The Story of Griffin Hawkins

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Week One

Thursday

            Thursday had finally rolled around after spending the whole day Wednesday looking for a job. I had applied at the same restaurant that Kirsten had cooked at and surprisingly, got to talk to a manager right away. I knew it was because Kirsten had worked there for about five years, but sometimes it was good to use the connections you had. Considering the job economy, I wasn’t about to pass it up. I knew it was better to take what I can get and I could easily fake happiness for the job.

            The manager liked my personality and work history; he wanted me to come in for training Sunday afternoon. I was kind of happy that I would be doing something that got me out of the house. I knew Dr. Harris would be happy about that.

            Thursday was the day for my group therapy session at two. Before heading out the door, I bundled myself up in jeans and a sweater. I arrived at the clinic and trudged snow in on my boots. My boots squeaked loudly against the linoleum tiles and I tried to walk quickly to the room.

            As I entered, there were blue plastic chairs positioned in a circle. I noticed an older, rather attractive, man standing by the window and watching the snow fall. I could see he was tall, probably six foot at least. He had raven hair with a dark, scruffy beard. He looked about mid to late thirties.

            I went to a chair to take off my coat, my shows squeaked again causing the older man to turn around. I noticed he had very light green eyes as he gave me a timid smile before facing the window again. I draped my big winter coat over the back of a chair and took a seat.

            I waited patiently, staring at the wall, when everyone started to file in. Everyone took a seat and sat uncomfortably until Dr. Harris bustled in with two bags and a big winter coat. She put her bags down and looked around at us. I noticed there was still an empty seat.

            She glanced at it, narrowed her eyes and sighed heavily, completely aware of who was missing. “Sorry I’m a little bit late, there was some traffic because of the snow. While I get settled, why don’t we start introductions? Your first name only and a quick, short reason why you have depression. Patrick, why don’t you start?” Her question was directed to the older man who was standing by the window when I had walked in.

            He cleared his throat, “Okay. My name is Patrick and I have depression because of my father.”

            The next person was an older woman; she looked older than my mother. “Hello, my name is Robin. I have depression because of family issues.” Her voice was rough, probably from being a smoker.

            A younger girl who looked about my age sat up straight and smiled, “I’m Zoey and I have Leukemia.”

            The door to the room slammed opened and in walked a guy that had to be my age. He was very attractive to me with his blonde, shaggy hair and dark roots. He was of average built and kissable lips. His eyes were scary, however, they were such a dark brown they looked black. They held pain, anger, and were sinister. He gave a crooked, twisted grin to Dr. Harris and took the seat next to her.

            “Nice of you to join us,” Dr. Harris said. “Please continue Tom.”

            This older man was dark skinned, “Name’s Tom. I lost my family in a car accident.”

            After him was a red haired kid who seemed a bit younger than me. He blushed profusely when the attention was on him. “I’m Ross and I have depression because I get bullied.” His voice was quiet.