Leif sighed as he closed his eyes unable to put it into words. "Well... I am sorry it's stupid. I really should have called," he said but Doctor Fillmore asked,
"Is it about your bully in high school?"
Leif, "..."
Now that he knew Quinn kept his gift he was stating to suspect think the word bully wasn't accurate enough to describe his relationship with Quinn.
She did bully him but at the same time she seemed to care for him which was had to describe. She never hit him, she never verbally abused him or made fun of him but even beat up those that made fun of him. What she did though was make him carry her back, force him to eat, ask him to accompany her shopping and other things that he can't really remember. She didn't tell her when he got surrounded by a bunch of boys in the locker room because apparent Ivy had smiled at him or something. He didn't even fight back. He just curled on the ground and let them hit him. The day after those boys didn't come to school for weeks. Some of them even had their bones broken in multiple places. They didn't come back for a week or so.
He always thought Quinn was his bully because she never left him alone. Each time he left his class door she would call his name and push her school towards him. Because she invaded his space time and time again she directly fell into the bully category.
Now that he heard doctor Fillmore say it he couldn't see it that way anymore.
"Well, if she kept my gift then what does it mean?" he asked and the good doctor was a little surprised.
Ever since they started there sessions Leif had always referred to her as the bully or my bully. He didn't even use her name though he had mentioned it once. Now it seemed the tides were shifting in a good direction.
"If she kept your gift until now then maybe you hold an important place in her heart. Maybe if you ask her why she kept you will get a definite answer," said doctor Fillmore trying to see any reaction a his eyes.
"How is that possible though. She did everything in her power to annoy me or at least try and get a reaction out of me. She would repeatedly do something I don't like just so she can make me angry," said Leif and the doctor suddenly smiled like he had seen something Leif hadn't seen.
"What? What's so funny?" he asked a little annoyed by his unprofessional behaviour.
"President Carnell... you are talking more than usual. Tell me something, did you notice that your tie is loose. You never leave it like that. Its either you take it off or you straighten it out. This is unlike you. It's outside your usual habit," he said and Leif looked down at tie a little surprised. He really didn't notice.
"This to me is progress. Like I said before, you need this person in your life and now that you know they don't hate you as much as you thought they hate you then you should try and get along more. She good influence on you," he adviced and Leif listened carefully. Everything about today had just knocked him of balance that he even for the first time abandoned his routine. Ever he said the words 'I love you' to Quinn something inside of him changed and seeing the little lamb plushy only made things worse.
After the video call, Leif sat his tie aside and walked over to the ceiling to floor window. Quinn wasn't there anymore neither was the mat she was using. Everything had been cleared like she was never there. Leif suddenly felt a sense of fear that he never felt before. It was a fear of Losing this person, like she would just up and leave without telling her like she did when they were young.
That day he had woken up in the hospital expecting to see her calling Liam this, Liam that, Liam I brought you flowers or Liam I bought you cake now eat it but she didn't come. Day two he was in a lot of pain and his father was breaking down by his beside, all he could think about was of Quinn would walk through that door and annoy him.
But she never came. She never visited him once. He told himself that she would come eventually but after days turned to months she never came. Even when he got back to school to take his belongings their mother had found them because his father paid the hospital bill with the card she gave him but refused to use before, Quinn wasn't there.
She left like he was nothing to her but a slave. Even slaves would never be abandoned by their masters because they seen as useful commodity.
He should have been happy she wouldn't bother him anymore but he could never get her out of his mind. When he finally had the capability to look for her, he finally found her but didnt dare make his presence known. She was smiling happily with friends and family having moved on with her life yet he was the only one stuck in those old memories. She came into his life and made a mess of it then left when she was done playing with him. That made him so angry and for that he held a grudge and slight resentment but that little lamb did changed everything.
He no longer wanted to watch her from a distance and pretend like they never knew each other.
He wanted to tell who he was and ask why she forgot about him. Why she left him to die on the side of the road like roadkill? Why she never came to see him? Why she kept his gift and held it dearly like it was the most important thing in her life?
That same fear he felt in those days resurfaced and almost consumed his soul. He suddenly wanted to see her. He wanted to see her asap thus he got out of his study and walked down the stairs.
She wasn't in the living areas or outside neither was she in the kitchen. His brows furrowed slightly as he took a step to go upstairs.
When he reached the door of her room it was wide open with the pitter patter sounds of water coming from the shower.
Leif suddenly felt embarrassed thus he took a step back to leave. Just as he turned to leave, he heard Quinn squealing like a pig about to hey slaughtered.