THIS IS IT

CHAPTER 1

"Mrs. Braddock? Haley? Dr. Allen can see you now."

"Thanks. Come on, Haley."

Sighing, I put down the copy of Tiger Beat that I'd been reading, forced myself off that ugly-as-sin couch, and followed my mom down the hall. I knew what was about to happen: another session with this therapist I'd been referred to. Oh, you're probably wondering who I am, right? Well, I'll start at the beginning.

My name's Haley Braddock. I'm twelve years old, and in the seventh grade at Stoneybrook Middle School. I have a ten-year-old brother named Matt, who's profoundly deaf, not that it's any of his fault, mind you. At least that's what I've always told myself. Still, here I am. Now that I think about it, I should've known that, sooner or later, this is where I'd be.

You see, I've been putting up with a lot of crap from kids because they all know me as "that deaf kid's sister." It didn't really bother me at first, because I figured, if I could give at least people an idea as to how my parents and I communicate with Matt, they'd be a little more open-minded. And thank God for the Pike kids, namely Vanessa, who's my age, as well as my best friend. We're also cheerleaders at SMS, as well as honorary members of the Baby-sitters Club, but I'll tell you more about that later. Right now, I have more important things to worry about.

Now that I think about it, I guess I should probably tell you why I'm here. Lately, I've been having trouble with controlling my anger, namely whenever someone makes fun of my brother. Like I said before, it didn't always get to me so much, but as time went on, it really started to piss me off more easily. I kept trying to tell myself that it's not Matt's fault he's deaf, and compared to a lot of kids who have some sort of disability, he's actually pretty lucky. (I don't mean to get off the subject, but I once told Jessi Ramsey that I sometimes resented Matt because of it, and how I wish he'd never been born. I also showed her a pendant that Matt had once made for me in art class. It's a little red "H" made out of clay, and it's hanging on a gold chain. I love it, because Matt had made it for me.) I bet you think I should consider myself lucky as well, with the amount of friends we have in Stoneybrook. And believe me, I'm grateful for having their support, but I still found myself wishing that things weren't so complicated for us.

"Hello, Haley," Dr. Allen said. He was a pretty tall guy, maybe about 6' 3" or 6' 4", and he had short black hair streaked with gray, brown eyes, tan skin, and a neatly trimmed gray beard.

"Hi," I answered as politely as I could manage. To tell you the truth, I was as far from thrilled as I could be. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying I didn't have anything to do with my situation, but I never expected it to turn out like this. On the other hand, if it hadn't been for my teammates and coach, Ms. Halliday, I'd probably be in juvie right now.

Mom and I stepped into Dr. Allen's office and sat on the couch.

I just wanted to get this over with.