Greg Brooke (mafsnogood) wrote in tiberiusswann, @ 2012-10-04 21:33:00 |
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Entry tags: | charlie, greg |
Thursday October 3, 2019 [Backdated]
Who: Charlie and Greg
What: Counseling
Where: Charlie's office
When: evening
Greg was done for the week. He hated everything and was grumpy and just wanted someone on his side. Mr. Hardy had been a bust. So, now with that, his teachers noticing his lack of befriending anyone in class as well, he was sent to a councilor. Feeling like a regular teenage boy, he shuffled down the halls dejectedly and knocked on the door before coming into the room. The teen that looked like a 30 year old man felt like everything was lost and no one understood him or cared. So, if he was stuck with a councilor, then so be it. "Hi," he said, waving his hand. "I'm Greg, here to be counciled. . . I guess."
Charlie's job was to work with new students who were having a hard time adjusting to life at TJS. If Greg Brooke didn't fit that bill completely, then no one ever would. But it worried her that he had been instructed to see her and wasn't simply seeking her out of his own accord. That always seemed to make treating someone far more complicated. "Come in," she'd called out when he knocked on the door. She then stood up and moved from behind her desk to the front of it where she had a couple of comfortable chairs set up in a much more conversational type setting. "Hello, Greg. I'm Charlie. Nice to meet you." She gestured toward the chairs and then asked, "Would you like to have a seat?"
"Sure," Greg said as he took a seat. Sliding his bag off to the floor, he looked around the office. It was nice, he supposed. "So, I'm supposed to come see you because I'm not making any 'friends' and I'm not getting along with my sponsor, so I've been told to see you." It was pretty much it. He'd only really made friends with Jack and that was because they'd fooled around a bit.
Charlie took a seat as well, quiet as he glanced around the room to settle himself in. She took pride in keeping a neat office. There was nothing that could be considered offensive about it and yet it was personalized a bit. She had pictures of the varying members of her rather rag-tag family group about and a few finger paintings that her children had made for her over the years. "That was going to be my first question. What brings you here today. Though before that, I do want to mention that everything we talk about here is confidential. The only expections to that are if you advise me that you intend to harm yourself or someone else or if you advise me that somene is harming you. Other than that, nothing we discuss leaves this room, okay?" She offered him a warm smile and then asked, "Do you mind if I take notes?" It was only polite to ask, after all.
"Go ahead," Greg said waving it on. He wasn't depressed or very angry at everything, he was just an irritable teenage boy that wanted to have fun and wasn't being allowed to do what he thought was fun. "Seeing as I don't slit my wrists or anyone else and no one's stuck their hand down my pants yet, I figured I was doing good," he said, although it was done with a cheeky smile. "The teachers just want me to find more friends and my sponsor's psycho. That's all that's wrong with me."
Listening was the main job of a counselor. Listen and pick up on the things that people didn't say which usually meant a lot more than the things that they did say. "And what do you think about that?" Charlie asked first and foremost. "I mean do you find it problematic?"
"Not much to think about. I got sick when I was little and aged rapidly. There's not many like me out there, so I'm a teen in a grown man's body. Kinda hard to make friends when they think you're some old guy perving on them," he said. "The problem is the sponsor. He's out of his mind, bat shit crazy. He spelled me in the school. I can't leave without him now."
"That's... definitely a difficult thing to go through." Charlie could relate to that, to an extent. She was a little girl who had been forced to grow up quickly on the inside but the outside hadn't reflected that. So she had been treated like she was much younger than she felt like she was throughout most of her childhood. "So why do you think he did that? Did something happen?"
"Everyone expected us to grow up suddenly when we're still 6, but look 15. Then, when we do act our age, they get upset that we don't act like our real age," Greg grumbled. "I had a party outside the school. It wasn't a big deal, then he freaks out on me and pulls a syringe out of his desk demanding my blood for drug testing. I hate needles and he was ready to just stab me with it. Then when I refused, he dragged me down to the infirmary and demanded blood there. The healers just wanted pee that I was happy to give them. I just finished my meet up with him. He told me about the spell, then we sat in silence for nearly half an hour because he's a dick and doesn't give two shits about me."
