All We Know Is Falling (Watty Awards 2011)

  "My mom."

  "That sucks. I really don't want to be here. Dad made me come because of all my recent suicide attempts." She shakes her head and laughs as if it's the stupidest thing she's said in forever.

   "That does suck."

   "Yeah. So, what you here for?"

  I looked around the room and finally met her emerald eyes.

  "I was raped by my father."

  She was silent for a few seconds, then spoke. "I'm so sorry. The same thing happened to my sister."

  "Is she coming to the group?" I asked.

  Helena's jaw tightened and she shuffled her feet. "Heather died last year. She...she...she killed herself." Tears were welling up in her eyes and my heart went out to her. I was surprised that she was being so open about this to me. But then again, this is a counseling group right? You're supposed to share what's eating at the inside of your heart...even if it might be hard.

  "Is the suicide attempts your way of coping with her death?" I didn't know if this was an alright question to ask or not, but I took my chances.

  "I guess that's how it seems, isn't it? But yeah, I guess you could say that."

  "And how's that working out?"

  Helena smiled and looked down. "Well, look where it's got me now."

  "Yeah, stuck in a room for an hour with a bunch of people you don't know, giving out your personal information." She laughed and stared at me.

  "I wouldn't exactly say that you're a stranger to me. I've seen you around school before, I think. I don't think we have any classes together though. Rosemond High School, right?"

  "Yeah, I think i've seen you around before." Now, I remember where i've seen her. Freshman year, Sarah Edmunds tripped her in the hallway, scattering her books and papers everywhere. 

  Just then, another girl walked in the room, black curls bobbing and eyes as blue as a husky's. She wore a small black hoodie with The Dead Kennedys printed on the front. A tan satchel was slung over her right shoulder, and miniature buttons covered the bag with little quotes and pictures on them.

  I don't think i've ever seen this girl around, unlike Helena. She didn't look familiar to me at all.

  She took a seat next to Helena and looked up from her Droid. She smiled and waved at us and in return, we waved back.

  Helena was the first to make introductions. "Hey, i'm Helena. This is Alexandria," she pointed at me and I turned a bright shade of red. Not that I was embarrased or anything, but it feels kind of weird to be introduced by someone else to someone else. I don't know.

  The new girl nodded. "I'm Jennifer Markus. Nice to meet you, guys." It was Jennifer that pointed at me this time. "Is it okay if I call you Alex? You look like an Alex person."

  "Sure, whatever works for you," I laughed.

  She laughed too and asked, "So whats your stories?"

  I gave Helena a look and she returned one that said it was okay to tell. She was going to have to do it at some point or another anyways. "Rape and suicide," I sighed.

  "Lovely combination," Jennifer said. "Just mix that in with a little abuse, and we're set to go." This made us all laugh which we probably shouldn't be laughing at it, but it seemed to make us all feel better.

  Around ten minutes later, the whole group had come together. The other kids had finally arrived, and Helena, Jennifer, and I had accepted the fact that we were all a little way too early. But who cares? That gave us a head start to get to know each other better.