Just Another Boy Without a Sharper Knife

Kellin's POV

I sat in behind the desk at my mother's office, filing papers and checking in patients. Since I couldn't technically work with patients until after I got my degree, I settled for working in my mom's office this summer and talking to patients while they waited for an appointment. I sat behind the counter with my coworker and bestfriend, Tay, while we waited for the doors to open.

"Ugh it is sooo early." Tay said laying her head down on the counter infront of her. It was about 7:00 in the morning and for two teenagers, that was about as early as it gets. Tay was a small figured girl, my age, with long stick-straight brown hair. Her brown eyes screamed friendly and her warm smile confirmed it. She loved working here because, as a patient herself, it made her feel less lonely.

When I say Tay is a patient, I mean she used to be. She was at an all time low when she moved to San Diego freshman year after her parents divorced, and having made no friends within the first two weeks, she lost hope. She tried to take her own life shortly into freshman year, and after coming to my mothers office for treatment, we started to talk. She quickly became one of my best friends and we spend almost every day together since.

"I know. It's gonna be a long summer." I said shuffling through more papers. I hated doing petty paperwork. I wanted to be in there, talking to people, and actually making a difference in there life; not putting their address into a spreadsheet.

"Yeah it is. When is the first appointment?" She asked. "Come to think of it- when is the last appointment? It's the first friday of summer and we deserve a party night."

Kellin laughed at her while simultaniously checking the schedule for the day. "Umm first appointment is at 9. It's a group session."

"Ugh we have two hours! What are we supposed to do?!" Tay sighed and rolled her body so the back of her head was on the counter and she was in an awkward back bend, arms flailing below her.

"Maybe paperwork? Ya know, that thing I've been doing all morning?"

"I have an idea!" She said standing up straight. I listened to her back pop and cringed at the sound; I didn't do gross bodily functions, cracking bones included. "How about you do paperwork and I go get us coffee from the shop across the street?" I glared at her, knowing she was just trying to get out of work. She responded by pouting her lip and batting her eyelashes. "Pleeeeease? I'll pay!"

"Fine. You know what I want." I said. She squealed, kissed my cheek, and ran out of the store. I laughed and shook my head. It's amazing to think that when we first met she was a shy, depressed, insomniac with such bad anxiety she couldn't speak her own name. That's what my mom did though, she turned people's live's around. She was amazing at what she did.

I continued to do boring paperwork until Tay came bursting through the big double doors and around the counter, almost spilling coffee all over the floor in the process.

"Woah slow down Sonic!" I laughed when she slammed the drinks down. "What's going on?"

"You ever heard of Fuentes? Vic Fuentes? He went to our school, uh, mexican, short, long brown hair, little brother named Mike, ring a bell?" She rambled, talking with her hands like she did when she was thinking really hard. I started to get a picture in my head of who she was talking about so I nodded slowly, instructing her to continue. "Well I was looking at the local paper while waiting for our drinks and apparently he tried to kill himself a few days ago! Do you think he's gonna come here?!"

"I don't know, Tay, probably. Why does it matter?"

"Because we've never had someone from our school come here...." Tay said. She began to pick at her nails so I shoved her drink in her hands.

"Hold that. Don't put it down." I said. One thing you had to look out for when it came to Tay was her finger nails. When she got bad anxiety she would either pick her fingernails to bloody pulps, or she would dig her fingernails into her skin until she bled. It calmed her down, but it wasn't healthy. "Tay, if someone from school is really coming here then I'm sure he has bigger problems than worrying about us. Plus, you aren't a patient here anymore. You don't have anything to be ashamed of even if you were. I'm sure this guy is not gonna be in any position to judge."

She just nodded and turned to her paperwork. In all honesty, I was a little worried, too. I would never let Tay know that, but I was. What if we couldn't save this person like we could with Tay? I won't let that happen, though. I won't allow anyone to slip through the cracks. Not like my dad did.

- - -

"Hi Darcy! How are you feeling today?" I asked, checking in a patient that I had seen earlier in the week. She was there for the group session, which started in about 3 minutes.

"Like a star on a dark night." She said monotonously.

"Bright?" I asked.

"About to be sucked into a black hole." She replied, signing the papers and walking to the back room where the group sessions were held.

"Wowza!" Tay said from behind me. I turned in my chair and gaped at her, laughing. "Was I that bad once?" She replied pointing in the direction of Darcy.

"I believe when you came your analogy was 'Like an ant being stepped on by the shithead that is life.'" I lied. She laughed and punched my arm. We sat laughing like that until we heard the bell indicating that the door opened. We both turned to look at the door and standing there was none other than Vic Fuentes.

From what I knew about Vic, he was isolated. He was bullied in school and didn't really have any friends, unless you count his over protective brother. He definitly seemed like someone that would one day try to off himself, and now I guess he was. Looking at him now, I could see the pain in his eyes, how weak he looked while standing infront of us, how much he looked like he was just done. I recognized all too well the vibe he was giving off; it was the vibe my father gave off, the vibe Tay used to give off, the vibe that everyone here gives off the second they walk in.

"Hi." I said, looking him in the eyes as he walked up. "Um, I'm Kellin. This is Tay." I motioned at her and she waved at him slowly, her anxiety showing through.

"Vic." He said quietly. His voice was mesmerizing and broken at the same time. It sounded like it would be beautiful if it wasn't so tainted, like graffitti on an old house.

"Are you here for the group session?" I asked after I realized I had been caught up in my thoughts.

"Um yeah." he replied awkwardly. I had him sign the paper and then ushered him down the hall. "Thanks, Kellin."

"You're welcome." I said, watching him disappear through the door. I don't know what it was, but something about him was captivating. He was the one and I knew it. He was the person that I was supposed to save. Somehow.