Free The Girl in My Dreams by Logan Byrne Page A

it, and I wasn’t planning on stopping it.
    “Okay, Theodore,” Dr. Grier said as she walked back inside.
    “Everything okay?” I asked.
    “Everything is great. In fact, I have some great news for you. After today’s session, you won’t be coming in weekly anymore. You’ll go to once every two weeks, and from there you could even stop coming altogether,” she said.
    “Wow, that sounds great! If you don’t mind me asking, is there any reason why?” I asked.
    “I feel you’ve made significant progress from the first time you came here, and I’m not sure that you’ll truly benefit from meeting once every week. I’m very proud of you,” she said before picking up her notes.
    Maybe things really were coming together for me. I could only imagine what things would be like when I was ready to stop coming altogether, and I was hoping that came sooner than later. It wasn’t anything against Dr. Grier, but I knew I could stand on my own two feet easier than she and my mother thought.
    “So, tell me about your week, Theodore. Are you and Annabelle still going strong?” she asked.
    “Yup, couldn’t be better,” I replied.
    “That’s good to hear. Many times, when we begin to romantically date somebody who we already know, especially when we’ve known that person for quite some time, the relationships can be much stronger than ones where we don’t have that connection beforehand,” Dr. Grier said.
    “I’d have to agree. Even though we didn’t talk for a while, it didn’t seem to matter. We picked up where we left off,” I said.
    “I would attribute that to your strong childhood bond. You went through great and not-so-great times together when you were your youngest and most impressionable, and I think that has something to do with why you’re so great together now. You trust her, more than you do anybody else, and it shows,” she said.
    She definitely wasn’t wrong, that was for sure. I thought being so close so early in life was some kind of strength for us. We knew that no matter what went wrong, we had each other, and when you’re a little kid, sometimes all you need is that kind of comfort and security.
    The rest of the session went well, and Dr. Grier didn’t even bring up my father once. If anybody was making progress, it was her with that subject, which she just couldn’t seem to let alone before. When I came out of her office, my mother was patiently waiting as she read her Reader’s Digest as always.
    “Done already?” she asked as she looked at her watch.
    “Yes, we are. Theo here has made quite the comeback, if I do say so myself,” Dr. Grier said.
    “Dr. Grier, you have Brian on line one,” the receptionist said.
    “I have to take this. I’ll see you in two weeks,” she said, walking away.
    I checked my phone to see Belle saying she had practice tonight, but that she wanted to talk to me later after she got home. I worried a little, since she didn’t say what about, but I just told her I’d be there and didn’t try to press her for anything else. My mother used to press my father about everything and look how that turned out. I didn’t want to lose Belle.
    “Feel like tacos for dinner?” my mother asked as we left the office.
    “Yeah, that sounds nice,” I replied.
    “Okay. I need to stop by the store to get some things,” she said.
    Traffic was horrible as we drove to the supermarket, which was packed right after work hours. We got a spot in the middle of the lot, my mom of course coming within inches of the other car and making it near impossible for me to get out. But when we got inside the store, I saw a familiar face.
    “Martin!” I yelled, causing him to look.
    “Theo!” Tanya yelled as she ran over and hugged me tightly.
    Martin and his mother, Pauline, were smiling as they walked over, and our moms hugged it out.
    “It’s about time I see you. Too bad it’s in a market,” Martin said.
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked.
    “He’s mad that