"So Jollibee, I was hoping we could make some progress today."

Jollibee's therapist, Linda, adjusted her glasses once more. She earned nothing more than an annoyed eye roll and an irritated sigh. Jollibee was giving her the usual silent treatment. One would think that a professional shrink would be able to break down the walls of a patient she's been working with for five years, but she never understood the fact that Jollibee didn't want to communicate with her or anyone for that matter. What did Jollibee want her to think? That she was grateful that someone cared? Trust was something Jollibee never gave to anyone, not since the incident. It was a long story. The only person who really knew was Linda, of course, because she had her hands on Jollibee's file and medical records. 

Jollibee had been assigned to Linda ever since being placed in a group home with other girls affected by trauma. The incident still caused nightmares for her to this day. Jollibee had been spending a peaceful night with her parents at the holiday house, before it got broken into by armed men in monkey suits who tied up the dad first, then let him watch as they performed vile acts on her mother. Eventually the screams stopped not long after they placed a bullet through her skull. Jollibee looked her dad in the eyes one last time before he was shot dead too. It wasn't easy for Jollibee to have experienced something like that. She was still a little girl. It took her a while to process everything that happened but many of her previous therapists gave up. Well... yeah. The trust issues had to come from somewhere. 

Jollibee was twenty one now and she was only just starting to understand what happened and why it happened. Her parents secretly had ties to the mafia and they were drowning in debt to them. Apparently the police had only caught one of the criminals that were in her house that night of the incident. But the sad thing is, the killer whom she saw shot her parents was not yet captured. The fact that he was still out there was messing with her focus. It made her rage so much that she needed to steady herself at times. The criminal that was already captured wouldn't say anything during the court trials and wouldn't dare to snitch on his friend.

Jollibee could only wish for a loyal friend like that. 

Even when the judge handed down the sentence of life in prison without parole, he still never surrendered the name of the man who actually shot her parents. Jollibee was the only person who knew his exact appearance and even provided a detailed description to the police's sketch artist. Still, even after that, it just seemed that justice was never going to be served and nothing else could be done to find him. 

Both of her parents were adopted. Jollibee's mother was from the Philippines, which meant that no close family members would be able to have her in their care. There was also a sad realization that nobody really cared. With no relatives showing up to take Jollibee into their case, she was shipped off to The Mary Jones Institute by welfare workers. While she spent her time there, she began to accept the fact that nobody wanted to talk to her, which was actually a sigh of relief for Jollibee because she didn't want to talk to them either. Everyone else's voices were just useless whispers in her ear. Ever since the traumatic situation, Jollibee didn't really say anything except for the times she was called to give her testimony in court. 

Jollibee was known as the odd one out. It gave her a lot of disadvantages. Since she was basically mute, it triggered the other girls to. bully her. She was seen as the 'weirdo', and when the threats became unbearable, that's when Jollibee changed. The social workers who were on her case became heavily concerned as well. A little push and shove suddenly turned into a boxing match, and eventually, the bullying stopped. Jollibee finally stood up for herself. Unfortunately, the fights weren't gone forever. New rumours would come up, and the cycle would start again. 

When Jollibee's fists weren't enough to stop the fights, she started to use objects. Whether it was a vase, pen, or even a broken medicine bottle, Jollibee was given the upper hand. It was bad enough that she made one of the girls land in hospital with a bruised eye after getting a hard book thrown at her, and another girl sent into the emergency room due to Jollibee lunging at her with a pair of scissors. How could all this happen? When Jollibee was just a child, she always believed that violence was never the solution. But now, it was just a coping mechanism for the loss of her family. There was just so much rage filled up inside her, and it was going to come out sooner or later. 

"Jollibee, I understand that it's difficult to talk about your emotions, but you must remember that I'm here to help." Linda spoke to her in a gentle tone. She continued after a brief pause, knowing Jollibee wasn't going to respond. "Yes, sitting here chatting with me won't revive your parents or rewind the past, but I know it'll help you to express that anger you've built up inside you for all these years. All these walls you built around yourself. Please Jollibee. Just talk to me." 

She wasn't wrong, Jollibee thought to herself. However, the real reason why Jollibee didn't want to talk is because she was just so used to avoiding the thought of her family. Communicating with Linda about them would bring back so much agony and nightmarish memories. Jollibee refused to let that happen. Jollibee still didn't want to believe that her parents really died right in front of her. Hence, the thought of actually speaking about it made her almost want to cry. Then it came to Jollibee's mind that if she wouldn't at least say -something- then they would keep forcing her to come to these counseling sessions. Even though Jollibee absolutely despised talking, she also hated doing things not of her free will. If she would just give them something to work with, maybe they'd stop prying into her mind. Jollibee decided to experiment with her theory.

"I just want them back," Jollibee exhaled slowly. 

Linda raised her eyebrows, almost shocked, looking like she wanted to do a happy cry. Then she smiled slightly and nodded. Jollibee proceeded. "I want to touch them, kiss them, tell them I love them so much." Jollibee had the perfect tone and volume as she spoke. It was the icing on top. Eventually, the conversation flowed between them and a few minutes turned into thirty. Then the therapy appointment was stopped. Jollibee could see that Linda was proud of her for finally speaking, giving her advice on how to better cope with certain things. For a quick moment, Jollibee pushed her pride aside and actually felt like she had lifted a burden off of her shoulders. She thought to herself, maybe therapy wasn't as bad as she thought and figured she should attend more sessions. 

Because why not? 

To be continued.