"I understand. And age is so relative anyway." Charlie admitted with a soft laugh. When he told her of the actions that his sponsor had taken, that was a note of concern. She wouldn't join in on criticizing him, because that wouldn't be a good practice either, but she would say one thing. "That does seem a bit on the extreme side, perhaps. But... And you can tell me if you disagree, do you think that he would go to such trouble if he didn't, as you said, give two shits about you?"
"My dad asked him to watch me and make sure I stayed out of trouble. He's doing my dad a favor because my dad's an idiot," Greg sighed. "He only cares if I'm causing trouble and as soon as I behave like he wants, I'm off to fend for myself. He doesn't care or understand and doesn't want to."
"He's told you that?" Charlie asked, her lips pursing slightly. "You do know that's not how things are typically done here, though, don't you? If you need to be here and your father were to, as you put it, leave you to fend for yourself, something could be worked out for you to keep you here. So that's nothing you really need to be worried about right now."
"I'm not worried about being left to fend for myself. I can go live with my mom if I really need to or relatives in Hell," Greg sighed. "Nox just. . . He doesn't care about how I feel or fit in or anything. He just wants me gone."
"I'm sorry that he's made you feel that way." Charlie knew a bit about Nox. She was sure that wasn't really the case, but he had a certain style about him, more authoritative than anything else, and that didn't always work with certain types of people. "Why don't we just venture off from that topic for a moment, and you tell me more about yourself instead."
"I'm half smoke demon," he said, slouching down into his seat. "My parents divorced when I was 5 and I have two older sisters that went to live with my mom. They live somewhere in Vegas I think. I stopped going to see them when I got sick and grew up suddenly." It'd been too weird being around his mom at the age of 7 and looking like he was 18. He just wanted to sit with her and lay and cuddle like any 7 year old, but she felt too awkward and so he stopped going.
Charlie nodded her head as he spoke, just to show that she was listening. "So you haven't seen them at all since then? Not even now that you've... maybe settled a bit more into your new appearance?" That was interesting. "So how old are you actually?" She had his file. She could read it there and probably had, but she wasn't entirely clear headed these days. Pregnancy made her slightly forgetful from time to time.
"16," Greg said, going a bit sullen. It seemed no one really wanted, the more he talked about it and thought about it. "Naw. I haven't seen my mom or sisters since I was 7. I've talked to them a bit, but not much. It's been nearly 5 years since I've actually had a conversation with my mom. 3 with my sisters. I was too busy with the other kids that got turned because they were in the same place I was."
That was sad. Charlie couldn't imagine not speaking to her children for so long. She had grown up without a mother in her own life, so that part she couldn't fully relate to, but as a mother, the idea of being apart from her kids, no matter what had happened, was just heartbreaking. "I am sincerely sorry that all of this has happened to you, Greg."
"Don't be sorry. Sorry doesn't help anything and just makes you feel better more than me," Greg shrugged, picking at his sleeve. "I learned to deal with it. Apparently neither of my parents care for me, so that's why I'm here. Whether or not they know I know, doesn't matter. Doesn't change anything, so. . . Whatever," he shrugged.
"You could have a point," Charlie admitted, knowing better than to take anything personally even if being pregnant had her hormones on edge right now. "Have you considered that perhaps they've not learned how to deal with it even though you have?" She would hate to think that his parents didn't care, but some parents just didn't. Hers had been that way. And she had been more than a little lost for a very, very long time.
"They've had ten years. If they haven't by now, then they won't," Greg scoffed, rolling his eyes. It was actually the first time he'd talked about this with anyone that it didn't happen to. It was weird and slightly relieving. "Besides, not sure there's anything else to get used to. I'm an adult now, so they shouldn't have to teach me anything," he huffed.
"Physically speaking, yes, you're an adult. But you're still only 16, still a child, in the legal sense, and I think that's where... where the.." What was the right word for it? "Where the tension is. I mean they can't possibly understand what you've gone through, the ways in which it's altered you, how you've grown because of it on the inside. And that's frustrating, I would imagine, for all of you." She paused and then asked, "In an idea world, Greg, what would you like to see happen?"
