Now, I was falling once again through the hole surrounded by my new fences in total peace.
I arrived at group therapy early and found my seat. As others trickled through the double doors of the large, useless room, I turned my attention over to my cast, using a Sharpie to scribble music notes across the white bandages of a tune stuck in my head—the things I would do for my headphones this very moment. Music had always been my excuse to avoid conversation, my reason to escape an uncomfortable situation. I would put my headphones over my ears, and everyone seemed to leave me alone.Ta-da. Magic.
Someone cleared their throat.
I glanced up from my cast to find Arty’s wide white eyeballs peering over in my direction. After snapping the Sharpie closed, I twirled it between my fingers. Ollie sat across from me like last time, and he looked different—tired, even. His hair wasn’t in its normal perfected wave, but instead hidden under a gray beanie.
Jake snuck a small wave to feel out my current mood.
I flashed my fake smile.
It was the only one I had left.
“We’re going to do something a little different today,” Arty said, passing sheets of paper and pens around the circle. “I want each of you to write down two truths and one lie. We will take turns going around the room, guessing which one is the lie. And please, let’s keep this PG-thirteen.”
As I stared at the blank paper, I continued to twirl my Sharpie in my good hand—well, better hand. Fresh cuts extended from one end of my knuckles to the other, leaving new scars from my manic episode.
You could tell who was finished by the way they fell back and relaxed in their chairs, small sighs breaking the silence. After five minutes, I still hadn’t written a single letter.
“Okay, time’s up. I’ll start it off,” Arty said and glanced down at his paper. “I’m originally from Egypt, I have six brothers and sisters, and when I was a boy, I wanted to be an astronaut.”
Him having six brothers and sisters was the lie. Many factors from the way his tone changed when he said it, the fact it was the most boring of the three, and the exact number he used put up a big waving-in-the-air flag.
The group called out him being from Egypt was the lie, but I stayed quiet.
“Actually, I have nine brothers and sisters,” Arty said with a smile. “Okay, Isaac, let’s hear yours, and we will continue clockwise.”
Isaac shifted in his seat before he listed off his three sentences, and as the truths and lies continued around the circle, disbelieving remarks followed shortly behind.
Ollie straightened his posture when it was his turn. The battle in his eyes was evident as he looked down at his paper. He crumbled the sheet in his fist and stuffed it into his front pocket before saying, “I have died and come back to life, I’ve given up a life, and I’ve saved a life.”
Silence.
A cough.
Then the comments came.
“Ollie hasn’t given up a life. He wouldn’t even kill the earwig crawling up his arm.” Bria let out a giggle. “Remember, Jake? How he lifted it off with the leaf and brought it over to the tree?” Another laugh.
Ollie’s attention remained on the floor before him. He stuffed his hands deep into his pockets. The fact he used the term “given up” told a silent story of his past only he knew. “He hasn’t saved a life,” I said so low, I was surprised anyone heard me.
“Mia, why do you say that?” Arty asked.
“I just know.”
Arty looked over to Ollie, and Ollie nodded. “She’s right.”
Jake’s two truths and a lie stayed light-hearted, making sure everyone knew he was gay.
When my turn came, I glanced down at my blank paper and leaned back in my chair as my mind spoke for me. “I can play any song on the piano, I don’t eat meat … and …”—both Arty and Ollie are going to hate me—”I had sex with Liam last Friday.”
Gasps and laughs immediately followed, and I lifted my head from my blank paper to Ollie, whose hands were now out of his pockets and over his chin. His elbow bounced over his nervous knee.
“PG-thirteen, Mia,” Arty reminded me, and I shrugged my shoulders.
“There’s no way she slept with Liam. I was with him all day,” a blonde-haired girl from Liam’s table said.
“I’ve seen her eat meat. It’s got to be the piano,” Jake insisted.
