Obscurity

Chapter 30: Trouble

Sierra

"Thank you all for coming to the evening Group session." Stacy beams from her usual seat in the small circle of chairs. Her feet are tucked up in her seat and she shuffles her papers around in her hands.

"I want to start out the session with a question that will drive the group's conversation. The topic for this group is going to be responsibility. More specifically, taking responsibility for our actions, decisions, and behavior." She says as she places her papers down on the empty seat to her right.

I inwardly laugh at the thought that no one's sitting immediately next to her because they are all probably catching on to the way she calls on that seat first when it's time to share. Today, I don't really care who she calls on first or where I sit. I don't plan on participating much. Chris has came to sit in the group session, and I'm not happy about it.

He rarely comes to group. I don't know why he wants to sit in on every session all of a sudden.

"Okay, so to continue with the theme of this session, I'd like to share how important I think it is for individuals to take responsibility for their thoughts, actions, behavior, and decisions." She ticks each subcategory off on her fingers as she says them.

"It's vitally important to take responsibility in all that you do. It's necessary for growth. It's also a maturity thing. The more mature you are, the easier it is for you to admit when you've made a mistake." Stacy preaches as she looks around the circle at each of us.

As Stacy drones on with what I believe to be Chris's requested talking points, I watch Nick out of the corner of my eye. He's sitting across the circle from me, arms crossed, his feet tucked under his chair like Stacy's, and he's wearing what appears to be a permanent scowl. He watches Stacy as she talks but frequently looks over to Chris and eyes him. Chris is oblivious. He's toying with his paperwork and only glances up every now and again.

I can tell Nick wants to say something to Chris, but I hope he's smart enough to only think his thoughts and not voice them. Tension radiates off Nick.

Daniel is sitting next to Nick, and he seems agitated. His arms too are crossed, and he's paying attention to Stacy. Daniel's knee is bouncing a hundred miles per hour. I hope he keeps his shit together during group too. And I most certainly will be maintaining a low profile here tonight.

"And so, I'd like to take this opportunity to ask each of you to identify a time in your life where you took responsibility for something." Stacy looks over to Abigail. "Would you like to start?"

Abigail gives Stacy a sheepish look and shakes her head.

"Oh, don't be shy Abigail." Chris chimes in. Abigail looks at Chris and shrugs her shoulders.

"I'd prefer not to start."

"You're going to start." Chris replies to her. "You were asked to go first, and you should." He smiles at her.

Abigail shifts in her seat. She clearly does not want to start this group session off. Jim seems to sense how uncomfortable Abigail is and steps up to the plate.

"I'll go first, if that's okay." Jim says to Stacy. She's just about to allow it when Chris speaks up.

"No. Abigail will go first." His tone is of complete superiority.

Stacy gives Chris a weird look. I get the impression she doesn't want to force Abigail to talk about something if she doesn't want to.

"It's all right Chris. Jim can lead the group if he wants to." She says in her sweet calm voice, shooting a reassuring glance over at Abigail.