AllFreeNovel
Share Us
From the car, Amy started to knock on the window, trying to get our attention. I could hear Breydan’s crying through the glass.
With a tired sigh, Mom brushed her hand over my hair yet again and said, “You better go. I love you.”
“Love you too,” I said and hurried off so she could return to the others. At the door, I glanced back, but she’d already pulled away from the curb and was halfway down the street.
With a heavy breath, I entered the building, my gut tightening as cool, indoor air swept over me.
At the reception counter, I showed the woman the badge I had hanging from a lanyard around my neck, and she consulted her computer, murmuring, “Group seven…group seven…aha. Here you are. You’re in the blue room again today. Do you remember which one that is, hon?”
I nodded, “Yes, ma’am. I remember.”
“Go on back, then.”
When she waved me on, I clomped across the big, open lobby toward a hallway on the right. After our first meeting in the enormous atrium located in the heart of the center, every group had broken off to meet in smaller classrooms each week.
As soon as I reached the blue room, which was decorated like a big aquarium, I opened the door, and a familiar voice called, “Hey, Foster. Think fast.”
A football came lobbing my way, so I reached up and snatched it from the air without thought.
“Ooh, nice catch,” Matt, our group’s guidance counselor, praised. “You have the makings to be an awesome receiver, my man. I can feel it. Here. Toss it back.”
I knew exactly why he’d brought the ball today. He’d made us go around the circle last week to name things we liked doing because absolutely no one was ready to talk about the real reason we were here. And I had admitted that I enjoyed tossing a football around with my dad.
Matt was trying hard to connect with us, which only made me feel that much worse about not sharing anything I knew I should. I didn’t like disappointing him either.
I whizzed the ball back as I entered the room, and Matt leaped to the side to catch it, only to suck in a surprised breath and shake out his hand as if I’d burned his palm with my throw. “Wow. Okay, maybe quarterback is your calling.”
“I want to try,” Keene spoke up, lifting his hands for a turn at the football.
Matt shrugged. “Alright.” He pitched the ball in an easy underhanded toss toward the only other member of my group who had arrived before me.
So the three of us flung the ball around as others—Damien, Thane, Parker, and then Alec—slowly trickled in and joined the fun that somehow morphed into a game of hot potato.
When Hudson arrived last, Matt regained possession of the football and propped it against his hip, saying, “Looks like everyone’s here. We can get started now.”
Which meant it was time to talk about miserable, serious stuff.
To my left, the youngest two—Keene and Alec—grumbled over the end of the game, and Matt lifted his eyebrows in surprise.
“What? Y’all want to keep tossing the ball around?”
Well, duh. Anything was better than sharing our feelings.
Keene and Alec cheered, and Matt nodded to himself as if he’d come up with a brilliant idea. “Okay. Alright. Let’s make it part of the share circle, shall we? Whoever I toss the ball to… You tell me what kind of day you’re having.”
On my right side, Hudson snickered and leaned my way, whispering, “How did I knowthatwas going to happen?”
Across the room, Matt tossed the football to Parker.
At twelve years old, Parker was technically the oldest member of our group, but he hadn’t said a single word since joining, which was why he always came with his best friend, Thane, who was a year older than him and did all his talking for him.
Arms folded over his chest, Parker dodged his face to the side and let the ball sail past his shoulder. Then he narrowed his eyes at Matt, letting him know today wasnotgoing to be the day he decided to speak either.
“I got it,” Thane told us good-naturedly before he jogged over to fetch the ball that had bounced against the back wall.
As Thane picked up the ball and juggled it between his hands, he returned to the circle, announcing, “Parker’s doing good today. My mom made us his favorite egg muffin sandwiches for breakfast, and then he beat me at a game of basketball in my backyard.”
“Awesome.” Matt nodded in approval. “Do you like basketball?” he asked Parker directly.
