From the Damage 1 - Opposites Attract

From the Damage:

Opposites Attract

written by:

Jasmine Denton

and

Genna Denton

World Castle Publishing

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used factiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locations, organizations, or person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

World Castle Publishing

Pensacola, Florida

Copyright © by Jasmine Denton 2011

Copyright © by Genna Denton 2011

ISBN‐13: 9781937085230

First Edition World Castle Publishing 2011

http://www.worldcastlepublishing.com

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re‐sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you respecting the hard work of this author.

Cover Artist: Spittyfish Designs

Editor: Autumn Conley Bittick

Printed in the United States

Chapter One—Support Group

The rain poured down as Kelly turned her car into the parking lot of the youth center. Grimacing, she looked up at the looming brick building with dread.

Her parents were forcing her to go to this new support group for teens at the youth center. Even though she’d told them she didn’t need therapy—she was fine, just fine—her parents made it clear her attendance was mandatory. They almost dropped her off themselves, but she’d whined and insisted she could be trusted, and now she had to prove it. She really had no choice, though, but to show up, considering Kelly wouldn’t put it past her mother to give the counselor a call just to make sure she was there.

Pulling her hoodie over her head, she took her key out of the ignition and sighed as she climbed out of her car. She ran across the parking lot, dodging puddles that pooled in the potholes. A crack of thunder rang out as she made it to the awning, where she turned and clicked the LOCK button on her keyless remote. After hearing the alert that her car was locked, she pulled open the heavy youth center door and wiped her feet on the rough WELCOME mat as she searched for a sign for the support group.

A sign to the right of the hallway had an arrow beneath the words:
Discover-U

Center (Support Group for Troubled Teens), Room 303.

She dragged herself to the elevator and arrived there about the same time as a thin girl with black hair. Hanging back, Kelly let the girl push the elevator buttons.

When the girl pushed the illuminated 3, Kelly wondered if she was going to the support group, too, but she didn’t have the nerve to ask.

Both girls stepped off the elevator and went to Room 303, where they were greeted by a young brunette woman whose nametag read DAPHNE. From the darkened sky, rain beat on the tall windows that staring down into the cavernous room.

Fluorescent lights on the high ceiling illuminated the room, casting a bright glare on the glass above.

“Hello,” the pretty brunette said, carrying a clipboard as she approached the two teens. “I’m Daphne. What are your names?”

“Carmen,” the girl from the elevator said.

Daphne pulled off a nametag with Carmen’s name on it and then turned to Kelly with a questioning look.

“Kelly.”

“It’s nice to meet you both. We’re so glad you’re here.” Daphne handed Kelly her nametag as a blond guy who looked a little bit older than her approached. “This is my colleague, Brett. He’ll be joining us from time to time. If you’ll go ahead and take a seat over there,” she said, pointing to a rough circle of nine overstuffed easy chairs that sat on a worn area rug. “We’ll get started in just a few minutes.”

Kelly stuck the nametag on her purse as she walked over to an empty chair and plopped down in it.

A few minutes later, a girl Kelly recognized from school came in: Meagan Parker, cheerleader extraordinaire.

Great
, Kelly thought as she shrank back in her chair.
Just freaking great
.

When the clock struck six, Daphne walked into the middle of the circle while Brett took one of the empty chairs.

“Now, I know you’re all here for very different reasons,” Daphne began in a gentle voice, “but it’s our hope that no matter what’s going on in your life, we can provide support. So, why don’t we start by introducing ourselves? You don’t have to say much—just your name and a reason you’re here.” She then walked over to the chair beside Brett, sat down, and fixed her gaze on Kelly.

Why do I have to go first?
Kelly thought with dread. Tucking a strand of blonde hair behind her ear, she cautiously began. “I’m Kelly. I guess I’m here because my parents are worried about me.” Nervousness swirling in her gut, she sneaked a glance around the room filled with strangers. There was an average-looking girl with sunken eyes whose nametag read KAY, sitting next to a guy with cold eyes.
Ryder? Is that really
his name?
Meagan was sitting on the other side of him. Kelly found it so utterly awkward to run into someone from her school in group therapy. “Is that all?” she said.

“Do I say more?”

