Paper Airplane [s.m]

Twenty-Four

I don't speak to my Aunt all week because I don't want her to think she's right. I go to my messages to ask Thalia if she wants to come over Friday afternoon. I see Shawn's contact. My heart squeezes and I frown.

Why hasn't he tried to contact me at all? I'm so confused. I thought he liked me. I don't know what to do about this. It's been a few weeks since he left and we haven't said a word to each other.

I don't even know how long he'll be gone. His tour isn't until this spring. It's the end of November. He has time to come back and see me. He has more than enough time to send me a text.

Thalia says she can't come over. I forgot I had Support Group Friday night anyways, it's good thing she said no.

It's Thursday morning right now. I'm laying in bed because I don't feel like getting up. Maybe I can just stay here all day. Aunt June wouldn't even notice. I shrug and snuggle further into my blankets. I fall back asleep.

When I wake up, my clock says 10am. I start to panic before I remember I decided to stay home. I stay in my room all day, listening to music through my earbuds and reading a book for school. If I'm not in school, I should at least be doing school work.

At 3pm I here the door open and Daisy stomp through the apartment to her room. She isn't doing it intentionally, she just has a really heavy walk. I hear my aunts cell phone start to ring and I know it's because I didn't come to school today. I wince and wait for her to enter my room.

"Are you kidding me?" She bursts into my room.

"I didn't feel like going to school." I shrug.

"Well that's not an option. And don't expect to get out of support group any time soon." She says. I'm pretty sure it's more of a punishment rather than support in her eyes.

I roll my eyes way too much.

She leaves the room because I don't say anything to her. School tomorrow is going to be hell. I'm already bothered because Shawn won't talk to me and school just makes it worse. It's so boring that my mind can't help but think of Shawn.

I don't eat dinner that night because I don't want to talk to my Aunt. She's usually so chill, I have no idea why she's being so strict lately. Support group? Really?

First period is boring. Thalia tries to make jokes and say things to make me laugh but I only fake smiles and nod. Reggie isn't here today. Thalia said he had a dentist appointment today.

The rest of the day isn't much better. I'm in lunch now.

"No I'm pretty sure this one is new." Alex says pointing to a small tattoo on Hades arm. Her arms are covered in tattoos but the small blue diamond on her wrist has caught our attention.

"No she's always had that." Thalia tells Alex.

"She's my girlfriend, I'd know if she had a cute little diamond on her wrist." Alex argues.

"Babe, I've had this tattoo for over a year." Jade laughs.

"What? Why haven't I noticed?" Alex exclaims. Jade only laughs and kisses her cheek. Alex pouts and tries to move away but fails.

After school, I walk out with Alex and Jade. Thalia went straight to Reggie's house.

"Hey we should hang around my support group building. It doesn't start for a few hours but I don't want to go home." I tell the girls.

"I'm down." Alex says. Jade nods in agreement and we walk all the way to the building I need to go to.

We see a boy sitting with his back against the wall. His hood is up and his head is down so we can't see his face. I know it's Aaron though.

"Lets go to the roof." Alex says and kicks the brick wall.

"Are you kidding? It's freezing?" I tell her.

"So?" She shrugs.

"Your insane." Jade says with an eye roll.

"Lets at least go inside, I'm freezing." Alex says. Didn't she just suggest hanging out on the roof?

"Okay." Jade says and we enter the building. The woman looks up from her desk, confused.

"Veronica... Lang?" She asks looking at her computer for my last name. I nod.

"Your a couple hours early and you brought friends?" She asks.

"Oh they aren't staying, I just didn't want to be home right now." I tell her. She nods, understanding. We walk to room 11, the support group room. It's empty right now. It's a pretty big room and the chairs are already set up in a circle.

Alex runs into the room and cartwheels down the center of the circle. Jade smiles at her. I can't help but smile too.

We spend a couple hours watching Alex do different things. She tries to do her front walk over and forgets the walk over part. She just stays in a back bend and starts to laugh. Me and Jade burst into laughter and watch her fall on her butt. The door opens and all our heads turn.

Aaron is standing in the doorway. He is staring at us, surprised. This probably looks very weird. The new girl in support group brought her tattooed friend and her tumbling girlfriend.

He slowly backs out of the room and closes the door. We start laughing again but a few moments later the woman in charge of support group walks in.

"Veronica." She smiles.

"Hi." I tilt my head back to look at her.

"Who are they?" She asks me.

"Oh these are my friends." I say and then stand up. They stand with me.

"Bye guys." I say and go to hug them. They both grab a different side of my face and kiss my cheeks. Alex is on my left and Jade is on my right. I laugh as they peck my cheeks.

They leave holding hands and laughing. Aaron walks in now that they are gone. I sit silently with a blank expression. I think the woman's name is Mrs. Holly.

Mrs. Holly sits down next to me. I glance over at her curiously.

"You have wonderful friends." She smiles.

"They're the best." I smile back at her.

As the room starts to fill, Mrs. Holly gets up and sits in her usual seat in the circle. Tasha sits next to me again.

Mrs. Holly starts the meeting by going around the circle and asking how we are feeling, like she did last week.

When she gets to Aaron he only shakes his head. She doesn't make him talk about it. She finally gets to Tasha and she says great.

"Is there a reason why you're so happy?" Mrs. Holly asks.

"Well I ate a full meal for lunch today." She says with a smile. "I'm recovering." She says happily. I smile at her. You can tell she's healthier than last week. I assume she used to be anorexic. She's still very skinny but she's getting better. It makes me happy to see her happy.

"That's great Tasha!" A girl from across the circle exclaims. She jumps up and runs towards Tasha. She gives her a hug. I think they were friends before support group. The girl goes back to her seat after that.

"Veronica?" Mrs. Holly says gesturing her hand towards me.

When I think about how I feel, my heart squeezes like it has before. Now that I'm in a situation where I can share my feelings, I have too many feelings to share. I think about how much I miss my mom and brother. I think about how long my dad has been gone. I also think about Shawn. It's stupid to admit that a boy is consuming my every thought, but it's true.

"Veronica?" Mrs. Holly questions.

"Fine." I mumble. She doesn't believe me but they move on anyways.