Think Happy Thoughts (Sean)

[Amber Ignis]

Amber bit her nails while waiting outside of Dr. Neville's office. After a few moments she began tugging on her baggy Florence and the Machine t-shirt as her feet fidgeted below her. With all her time spent at Hammel, never had Amber felt this nervous. But who could blame her?

Amber's therapist at home in New Jersey finally decided it was time for her to talk to someone at school. Her parents immediately made an appointment with the school's therapist, Dr. Sean Neville. The reason he made Amber so nervous was because he was not just a therapist - he was a psychic. So he could quite literally jump inside her brain to find out what makes her tick.

Amber reckoned that if she saw Sean from the start at Hammel, she would still live on campus. Though she mostly found a good control of her power, she sometimes loses it. Like recently, at a book store in town she almost lit a boy right up for being rude to a salesclerk. Right out in public, Amber almost lost control.

Losing control of a power like hers was not just dangerous, but also deadly. Amber swore to calm down her recent reckless behavior, but her old habits were dying hard.
She feared Sean would send her back to campus. She feared he would hear her every inner and private thought. She found that unfair, so she decided to do her best to keep the thoughts on the surface of her mind happy. Maybe she could trick him.

Doubtful.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean was used to students feeling anxious or afraid when they had to meet with him for the first time. The psychiatrist did everything he could to reassure the students that he was non-threatening, and he was; in fact, one of the more accurate descriptions anyone had ever made called him a big teddy bear. Of course, the students who came to him for disciplinary reasons rather than for the myriad other reasons that a student came to the school psychiatrist had a somewhat different take on his personality and role at the school.

Not that he particularly enjoyed playing the disciplinarian, but if he didn’t do it, then the students might face someone with less patience and a greater temper. Besides, several of the other faculty liked punitive punishment more than he did; he preferred to make the students improve themselves and reinvest in the community at large.

Still, his primary obligations were as a psychiatrist, and that was where his passion lay. So many of the students came from communities outside of Pilot Ridge, and while psychological and emotional issues were not uncommon, this meant that they each had their own mental health providers. He worked with all of them to integrate the students into the school, whenever the provider in question wanted the referral.

That brought Amber to his office, as she had finally transferred to his care. He knew about her, of course, since he reviewed all of the student files, but this was their first session together.

“Come in!” He called to Amber, beckoning her inside.