“I like you.” Said Katy’s crush. “Happy!” I yell as anxiety swells up inside me. I continue “It’s your turn!” I hear loud thuds coming down the stairs. “Is it time?!?” Happy says, running towards to living room. “Yep.” I respond as she sits down the couch. She grabs the controller and begins pressing buttons.

“I can’t believe she confessed this early!” She says with excitement. She continues, “Little does this girl know that we’ve been in love with her since the first time we saw her.” I look over at the TV and begin to cringe. Our Katy is now expressing happiness towards her crush.

She begins stuttering over her words. I start reaching towards the controller out of habit. Anxiety starts swelling up inside me. ‘She’s messing things up!’ I think in panic. Before I could reach for the other controller, Calm speaks to both of us while taking both of the controllers. She begins calming Katy down so that Katy can respond to her crush. Katy finally is calm enough to say what she’s been wanting to say for a long time, “I like you.” Katy’s face reddens. “Too!” She adds. “I like you too.” She corrects her response.

They both laugh nervously. Most likely because this is the first time they’ve shared any romantic feelings towards each other. They smile at each other and for the first time, I don’t feel like I need to grab the controller. Happy and Calm seems to have this under control. They make thing less anxious. Which is ironic because of who I am. But for once, I don’t need to intervene, and I’m okay with that.

My name is Anxiety. And even though you all have me, just know that you have Happy and Calm and many more like them to help you. As long as we work together, we all will be okay.

You have got this.