Icebreaker

by A.L. Graziadei

I don’t want to go. But I also don’t want to work on this paper, or sit in my room, or exist at all, really. So I guess it doesn’t make a difference.

“You don’t need a reason to be depressed,” I say automatically. “It’s chemistry.”

“Y’see, logically I know that. But when you’re in it, your brain uses whatever it can to beat you down, and that’s one of them. That other people have it so much worse than me and I’m being selfish by being so sad.”

Depression doesn’t care who you are or what you’ve been through, she said. It’s an illness that can happen to anyone.

“Honestly, don’t be ashamed. A lot more people deal with it than you think, and the best way to cope is to acknowledge it and ask for help. Don’t suffer alone.”

I look at Cauler. He’s looking at me. And that matters far more than the name called first.