"All you have to do is try it out, Ivan. Dr. Williams thinks this would be good for you, since you're beginning to really work on socializing with others," Mrs. Clarissa squinted against the setting sun as she drove me to the behavioral clinic.

"Group therapy? Why would I want to open up in front of a bunch of teenagers?" I groaned, already dreading this. Exhausted was an understatement to what I was feeling after having to play cat and mouse with Chloe and her goons all week at school, coupled with the fact that Ethan has been radio silent for the entire time.

"Well, they all have their own struggles. No one there isn't going to be having a hard time like everyone else. I think it's healthy to be reminded that you're never alone, and that others are also in your shoes."

"Other people deal with things so normalized that it isn't even that strange anymore. People like me end up shot or homeless," I grumbled, playing with my fingers in my lap.

"That kind of attitude is exactly why you need this. Don't you know better than to compare your struggles to others? As if their struggles aren't as valid?" Mrs. Clarissa looked at me with an inquisitive expression, before pursing her lips and turning back to the road.

With a huff, I decided to just stare out the window and not respond. Deep down, I knew she was right. And I hated that she was right.

We pulled up to the front of the building, and I forced myself out of the car, not at all being subtle with how much I didn't want to be here right now.

"I'll be right here at eight when it's over, do you have your phone with you?" Mrs. Clarissa asked, looking at me over the top of her glasses.

"Yes," I sighed, waving her off and turning to enter the building as she pulled away. After taking the elevator up to the third floor, the usual secretary greeted me and pointed me to some conference room down the hall, a room I'd never been in before. And I've been in a lot of rooms on this floor.

Trudging down the hallway, I tried to prolong the inevitable by moving as slowly as I possibly could. Far too soon though, I was facing the wooden double doors, and I took a breath, forcing the handle down and swinging the door open quickly before I could back out.

A few teenagers around my age were already there, and their heads whipped up at the commotion. Seven plastic chairs were placed in a circle, with Dr. Williams at the top, her legs crossed and writing something on a clipboard. She looked up, a gentle smile gracing her lips as she saw me enter the room.

"Good to see you, Ivan. Why don't you have a seat somewhere?" She gestured to the remaining three empty chairs. I sat in the closest one, slumping down and crossing my arms defensively. I know Dr. Williams noticed that right away, she always loved to point that out when I do it in our private therapy sessions. Two more people filtered in, and I made sure to carefully examine them to make sure neither of them went to school with me. One of them was a petite Asian girl who I was relieved I didn't recognize, and the other person still hadn't come around and into my view.

"It's alright, you can take as much time as you need," Dr. Williams spoke to the other individual, who appeared to still be standing by the door. Eventually, I heard their shoes shuffle from behind me and to my left, before finally coming into my vision. Their head was bowed, long blonde hair covering the sides of her face like a sheet as she walked- but I knew who it was right away.

Chloe eventually picked a seat in between two people already sitting down, directly across from me. When she picked up her head, her eyes were in a deadlock with mine. She looked pale, anxious eyes wide as saucers, probably the exact same expression I was sporting.

"Alright, well it looks like the last person has come in, so let's get started," Dr. Williams clapped. I hadn't even noticed the last person come in and sit right next to me, I was so focused on trying to calm my frazzled nerves. "I want you all to know that I am so glad you are here today. I think this can be a very supportive and productive environment for everyone here, and I hope everyone can benefit something from this meeting."

Dr. Williams then rambled on about confidentiality with herself and with other members of the group, but Chloe and I were preoccupied with staring at each other, trying to come to terms that we were about to become a lot closer than we would like.

"Confidentiality can not be guaranteed, so it is completely up to you how much you are willing to share with the group, nothing will be held against you for that. Let's go around and introduce ourselves first, and then whoever would like to share first can go right ahead. Let's start with you on my right," she smiled, gesturing to the younger teenage boy with an open palm.

As the meeting went on, more and more people started to open up and share. The Asian girl, who I learned was named Lisa, talked about how her OCD has affected her life, constantly having to count things and do everything in a systematic way. She showed us her hands, which were chapped and raw from all the scrubbing and cleaning she does on a daily basis. Another guy, Marcus, talked about his PTSD from being raped at thirteen, which made Chloe wince, and send me a guilty gaze. Looks like we both learned a lesson about using that topic in such an insensitive way, merely as leverage to get under each other's skin. The group was silent after that, everyone having shared except Chloe and I. Dr. Williams had attempted to give me the opportunity to speak many times throughout the evening, but I remained steadfast in my desire to keep everything in, to which she would simply move on to someone else.

