When Dr. Erickson walked back into her office, she found Spencer’s face buried in her hands, her back hunched over as she took in deep breaths. From the looks of the events that occurred in her reception area she could tell that the arguments between her friend and mother were not a strange occurrence. There was obviously a bitter rivalry of sorts going on between the two women and it was over the fragile and tormented girl sitting before her.

With careful steps she walked over to the side of Spencer’s chair and kneel down, placing her hand on the arm rest and knitting her eyebrows with concern. “Are you ok Spencer?”

The voice startled her from the agonizing thoughts racing through her mind. Would her life really continue on like this? With nightmares that plagued her in her sleep only for her to wake and be stuck with the reality that her mother hated who she was? It wasn’t something she felt ready to deal with, she was barely able to get a handle on her own emotions and actions enough to act normally.

Spencer let her hands fall to her knees and stared into kind brown eyes that made her calm down somewhat. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

“You know what fine really means? Frustrated Insecure Neurotic and Emotional.” She replied.

The acronym fit her current state. So well in fact that she found it funny that a stranger could peg it down so easily. It made her smile.

Dr. Erickson rose from her position and looked down at the blonde. “Now that’s what I like to see.” She made her way to her chair directly across from Spencer and sat down, crossing her legs and folding her hands neatly into her lap, the picture in the dictionary to define calm. “So, before we were interrupted you were going to tell me about your move from Ohio.”

“Right. Uhm, well we moved in early September and it was really crazy, coming from a suburb of Cleveland to L.A. Was just a giant culture shock and scary. I left all my friends and family to go to some place I’d only heard about in songs and movies. It was kind of surreal. So we move and I switch from a private school to a public school which was massive compared to my old one. The people there were so much different then everyone back home, and a lot less friendly. Well, that’s not true because I met my girlfriend Ashley and she…” Her voice trailed off when she realized what she had just said. Though she had already come out, in a big way too, she still felt as if she had to censor herself around people when it came to her relationship with Ashley. It pissed her off that the need to accommodate for the sake of acceptance still lingered, that the fear of out right rejection from someone who she didn’t know still affected her so much that she couldn’t admit who the love of her life was without having to think twice. Still, with trepidation her eyes focused on Dr. Erickson’s to find absolutely no surprise or disgust, instead she looked as if she was waiting for Spencer to carry on.