THE TURNOVER
“Good morning Ashley, why don’t you come in and take a seat?” said Ashley's councillor, Ms. Fallon. “Thank you”, Ashley greeted. Today, Ashley was meeting Ms. Fallon for the first time, on the insistence of her art teacher. “So tell me about yourself, and why you feel so lost”. Hearing Ms. Fallon made me smile to myself. “I am Ashley Robins. I am sixteen and I like art.” Why don’t I make eye contact? I’m counting the seconds; I’m pacing every breath I take. I’m keeping track of the time I have to be here. I’m counting eternity. “Ashley, I have noticed you have an insane number of tattoos,” Ms. Fallon said cautiously. It’s trendy to be yourself again, but only if everyone else likes “yourself” and only if “yourself” is just like everyone else. The morning was over; the councillor was of no good use. I rushed out of school with a head filled with painful thoughts, thoughts that had been suppressed all this time. I went to my safe space; my access drugs. Drugs help me to...