Bug Bites

[Roach Copeland]

Roach had to hand it to Ms. Wilson. She was a trooper.

Three sessions, an hour a piece, and she just let him sit there without saying a word. He even tried to get her to snap a few times, too! He dropped the soda she offered him, right on top of the rug she just had cleaned. He made a few comments about how 'gay' the posters on her walls were since he knew her dislike for that use of the word. And now? He was laying on the back of the couch tossing a ball against the ceiling.

Roach was just waiting for time to run out. Like always.

Turning his head as he caught the ball, he tossed it between fingertips. Ms Wilson just sat there, offering him that same motherly smile. Just waiting. Just being patient Like she always did. Waiting. Staring.

"Your posters look gay," he said again, trying to get a sign of emotion.

Ms. Wilson just thinned her smile a bit before setting down her pen. "I see. And what makes them gay again, Roach?" She stared at him, finally her tell showing. A raising of her brow- Damn'it, this was leading to something.

"Because the only time a kitten actually hangs from a tree is with a noose," he shot back, turning his head away from her. Take that, Wilson.

"Do you not like your fellow students who are openly gay?"

Roach wrinkled his nose, jerking his head to the side. "What? No- Shit, they're fine. But just cause somethin' is called gay doesn't make it... Fuck." He rubbed his hands over his face before sitting up. "Fine- Fine, it ain't gay. I don't want to be here."

Ms Wilson set her pad of paper to the side, holding out her hands as if to show him she didn't bring any blades. He wrinkled his nose, not fully understanding the gesture before she smiled back at him. Oh, right, jokes. He gets jokes. Ms. Wilson scooted forward in her seat, nudging the plate of cookies he never touched forward just a hair. "You know, I don't need to write down anything if that makes you uncomfortable."

He rolled his eyes, turning his head back her way. "I ain't uncomfortable. I just don't need the school knowin' my business. I'm fine. I ain't dangerous-"

"Then we don't need to tell them. They want to know, sure, but they don't need the details," she offered, it being perhaps the first time Roach had seen her interrupt anybody. She continued, "I just want to make sure you're fine, Roach. As long as I see that, I don't need to file away anything but the occasional check on the box showing you came to visit."

She smiled, nudging the cookies forward once more. Roach pushed himself up, sitting towards her, and just looked at the snack. He remained silent for a moment, Wilson doing her usual thing and never bothering to push him to respond, before finally letting out an exhalation of air through his nose. Reaching forward, he plucked up one of the cookies, and took a nibble out of the corner.

"It's hard talkin' to folks when you know their first impression of you," Roach mumbled. He chewed slowly, collecting his thoughts before shifting his gaze back towards her. "I'm not him. You know that, right?"

If she was surprised, she didn't show it. Ms. Wilson's reaction was only that subtle shift of her lips downward. She nodded once before reaching out for a cookie, plucking it up for herself. They both sat there in silence, eating.

"I know you aren't, Roach," she said, mid-chew. "But it's hard not to see a part of him in all you."

"Cause we're metas?" Roach asked, tilting his head.

"Because your teenagers."