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“Areyou avoiding your mum and Jake at home?”
“Maybe, I guess.” I play with a loose thread on my T-shirt.
“Is there a reason for that?”
I blow out a deep breath. “I don’t know. It’s just easier.”
“Easier than what?”
Seeing the sadness in their eyes when they look at me. I feel like I’m a constant reminder of the accident. I’m here. Dad’s not.I just shrug.
“Okay,” he says, and I’m relieved he isn’t going to push me to share about things I’m not ready for. “Do you speak to Sam much?”
I let out a small grunt, ducking my head. “Not really.”
“Why not?”
I roll my shoulders and rub the back of my neck.Because I’m a selfish jerk.“I dunno,” I mumble.
Eric doesn’t force me to elaborate, and I’m relieved until he moves onto the next question. “The fight at school? Tell me about that.”
I shake my head. “I…” I don’t really have an excuse, and I don’t want to explain about Sarah and Joel. “I just lost my cool on the footy field.”It’s a weak excuse, and I know it.
Eric crosses his legs as he looks down at his notebook. “Have you lost your cool on the footy field before?”
“No.”
“So, what was different about this time?”
Another shrug.
Eric waits patiently but when I don’t say anything else, he tries a new tactic. “Have you been in any fights before?”
I shake my head.
“So, this is out of character for you?”
“I guess.”
Eric scribbles some more notes. He bites the end of his pen when he looks back up at me. “You’ve got a lot going on, Oliver.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s a lot for one person to handle on their own.”
I shrug.
“Tell me a little bit about your relationship with your family.”
“What do you want to know?”
“Anything you want to tell me.”
I shuffle in my seat. “It’s good, I guess.”
He lets out a small chuckle. “Care to elaborate on that?”
I pause to think about it a bit. “My mum is pretty strong. Even though she’s dealing with her own stuff with losing my dad, she just tries to make sure that me, Sam and Jake are okay.”
