Between Me & You.

Chapter Six

"Hi everyone, please come in, take a seat so we can get started."

I sat down in a random chair, trying to avoid eye contact with Jacob.

I looked down at my hands until his whispering husky voice was coming from the shadow sitting down beside me.

"Avoiding me, Harrison?" I slowly looked at him.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered over to him.

Jacob smirked at me.

"What am I doing here? You're cute. But you're here because of me!" He replied.

Confused, I went to ask him what he meant, but Mrs. Menendez spoke first.

"We are going to start now. First, I want to explain a bit about this group before we start. I have taught this program more than 30 times. This session is a 6-week program, and we will go over each week a different stage of grief. For those who don't know, there are seven main stages of grief. Denial and hurt. Which is the content we will talk about today. Guilt and Anger. Depression and loneliness. The turnaround. I know you're all thinking, what is that? Don't worry, we will discuss it once the time comes. We will move on to restoration and working through experiences positively. Lastly, we will talk about acceptance and moving forward. They are weighted full topics. You can step out whenever for a break if needed. Our time together is a safe place. You can speak freely about your struggles and, more importantly, - your losses! You will not be judged and can communicate as openly as you are comfortable with."

Mrs. Menendez looked around the room, "I want to start today's group by introducing everyone to the group. Maybe mention your name, why you're here, your grade and something fun about yourself. Is anyone willing to start?" She asked politely.

No one raised their hands.

"Okay, well, I'll start, and we will go around the circle.

"I'm Tina Menendez. Five years ago, I started this group after losing my daughter to suicide. She was a beautiful 17-year old that struggled with schizophrenia. Her death was hard on me as she was my only child. I wanted to reach out to others during their time of grieving, as I found great support from groups such as this one." Mrs. Menendez said softly.

"Now, we will move on clockwise to the next person," looking at Emily.

"Hi, my name is Emily. I lost my brother to cancer two years ago. I thought coming here would help me heal from his death," Emily said proudly to the group. "Welcome, Emily," Mrs. Menendez said.

"Hi, my name is Jenna, my dad died last year in a drunken driving car accident. He was hit by a drunk driver coming home from work. I have not sought support until now. Oh, I like to go fishing."

Jacob was next, "so I'm Jacob. I'm in grade 12, lead football player. I'm here because when I was younger, my parents gave me up for adoption. I have never met my birth parents, but I wish I had. I have been grieving the loss of not knowing them."

I looked over to Jacob to see his uncertainty with talking about his life in front of everyone. I never knew he was adopted.

Wow. Okay, I'm next.

"Thank you for sharing Jacob, Maxwell, if you'd like to introduce yourself."

Mrs. Menendez said to me, encouragingly.

"Uhm, so my name is Maxwell. Most just call me Elle or Ellie. I'm in 12th grade, an art student. I love art." I said awkwardly. "Umm... I'm here because I watched Kyle Degree die not too long ago"

Wow. That sounded blunt, I thought to myself.

"Well, you see, I went to help him, and he was semi-conscious. I held his hand as he died. Five years ago, my mom died of Huntington's. Well, I guess it wasn't the disease itself that killed her, but she died from pneumonia. I guess because I never dealt with my mom's death, I'm dealing with both deaths now." I have never said that out loud.

That felt great to get that off my chest. For the remainder of the group, it was as if everyone around me understood what I was going through. We went through 15 different stories from people. Some were vague; some stories detailed. Except, when I spoke, no one judged me, bullied, or no one whispered about me. I felt as though just telling these people what I knew to be wrong with me brought me some relief.

Once the group was over, I went to find Jacob. I was very intrigued to know what he meant from his comment earlier. I checked the hallways, but he must have already left. I headed out for the front doors of the school, and that's when I saw him standing against his motorcycle.

"So, what did you think, Harrison?" He shouted at me while I headed into his direction.

"I didn't know you were adopted?" I replied.

He shrugged. "Only few do, so your first session was good?"

I shrugged as well.

"Yea, it was all right." I smiled. For the first time, that was a genuine smile.

"Did you just smile?" He asked, surprised.

"Oh gosh, shut up," I said with a bit of sass.

"Want a ride?" He asked.

"No, I am good. I don't do motorcycles, thanks, I'll just walk" Jacob went to put his helmet on.

"Wait, Jacob, what did you mean when you said I was here because of you?" He got onto his motorbike.

"Honestly, I got tired of listening to Jessica go on about you throughout our science class. So I went to Kasey. I told her that this group might be helpful. But I swear to God Harrison if you tell anyone about this group. I will make your life a living hell." He said, starting the engine.

"Yea, same," I replied.

"Catch you later." I watched him drive off. There's the Jacob I know and hate.

I shook it off and started walking home. I thought about my reply to Jacob, yea same? What kind of response was that?

I chuckled to myself. I turned on my music and thought about Gothworth's office and Kasey. It was starting to make sense now. Gothworth must have contacted Kasey about my attendance, and then she requested the group.

It also makes sense as to why Jacob asked me why I was in Gothworth's office the other day.

He knew.