Winded, Stephen entered the building just as the door was about to close. He sidestepped a mousy brunette who held the door for him and headed down the hallway. He didn't bother glancing at the announcement board as he rushed down the hall which would have told him his meeting had been cancelled for the week.
Shortly after The Accident Stephen had sought an escape from his house. Away from his mother's drinking and sobbing and his father's lack of emotion. When he Google'd "what to do when your older brother dies" the internet deity informed him that he should find some kind of therapy or support group. Seeing as he couldn't afford therapy and would rather not tell his parents what he was up to he started his search.
He'd decided to attend a group in the town over, that way the likelihood of him encountering anyone he knew would be diminished. As he walked into the room, he noticed that there weren't very many people there yet. He didn't recognize the few that were there either. But that happened. Every couple of weeks or so brought in new faces and cycled out older ones. They tended to either sink further into depression or finally move on with their lives and abandon their old life preserver.
Those that were in the room were scattered. There was a set of two sitting in the corner, chatting. There were three more sitting at random intervals, drinking coffee and occasionally glancing around the room. One man had on a dingy black leather jacket, his hair was short and choppy. Like it had been long recently and someone had stuck a bowl on his head and cut around it. On his face he wore a five o'clock shadow and his jeans had bandanas sewed behind where the holes were. He was shaking his right leg up and down, up and down, up and down making his anxiety obvious. He had a cigarette in his hand and was rolling it between his fingers, probably contemplating going outside to smoke it.
As Stephen watched The Leather Jacket fidget in his seat he saw a small girl slip into the room out of the corner of his eye. She had mousy brown hair that hung in her face and a faded blue jacket with the hood pulled up. Her eyes were round and she kept looking at the floor as she made her way to a seat in the back. He'd never seen her before either and vaguely wondered who it was that she had lost.
When a man walked in and stepped to the front of the room and cleared his throat for attention is when Stephen realized something was wrong. It wasn't Jeninean who normally ran the Family Loss group but a short, squat man with a shaved head and glasses.
"Hey guys, I'm Jack and we're going to get started here in a few minutes. Looks like we've got a pretty small group tonight so if you few in the back wouldn't mind moving closer to the front so we don't have to shout, that would be great."
There was a sound of chairs screeching against the tile as those few stood up out of their seats and made their way forward. Stephen began to fidget with the sleeve of his shirt. He didn't recognize a single person in here and it wasn't like Jeninean to miss a meeting. He was just about to stand up and walk out when the Mousy Haired Girl sat down next to him. Her hood had fallen down and she'd tucked the hair on the left side of her face behind her ear, showing him her profile.
She was incredibly pale and there were blue smudges under her eyes, as if someone had pressed their thumbs there until it bruised. She was stick thin, almost to the point of looking malnourished. But she had elegantly long legs and they stretched out in front of her, ending in a pair of beat up black Chucks. He shifted in his seat, causing the leather to rub together and make an awkward noise. Her face turned to his and she gave him a small, closed mouth smile that went all the way up to her eyes.
Given a frontal view Stephen noticed more about her. Her eyes were a lovely gray color. They almost matched the overcast tone from outside, but with light behind them. Kind of like when the sun peeks through on a stormy day and gives a five minute reprieve from the rain. She had full lips that stood out against the paleness of her face, conflicting with the scrawniness of her body. They hinted at what she'd looked like before she lost the weight, and Stephen wondered why she would let herself get so thin.
As he opened his mouth to introduce himself Jack closed the door with a loud THUD and walked up to the front of the room.
"Hello everyone, as I said before, I'm Jack and welcome to Narcotics Anonymous."
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