Never feel alone

Chapter 27

Callie

The day after Stef came home from the hospital, Brandon drove Sophia and I to our first group therapy session. We got there a little late, and he walked us into the building. "You guys gonna be okay?" he asked.

I looked over at Sophia. I think not having Stef or Lena bring us overwhelmed her a little. "Yeah. We'll be fine." I put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed.

He nodded. "Okay. I'll be out in the car listening to music if you need to find me. Good luck." He gave me one of his cute, crooked smiles. I caught him smiling at me like that a lot. It always made my heart race, and then I had to remind myself that I'd sworn off boys and dating. But I'd definitely noticed how handsome Brandon was, and I liked the way he noticed me. I couldn't help but think that maybe if things were different; if he wasn't my foster brother, and I wasn't fucked up beyond repair, we could have been a thing.

"Thanks," I mumbled.

"Well, see you later," he said, turning toward the door.

Rita emerged from a door and smiled. "Hi, girls. I'm glad you came to join us. Come on in. We're just getting started."

"You ready, baby?" I asked my sister.

"Yeah," she said, grabbing my hand. Rita held the door open for us, and we went in.

A bunch of teenagers sat in a crooked circle in the meeting room, talking among themselves. They quieted down when we came in. "Kids," said Rita. "These are our newest members, Callie and Sophia Jacob. I know we're all happy to have them with us." She placed a hand on each of our shoulders. "Do you girls want to tell us a little about yourselves, and why you're here?"

I felt the color drain from my face. Sophia picked at lint on her sweater, as if it consumed all her attention.

"No?" Rita smiled. "Well, that's fine. Go ahead and take these seats right here." She gestured to the two plastic chairs next to her seat and waited until we sat down.

My eyes glazed over as the group began. I touched my pocket, feeling my phone inside. My fingers itched to play with it, but I knew Rita wouldn't allow that, and would maybe even take it away. I looked around at the other kids; there were maybe ten of them. Soph was clearly the youngest in the group. The rest were closer to my age.

"Since Callie and Sophie weren't here before, I was thinking maybe we could each take a minute to introduce ourselves," Rita suggested. "Bring them up to speed. Everyone up for that?"

There were some halfhearted mumbles from the group, and then one by one, the other kids said their name and age, and talked a little bit about why they were in group. Most of them had a family member who died of cancer, or something like that. One girl's older sister died in a drunk driving accident. I felt Sophia tense up next to me as she talked about it. It hit too close to home.

Finally, the introductions circled back to us. "Girls..." Rita said gently.

I knew she wasn't going to give up. I took a deep breath. "I'm Callie, and I'm sixteen," I said quietly. Sophia was sitting stiffly, giving me a desperate look. I sighed. "And this is Sophia. She's twelve." I turned to Rita, trying to tell her how uncomfortable we were with my eyes. She must have gotten the message, because she nodded and let it go.

I couldn't tell you what the group talked about after that. I sort of tuned it out. Fifteen minutes before the session ended, Rita put a relaxation CD on for us to listen to. A woman's voice guided us through some deep breathing exercises, set to new-age-y music. Finally it was over, and she dismissed us. The other kids filtered out of the room.

"I have to go to the bathroom," Sophia told me quietly.

"Okay," I said. "Go ahead."

When I was alone, Rita approached me. "I heard from Lena that Stef was hurt," she said.