Highly Illogical Behavior by John Corey Whaley Read Free Book Online

much before she’d even met him. And he said yes. She had no idea why anyone would get a phone call like that and actually agree to see her, but he had and he did and now she was well on her way to being the best thing that ever happened to him.
    She wanted to share her good news with Clark, who was at his dad’s apartment in Rancho Cucamonga where he spent a court-ordered fifty percent of his time. Harold Robbins was a tax attorney and he was just as boring as that sounds. But, he’d do anything for his kids and Lisa adored him. She called Clark and he picked up on the first ring.
    â€œClark Robbins, at your service.”
    â€œI’m in,” she said.
    â€œIn what?”
    â€œSolomon said yes. I’m going over Wednesday.”
    â€œOh, wow. That’s great.”
    â€œYeah. I waited around all day for him to call, but then I decided I couldn’t make it any longer.”
    â€œWait . . . you called
him
? Lisa, the guy obviously wants to be left alone.”
    â€œWell, he took my call. And I figure he’d have hung up on me if he didn’t want to hear what I had to say.”
    â€œGood point, I guess. Well, how’d he sound?”
    â€œNormal,” she said. “A little caught off guard, but why wouldn’t he be?”
    â€œSo then you invited yourself over there?”
    â€œNo. Can you have a little more faith in me? It was his idea.”
    â€œSo I’m supposed to feel better that another guy invited you over to his house?”
    â€œHmm . . . we’re both making good points today.”
    â€œI’m serious, Lisa. You need to be careful.”
    â€œI’m always careful.”
    â€œYou want to come over?” he asked, a little defeat in his voice. “You can spend some time with me before you meet your new boyfriend.”
    â€œDefinitely. I need to study for a calculus test tomorrow, but I’d love an excuse to procrastinate.”
    â€œSweet. We’ve got popcorn and Netflix. Bring candy.”
    â€œI’m not watching a war movie,” she said firmly. “Otherwise, I’m headed over.”
    â€¢Â Â Â â€¢Â Â Â â€¢
    The next morning, after acing another test
and
being the first one in class to finish, Lisa spent her free period inthe school library reading up on agoraphobia. She knew a little already—how it’s pretty much just a result of panic disorder. And she knew Solomon would try to defend his choices, maybe argue that it’s best for him, that reducing the stress of the outside world kept him healthy. And that was fine with her. But she believed there was a thin line between accepting one’s fears and giving in to them altogether. And she was determined to help him overcome his. It wouldn’t be easy, especially pretending to be his friend instead of his counselor, but she knew he’d thank her in the end, secret or no secret.
    She also knew she couldn’t go in and start cognitive behavioral therapy on the first day. She had to be subtle. This was a new kind of therapy anyway. It wasn’t about counseling him back to health through endless conversations and waiting for tiny emotional breakthroughs. This was about giving him a friend who would, hopefully, make him want to try harder to get better. Her essay was about
her
experience with mental illness, after all, and if she could prove that her inventiveness, compassion, and patience were enough to help someone like Solomon, then maybe the people at Woodlawn would pick her. She was certain she’d be the only candidate smart enough to pull something like this off. Who knows, maybe they’d just hand her a degree and let her start grad school early.
    â€œWhat’re you doing?” Janis said, sneaking up behind her.
    â€œOh, hey. Just some research for my history paper.”
    To avoid being talked out of it, and to respect his privacy, Lisa wasn’t going to tell Janis about