that to me, she is playing me I know this, she is studying my reaction to her commit, but I want to see where this goes.

 

            “I think I could manage, but let me guess; these tactics you are attempting to use on me because this is how you handle situations you are uncertain about.” I replied.

 

            She would not stand still, always moving, doing something with her hands. Fidgeting, but why? Maybe too much coffee, stop, focus on what she is doing, she is extremely clever beyond her years; there is something more here.

            “Back to the library or maybe a field trip today?” Bethany inquired

           

            Nervously, I wondered if she had been in the library after all. “What is it that you want from me?” I asked pushing a smile to the surface.

 

            Her movement stopped. I knew I hit a nerve.

 

            Was she so sensitive, the same like every other girl?

 

            If this is the case she just became boring, and I would place her with all the others who became my victims. Possible she would suffer the same fate. 

 

            Suddenly, Bethany stated, “This is not about me, its about you. You are most complexing, calculating before every movement I dare say. There is a quiet insanity underlining your rational mind, almost killing you perhaps.”

 

            She could not be more right. I was taken back for a moment revealing my true nature before I recaptured my composure. I shielded myself as a different persona that people could like, but Bethany saw right through it. She was not meant to see me; I did not want her to know, before I could figure her out first. Now she knows and that gnawed away at my being. Now I questioned her motives as well as her sanity, how could she like me when she knows me? 

 

            “Are you now my psychologist?” I asked.  “Do you go to therapy often? Is that why you must inflict your erroneous diagnosis on me?”

 

            Bethany hinted a smile that reflected irritation by what I said. Soon she covered it up with a clever remark, “Both of my parents are psychologist and my mother tries to psycho-analyze me every day, I hate her. I’ve been so accustom to their behavior that I sometimes don’t realize that I am doing this to others.”

 

            She knew exacting what she was doing, this was another of her little tests to see if I could read past her bullshit.

            “Nicely done...I like how you used truth while trying to manipulate the conversation. This will work on idiots, but not on me. Good try!”

 

            Apparently I had been keeping Mrs. Dome waiting as I noticed her coming out to retrieve me and she noticed that I had been speaking with Bethany.

 

            “Well this was nice; it’s too bad I can’t charge you for this session.” I told her then I walked away.

 

            Like her parents, Bethany would analyze our talk this morning. As I walked down the hall with Mrs. Dome, I was quiet. I did not know how she would take it.

 

            In the same library, on a different day. She closed the door behind us as I sat down at the table. I expected some type of negative backlash from her.