SOBER IN THE CITY

Girl Meets World

April 11th at 7:22AM by Sara [97 comments]

Once Tara convinced me to start this blog, I decided to attend my second AA meeting. I figured that one meeting a week sounded reasonable to me, considering all the great stories I had to tell her after just that first night. Besides, it wasn't like I was a complete alcoholic. I wasn't like, the bum permanently attached to the corner of my block, always passed out, clutching his bottle of Jack like it was a security blanket. I mean, I always got rid of the bottle after I'd finished it. I even recycled the bottles after sneaking that week's stash down to the recycling bins when I was sure my neighbors had gone to bed!

I couldn't be a real alcoholic. I recycled for God sakes.

But apparently that didn't seem to matter.

That Wednesday night I tiptoed into the side door of a church that was just a few blocks away from my apartment at five 'til 7pm. I'd thrown one of my old trench coats on over the sweats I'd changed into after work and topped the outfit off with a baseball cap and sunglasses. I figured it was best to be incognito in case someone I knew saw me wandering into the church in the middle of the week.

I walked into the room, keeping my head down as I slowly closed the door behind me, and then quickly surveyed the room. I saw a few seats in the back that were empty and pulled my cap further down on my head as I made a beeline for them. Before I'd fully made it out of the entryway, a hand was thrust into my eye line, stopping me midstride.

"Hello! Welcome!" a voice said energetically and pumped my hand up and down.

I glanced quickly at the man who was now standing in the way of the safety of my back row seat, and attempted to move around him.

"Hi! How are you?" Another hand appeared in front of me as I again tried to make my way across the room.

"Hi," I said, forcing a smile at the older woman who was now beaming at me just like the man had done.

What is this, the freaking "Twilight Zone"? It was like I'd landed in the town of Stepford or something, with all the plastered smiles and unwanted touching.

I walked as quickly as I could over to the back corner and collapsed into one of the plastic chairs, placing my Mary Kate-inspired hobo bag onto the seat next to me to ensure that I'd be sitting by myself.

I took off my sunglasses and placed them in my bag and then busied myself with the latest issue of Cosmo. As I looked through pictures of the newest Hollywood it-girls enjoying the LA nightlife, I tried to ignore the fact that I was spending my night in a church at an AA meeting, and not at a swanky upper east side lounge sipping cocktails like other girls my age.

Embarrassed that I'd even convinced myself I belonged here—it wasn't likely there'd be a single celeb sighting in a place like this—I closed the mag and shoved it back into my purse and stood up.

"Hey! I'm Star," a girl said gliding up to me and offering me one of the two cups she was holding. "Are you new?"

Oh God, please don't let that be punch, I thought, suddenly very aware of the cult-like situation I was currently in. I was reminded of that very special "Dateline" episode I'd watched a few months back. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember any of the details now, on account of the fact that I'd been drinking while I'd watched it.

Shit. I'm supposed to say no to the punch, right?

I looked down at my purse, wondering briefly if it was too late to pick it up and make a run for the door. Instead, I peeked into the glass the girl was still holding out to me and accepted it after seeing it appeared to be full of coffee.