"I don't know," he shrugged. "Probably have my mom and dad actually ask how I feel instead of just assuming, if they talk to me. Guess I'd like to have friends or something. Gets kinda boring around here with no one to talk to." Which was true, especially now that he was grounded to the school.
"Making friends is not easy under the best of circumstances," Charlie agreed. "Have you made any since you've been here?" Even just a single friend could turn things around. "Do you think.. the difficulties are because you appear to be a much older person than you actually are?
"I don't know. Maybe," Greg shrugged. "There's a girl, but I think it's just because I got her some beer and we had sex." While he wasn't dissing the sex, as he would probably not get any for a while, he still didn't want this awkwardness of not knowing. "I know it is. It's also partly because the kids here are judgmental assholes," he huffed. "I got written off by one girl because I don't like animals. She was a shifter so apparently that made me like, a baby killer or something. Then I stuck up for the girl I slept with when she was getting slammed on the boards and that made me a creepy perv. So, I don't know if I even want friends here."
The first thought that ran through her mind was that she hoped that girl wasn't her daughter. But she didn't ask. She didn't think Mara would do something like that but she wasn't entirely sure. "They can be. But that's just a trait of all teenagers, I think." Charlie exhaled a soft laugh. "Of all people, really. I'm fairly certain everyone is guilty of making snap judgments every now and then. But I don't think that would be a good reason to write everyone off. You may just not have found the right people yet, those that you would click with in a more substantial way. That can take time.:
"When it happens all the time, even with adults, you tend to to group everyone together," Greg said, slouching even further, showing his comfort in the room. The lady was weird. It felt like he was talking with his mom when he was younger. Augh. Stupid mom feelings. "Maybe I won't. We'll see. I may end up making friends with the trees," he mumbled half to himself.
"I think.. that you need to give life a chance," Charlie concluded after a moment. "I don't think you really are just yet, and I can definitely understand why. I mean you've.. been forced to grow up beyond your years and yet you're still treated as a child and you have... some distance issues with your family which I would wager weigh a great deal upon you. But you should never allow those things to completely define you." She exhaled a breath and added, "Life has the potential to be so much more and so do you."
"So. . . What would be the first step then, because I've got no idea other than tv shows first steps and that's usually with a self help books and I hate those. . ." He said, looking at her, thinking very momish thoughts about her. There she was all pregnant and stuff and it really did remind him of his mom in old pictures.
"Yeah, those are no good." Charlie shook her head. "It.. depends. I mean what do you.. enjoy? I mean do you have hobbies? Is there something you've always wanted to do but never have?"
"I'm good at acting,' he shrugged. "I'm not in a theater class, but I guess I could ask about it." Greg was one for theatrics and since he wasn't so good at math and anything with it, he went for the performing arts. "I mean, it's not too late to switch since I've only been here for like, two weeks."
"Theater's good. It's a great outlet, really. And, you know, a wonderful way to meet people." Charlie would be all for him getting involved in that. She didn't know him well, but she felt it could be good for him, a nice escape from his day to day that didn't involve acting out. "And that might actually be one place that your appearance could definitely help you. You could take on roles that a lot of the younger looking students wouldn't be able to."
"You think so?" Greg asked, perking up visibly. "I mean, I liked being in the plays when I was littler for Christmas and Thanksgiving and stuff. I guess, Hamlet wouldn't be too far fetched," he said mulling it over in his head. "Maybe you can write me a note saying I need to get transfered into it. I mean, you can do that, right?" He asked, sitting up and looking at her with those stormy blue eyes of his.
"I do think so, yes." And the fact that he perked up at the idea of it only made Charlie that much more certain. "Well, let's give the schedule a look and we will see what we can do." She stood so that she could reach across her desk and grab her organizer to give the class schedule a look. "So theater is... during the 10-10:45 block on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays." She glanced to Greg as she asked, "What are you currently taking then?"
"Nothing," Greg said. "I'm in World History the hour before and Foundations of Math afterwards." That wouldn't be too bad. He was kinda excited. Something was getting done about his life that wasn't yelling or throwing things or anything that made him upset. He could dig seeing this woman once or week or something.