Page 27 of The Sandbar saga

"I asked you to think of one time in your life that made you angry?" He paused. "Only one."

Her throat tightened, and she swallowed, feeling the sickness inside of her trying to come out.

"Katie?"

She wrapped her arms around her middle. "I'm mad that I had to move away and go to St. Mary's."

"And why did that upset you?"

She looked around the park, but the teenagers had left. Only an older couple walking a dog hung out near the statue.

"Katie?"

She rolled her eyes. "I want my home. My bed. My stuff."

"Those things are important."

She glanced at him. "The bike you bought me is there."

"Does that make you angry that you can't have it with you?"

"It's mine. It's not my moth—" She clamped her lips together.

Her mother took everything away from her. The night her dad had died, her mother had screamed at him that he was having an affair. She remembered her mother arguing and yelling bad names, accusing her father of never loving her. Her mom even blamed her dad for making her a mom and forcing her to raise Katie.

Her mother never wanted her. Only her father had loved her, and now he was dead.

"There are certain coping mechanisms a person can use to make those painful feelings go away. They'll always be there, but it softens and shortens the time you think about them." Dr. C shifted on the bench toward her. "Every time it feels like you can't stop thinking about your bike, your home, your mother, you can think about the good things that've happened because you went to St. Mary's."

"There are none," she said, her body tensing. "She sent me away. I didn't even have a choice."

"You have choices now." He captured her chin between his thumb and finger, turning her head toward him. "Can you tell me one choice you had to make recently?"

"No."

"Let me help you." His gaze softened. "You were given the option to spend Christmas at school or go home for the holiday break. What did you choose?"

"I wanted to go to your house, but you said I couldn't." Her vision blurred with unshed tears. "That makes me angry at you."

It wasn't fair that she had to stay at school. All the other girls went home to their families, and she was going to be stuck at St. Mary's, alone.

"What if I told you that you can come back to Astoria." He tapped her nose when her spine stiffened, and she opened her mouth to ask if it was true. "For three days, and then you have to come back to St. Mary's and spend the rest of the break at the school."

She nodded emphatically. "I want to do that."

"Then, that's your choice. A pretty good one, right?" He shushed her when she started asking questions. "Before you start thinking about your break—which is a month away, let's figure out another choice you can make to feel good and push bad feelings away."

"I don't know what that one would be."

"Does it feel good to get an A on a test?"

She groaned. "That's hard to do, especially in math."

"But it's your choice to study hard. Knowing you tried your best will often make you feel good, even if you end up with a B or C." He dropped his hand. "It's all about choices and the effort you put into wanting something. You want something bad enough, even if you fail, good things happen..." He patted his chest. "In here."

She swung her feet, wanting the talk to be over.

"Sometimes, when a bad feeling pops up, simply standing up and doing jumping jacks or singing a song will help you turn those feelings around." Dr. C stood. "You could call a friend and talk or draw a picture."