"Um, I- I would like to speak," Chloe muttered, and all attention was suddenly on her. She cleared her throat before continuing. "Well. . . I've been dealing with depression for a couple years now, and recently it's been getting really bad. No one around me knows about it, not even my closest friends," she set her burning gaze on me, as though she was really making sure I understood that. "And I'm really ashamed of it. It's been making me act out in ways I'm not proud of, and I'm constantly filled with so much pain. I've already attempted last year, and now the urge is becoming strong again, but I'm working towards really fighting it this time. It got especially bad when I self harmed a few days ago, only a few days after my one year anniversary of being clean. It's just- it's just really fucking hard. That's- that's all I want to share right now. Thanks for listening. . ." She sniffed, quickly bringing a hand to wipe under her eye. I looked down at my lap, picking at my cuticles, fighting with my instincts to keep my secret hidden, but also my deeply seated wishes to finally be heard.

The group seemed to realize what was happening, and all the attention was currently on me; it never felt as though I was being judged, not after everyone else had been so vulnerable in front of the entire group. I felt dejected, and disappointed in myself. I just couldn't do it. Not in front of everyone. Dr. Williams seemed to realize that I had made up my mind.

"Alright, well I think everyone did a great job. Let's end the meeting now so everyone has some time to decompress, and maybe even get to know each other some more."

With that, Chloe gave me a watery smile, before moving to the other end of the room next to the open window. Shaking my head, I sighed, rubbing my knees before standing and walking over to her, leaning against the wall adjacent to her and breathing in the fresh air.

"I have schizophrenia. Had it since I was a kid," I whispered, tapping the windowsill slowly. Chloe looked at me, appearing surprised that I had actually opened up to her. Her lips were parted, and she cleared her throat before settling her gaze on my moving fingers.

"What is that?" She questioned. I remained silent due to my previous conflictions that had a choke hold on me during the group meeting, uncertain if this was really something I wanted to further divulge to the same girl who was ready to take me down a mere day ago. She glanced back up to me, noticing the skeptical look on my face, then added, "it's not like I can go around and tell everyone. You have blackmail material on me too."

I sighed. "If I'm not on medication, sometimes even when I am, I see and hear things that aren't there, sometimes I get delusions. Mostly I just have shitty social skills, like an inability to express emotions, or speak in a disorganized, monotone way. I'm basically. . . just weird," I trailed off, looking out at the night skyline.

Chloe shook her head, her shoulders deflating sadly. "No, you're not weird. I shouldn't have said that, I didn't know anything either. I had no idea what you were going through, and that was really shitty and hypocritical of me," she dropped her head in shame. "I'm really sorry."

"I'm sorry too, I made a lot of assumptions about you that I shouldn't have without actually knowing what was going on."

Chloe started to pick at her nails. "I never meant to spread those things about you, and I never wanted to intentionally hurt you. I was just so upset over the things people were saying about me, that I made some off-hand joke about you liking Ethan too, and that's what could have scared him off. I didn't know one of the girls was going to take that and run with it," Chloe stated, a look of concentration across her face. "I know it doesn't fix what happened, and it definitely isn't an excuse, but I just thought you at least deserved an explanation."

I shifted my feet uncomfortably, looking away from Chloe. She looked at me confused, before her face suddenly relaxed as it dawned on her. "Do- do you actually like him?"

"You're really pushing it with how much I'm willing to open up in one night," I grumbled. Chloe's face suddenly split into a grin.

"I should've known there was never a chance he'd be into me, because he already had eyes on you."

"What? What do you mean?" I asked, leaning in closer with interest.

"We never. . . did anything after homecoming. I wanted more from him and he rejected me. I was so embarrassed. One of the girls asked me if we had sex and I. . . I didn't want to be made fun of if I had said no. That was wrong and I know that now. I liked him a lot but he didn't like me, and I just couldn't figure out why. I think everything is clear now."

There was a moment of comfortable silence between the two of us before Chloe spoke up again. "Ethan didn't tell you anything before he left? You guys are so close."

I shook my head sadly. "No. . . not a word."

"Well, I'm sure he'll come back eventually. You're here, after all."

"I just hope that's enough," I said under my breath, gazing at the stars scattered across the blackened sky, wondering if Ethan was looking at them too.

~

What are we thinking about Chloe's character now?Thank you everyone for voting!