Daphne shook her head as she jotted notes on the clipboard she now held in her lap. She gave Kelly a comforting smile. “We’ll go more into detail later, whenever you’re ready. Right now, we just need to know the basics.” The chair next to Kelly was empty, so Daphne pointed to the next boy with her pen. “And you? Would you introduce yourself and tell us what brought you to the Discover-U Center?”

The boy with blond hair and icy gray eyes shoved his hands into his pockets.

“I’m Gage, and my car brought me here.”

Daphne laughed, though she didn’t sound humored. “I meant
why
you’re here.”

He rolled his eyes. “We already went over this in the one-on-one interview.”

“Yes, I remember, but I’m asking you to tell the group.”

Fixing his gaze on the clock to the far left of the room, he sighed. “It’s a condition of my probation. Apparently, I need anger management.” He made sarcastic quotation marks in the air around the term with his fingers.

Probation?
Kelly thought, shifting in her seat a little. She wondered what he’d been arrested for.
Was it a violent crime? Stealing?
She wasn’t frightened by it exactly; it was more intrigue than anything.

Sitting next to Gage the felon was a mousy girl with black hair. She looked up from nervously picking at her fingernails. “I’m Carmen. I’m here because...” she trailed off, keeping her eyes on what was left of her fingernails.

“It’s okay.” Daphne tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. Her voice sounded calm and quiet and overly sympathetic. “You can say it.”

Carmen took a deep breath and raised her head. “My sister sent me here because our mom recently died.”

“I’m very sorry to hear that,” Daphne said, the compassion evident on her features, finally proving to Kelly that Daphne wasn’t just some fraud paid by the state to listen to their crappy life stories.

Carmen winced slightly as everybody in the room turned to look at her. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she glanced down at the rug and kept her eyes there as Daphne motioned for the next person to speak.

“I’m Meagan.” She twirled a strand of her long red hair around her finger and blew a bubble with her gum. Popping it suddenly, she continued, “I’m doing the whole individual counseling thing, but my counselor said I should come here, too, for support or whatever. Go figure, right? It’s a support group.” She laughed and slunk back into her chair, still chewing rapidly on the gum.

Kelly wondered why Meagan was in counseling and if she’d even recognized her to begin with. She hoped not.

“I’m Kay,” said a girl with brown hair and purple bags under her eyes. “My parents are getting a divorce. It’s been really...well, it’s been hard on me.”

Daphne smiled at Kay with a slight nod, then turned her focus to the last person, a boy with short brown hair and big brown eyes.

His gaze darted away from her when she looked at him. “They call me Ryder,”

he said. “A few months ago, there was a shooting at my school—”

“At Westview?” Meagan interrupted, and Gage shuffled his feet. “I heard about that.”

“Please wait until Ryder is finished before you ask questions,” Daphne directed.

“The shooter held Gage and me and some other students hostage in the computer lab.”

Gage glared at Ryder, who scoffed back at him.

Daphne looked from one boy to the other, her eyebrows arching a bit. “That must have been very traumatic for both of you.”

Gage swung his gaze to the floor, and Ryder shrugged.

“Okay,” Daphne said, looking around the circle, “does anybody want to go into more detail?”

The teenagers were silent, staring at Daphne with blank, reluctant faces. Kelly felt a little sorry and somewhat embarrassed for her, though not enough to spill her problems.

“Okay, then. Let’s try something else.” Daphne reached beside her chair and pulled out a shopping bag. She took out seven leather-bound journals, then began to walk around the circle and hand them out. “Keep these journals. They’re personalized, and my number is on the front page,” she said, handing one to Gage. “Don’t hesitate to call me if you ever need to.” She made eye contact with everyone as they took the small notebook. “If you feel angry or sad, write about it,” she continued. “If you want to hurt yourself, write about it. If you have hurt yourself,” she said, handing a journal to Carmen, “write about it.” Then she glanced at Gage. “If you think this is stupid, write about it. Take this everywhere.” Once everyone had their journal in hand, she sat back down in her chair. “Go ahead and write your first entry now,” she said as she began to make notes on her clipboard.

“This,” Gage said, his voice echoing in the silent room. “Is. Stupid.” He slammed the journal shut and tossed it into the empty chair between his and Kelly’s. “Done!” he announced, beaming a big fake smile.