My Response:
Kaila picked at her finger nails, wishing she could get rid of the stubborn polish that clung to the edges of her nails. Her parents hadn’t given her enough time to finish taking it off before they had dragged her off to see the psychiatrist. Like she needed to see one. She knew what happened, she didn’t need someone to tell her.
“Did you hear me?”
She looked up at the woman sitting across from her. Dressed in her black pant suit and her brown hair pulled up in to a knot on her head, she certainly looked the part of psychiatrist.
“I wasn’t listening.”
“Tell me about that night.”
That was the last thing she wanted to do. That was all anyone wanted to hear about anymore. “Nothing happened.”
“That’s not what I’ve heard.”
Kaila sighed, “I don’t know what they’ve told you…”
“It doesn’t matter what they said. I want to know what you think happened.”
Her eyes came up to look at the woman across from her, trying to judge her intentions. “No one else believes me.”
“Try me.”
She was silent as she thought about that. Maybe she could trust her.
“He asked me out,” Kaila said slowly.
“When was that?”
“Two weeks ago. He said that I was the smartest kid in his class. I thought that we had a connection. That maybe he was the one for me.”
She could still remember the look on his face as he had told her that. The way he has smiled at her, his blue eyes lighting up. She had known then that he loved her. She had known.
“So you went on a date.”
“No,” Kaila said with a shake of her head, “Of course not. He was my teacher.”
“Then how did the two of you end up together?”
“He asked me to help him decorate the classroom for Valentine’s Day. I knew that he just wanted to be alone with me, I just didn’t think that he would do anything.”
“So, he wanted you to decorate the room?”
“Of course!” It had been sweet. He’d wanted the room decorated because it was his way of showing her how much he loved her. She knew it, but she hadn’t wanted him to be embarrassed, “But then, everything went wrong.”
“What happened?”
“He made a move on me. Shoved me against a desk, you can see the bruise,” She pressed a hand against her hip, feeling the throb of pain move through her, “He tried to kiss me.”
“What did you do?”
“I cried for help! I did everything I could to get him away from me, and then…” She trailed off, shutting her eyes and trying to drown out the memories.
“And then what?”
“And then, he hurt me,” She whispered softly.
Silence filled the room, and Kaila looked up slowly to see the psychiatrist’s reaction, but she couldn’t tell what she was thinking.
“How did Mr. Turner end up in the hospital?” The psychiatrist asked.
“What?”
“Mr. Turner. You said that he hurt you. How did he end up in the hospital?”
How had that happened? Kaila searched her mind, reliving over and over what had happened in that classroom, “Maybe someone came in after.”
“Maybe? Kaila, you were there until the paramedics came. You told them what he did, but you never said how he ended up stabbed.”
She scrambled to come up with the answer the woman was looking for, “He…he fell. Yeah, he fell and did it to himself.”
The doctor sat forward, a solemn look on her face, “No, Kaila. That’s not what happened.”
“You don’t believe me?”
“I believe that you think that’s what happened.”
“You’re just like all of the others!” Kaila cried, standing from her seat, “You think I’m crazy.”
“I think that you need help. And I’m willing to help you.”
Kaila’s eyes darted around the room, then landed on the woman once again, “How?”
“For starters, I can help you remember exactly what happened.”
As always, I would love to see what you thought of my interpretation of the assignment, and also what you've come up with.
All exercises are taken from The 3 A.M. Epiphany by Brian Kiteley
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