Group Therapy

Chapter 18

Pretty short chapter, but it's been awhile and I wanted to give y'all something! Hope you enjoy!

Sang's P.O.V.

          I walk up to the lunch table, where my friends are already sitting, minus one. Things have been a little tense with Karen and Jade, recently, so Karen is avoiding Jade at all costs. I hate when they fight.

      After I take my seat next to Elliott, I realize everybody is staring at me. "Do I have something on my face again?," I ask.

        "Oh, no," Jade shakes her head. They all have weird looks on their faces. Jade shares a look with Elliott before turning away.

       Why are they being so weird?

         "So, Sang," Elliott says. "Do you want to go to dinner tonight?"

         "Sure," I say before turning to the rest of the group. "Y'all are coming too, right?"

         The conversations stop. Elliott lets out a forced laugh, "Of course they're all coming."

         "Can't wait," Jade says with a big grin.

         After lunch, I go off with Jade to our lockers. She pats my head, "You poor, clueless thing."

        I frown. "What?"

        "You didn't realize Elliott was asking you out on a date?," she asks with a tilt of her head.

       My entire face feels hot as I shake my head. "He was not."

       "Oh, he was. He was freaking out about it before you showed up at lunch," she confirms.

       "He was?"

         "Totally. And then you went and crushed his dreams," she says.

          "Oh no," I hold a hand to my head. "He's going to think I don't like him."

  "Don't worry, we can still fix this," she says.

"How?," I ask.

"Just leave it to me. I'll handle everything."

"Are you guys ready to order?," the waitress returns.

After my interview, I was on my way back to the house, when Jade called asking to meet up.

"Yes, I will have the steak sandwich and the wing chips," Jade says.

The waitress turns to me, "And you ma'am?"

I barely looked at the menu, so I just pick the first thing I see. "I will have the caesar salad, please."

The waitress takes our menus, leaving the two of us to talk.

         "So, what did you want to talk about?," I ask.

        She stares at her drink for a moment and then clears her throat. "I've been a really shitty friend recently and I kept putting this conversation off, but I needed to make things right between us."

           I can't disagree with her on that. I just nod for her to continue.

        "You know I've never really been good at the sentimental stuff," she shakes her head. "And everything changed when Eli died. I'm still not quite sure how to handle it. I've been a wreck, but I didn't want to be that way around you, it just felt selfish, you know? And I had no idea what to say or do to make you feel better. So, I just kept myself busy to not think about it and I neglected our friendship in the process. And I just wanted you to know that I'm sorry about that."

        I'm stunned for a moment. I certainly wasn't expecting her to say all that. "I never wanted you to feel like you couldn't grieve Eli around me, and I'm sorry if I did. Yes, he was my husband but he was your friend," I tell her. "And honestly, I'm not expecting anybody to say or do the right things, because nothing is going to make me feel better. I just needed my friends. You guys were all I had. I've met some great people through all of this, but I want somebody to remember Eli with. People who knew him."

She nods. "We've been going about this all wrong. Jay and Rocky know that too, but they want their own chance to talk with you. I can't speak for Karen, I haven't spoken to her in months. But, I promised you the day of the funeral that I'd be here for you every step of the way and I'm sticking to that."

I give her a small smile. Only time will tell, but I can tell she's being genuine. "I appreciate that."

She suddenly looks uncomfortable. "I also wanted to check in after what happened at the party," she shakes her head. "I've been feeling pretty guilty about that too."

"I accept your apology for not being around recently, but there's no reason for you to apologize about that night. It wasn't your fault, you had no way of knowing."

"But he was in my house," she says.

"And you still had no way of knowing. I know that you wouldn't have had him there if you thought he was dangerous," I tell her. "But, I really don't want to talk about it."

Thinking about it makes me feel sick to my stomach. I'd like to just go on pretending it didn't happen, or else I'll lose whatever sanity I'm gripping onto.

"Okay," she says. "Then let's talk about something else."

There's a moment of uncomfortable silence, the heavy topics still lingering in our minds.

"Well, I got a new job," I tell her.

"That's great. Where?," she asks.

"Bob's Diner. The place Eli and I went to all the time," I tell her. "Turns out North's uncle owns the place. So I'll be working there until I figure out what I'm doing with the rest of my life."

"Are you done with teaching for good?," she asks as she twirls her straw around in her drink.

I forgot that most people don't know that. "Yeah. But this will be good for me. A fresh start." I try to sound optimistic, but it sounds forced. "Anyways, what's going on with you? Dating anybody?"

She shakes her head. "I've just been working constantly. By the time I get home, I don't want to deal with anybody else. But, I've decided I'm better off on my own for the time being," she says.

        I nod in understanding. As I'm about to respond, the waitress brings our food out. We spend the rest of lunch just talking about life and a little about Eli.

       By the end of lunch though, my social meter has run out. I just want to go back to the house and lay in my bed.

        I try not to make it too obvious as we hug goodbye. Everything is draining these days. I don't know how I'm going to survive at my new job.

      When I get back, nobody is back from work yet, except Sean of course who is probably asleep. I'm relieved I don't have to talk to anybody else.

       I go upstairs and crawl into bed, consumed by my thoughts.