I'm In Trouble, I'm An Addict.

People who are reading along:

+1	100.0%	[ 17 ]
Total Votes:			[ 17 ]

[Luvly1]

xxxx◦ The deeper you stick it in your vein
xTHE DEEPER THE THOUGHTS,
xxxxxxxthere's no more pain » I'M IN HEAVEN,
xxxxxxxxxxxxx╳ :I'm a god, I'm everywhere,
I feel so hot,
xxxxxxxIt's not a habit, it's cool, » I feel alive

Looking down at the food in question, Audrina wondered if she should actually try it, or just allow herself to starve. It may actually be an easier way to go than truck through this place. It seemed her features weren't so discrete on what she thought of the food, either that or Charlie was getting to know her much better than she thought. She looked up at him, shock written all over her face. ”Oh no.” Her shock turned to concern, ”They've gotten to you? You're siding with them. You've gone to the dark side!” She soon started giggling, unable to keep up her act any longer.

She knew he was right though. As horrible as it may have sounded, Audi planned to make life that much harder for the people that worked here. The doctors at least. She was still set on winning over the nurses. All that being said, she finally took a bit of the food onto her fork and nibbled at it. She shrugged her shoulders, and took a bigger bite. It was tolerable. Seemed that it looked much worse than it tasted. It seemed like whoever was in charge of this place had never heard of aesthetics. Everything was so dull, drab, and just outright unappealing to the eye. That extended not only from the décor of the place but the food too.

Charlie's words brought a small grin to Audrina's lips. ”You've gotta look at the positive Chuck. You know what's going to be said. Right? Have some fun with it.” Oh, if only she were so lucky to know in advance what was to come, it would make messing with her therapist that much easier.

When the question was flipped on her, she started to chuckle. Making him wait a little longer for an answer, she took of bite of her food, then a sip of her water. ”I'm about eighty percent sure my therapist is begging for someone else to take me on.” Taking a drink, she imagined the doctors all talking, and Dr. Hensley pleading for someone else to take her case. ”I say two or three more sessions and we'll have a real breakthrough.” She faked a serious look again, then smiled, ”Did I say breakthrough? I meant breakdown.”

Audrina suddenly remembered something she had nearly forgotten to share. ”I got an eye roll from a murse. I think I may actually be able to get at least one of them to smile. I'm determined. And if I do win them over, that could be very favorable for us.” Of course she would share her spoils with her new friend.

[HIGH on cough sweets]

xxxxxxxxxxxso now i cut these loveless wrists
xxx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■
xxmy head sure hurts today i'll take another twenty pills and try to make my troubles go away
_______________________________________________________________

xxxxOH WHAT A WASTE OF A PERFECTLY GOOD, CLEAN WRIST


Charlie cocked an eyebrow in questioning when she looked up at him with a shocked expression upon her face. Before she spoke he was somewhat confused about what the expression represented and then everything clicked into place. As her feigned emotions turned into laughter, Charlie gave a light shake of his head. “I guess they really have managed to brainwash me,” the male conceded. “It appears as though we have finally found the psychiatrist who can break through to me, convincing me to join their side.”

A moment later Audrina was testing the food, giving Charlie another chance to speak up on the matter. “Although, looking at how easily you relented, I would say they have managed to brainwash you as well. They may not have done quite a good job but I’m willing to say they did twist your mind to a degree.” As he spoke, Charlie sent the female a wan smile, reading her expression. It was obvious that she didn’t completely hate the food – she did not spit it out across the room, for one thing – but at the same time it wasn’t some top class restaurant. At least she was willing to give the food a try.

Her next words, however, were enough to cause Charlie to grin back. “Oh yes, I can already see the light. There is so many positive things to come from having been through all of this countless times before,” Charlie replied, allowing an exasperated sigh to escape his lips. No matter what kind of positive spin Audrina tried to put on the situation he doubted he would change his mind that much. She wasn’t the one who had been through it all before. Having fun with your therapist was exceptionally hard to do – not unless you were a five year old and they were offering you candy. Even Audrina would struggle to have fun if she was constantly going through the motions with different therapists.

Charlie was half expecting her to come to such a conclusion as she delayed answering her questions, yet once again she was putting a positive spin on things; no matter what she would try to have fun with everything, unwilling to fall into a spiral of despair. “I’m fairly sure they cannot trade us like Pokémon cards,” Charlie warned her, shaking his head once again. Although he could imagine such a thing occurring, with them holding out the folders to trade: swapping drug addicts for those with eating disorders, swapping gamblers for self-harmers. “Whatever the case – breakthrough or breakdown – you will have to keep me up to date with who has scored the most points.” If he couldn’t get entertainment from his own sessions he would at least enjoy the stories Audrina came back with.

Not that he had to wait very long to be given a story.

Almost as soon as he spoke such words a light seemed to click on inside of Audrina’s head, a memory returning to her. “Oh my,” Charlie said, exaggerating his shock. “I really don’t know what to say to that.” Giving a small laugh, Charlie scanned the nurses which were standing around the cafeteria. “If you get one of them to laugh I’m fairly sure they will have to lock you away in isolation – not before firing the nurse, that is. Had you seen their stolid faces? They do not teach those things at drama school, I can tell you that right now. These guys are in a class of their own. Of course, you are welcome to try. If you get anywhere I may have to start treating you like a God.”

[Luvly1]

xxxx◦ The deeper you stick it in your vein
xTHE DEEPER THE THOUGHTS,
xxxxxxxthere's no more pain » I'M IN HEAVEN,
xxxxxxxxxxxxx╳ :I'm a god, I'm everywhere,
I feel so hot,
xxxxxxxIt's not a habit, it's cool, » I feel alive

Audrina laughed and shook her head, ”No. They've done no brainwashing on me. It was you that twisted my mind as you say.” She took one more bite, then stopped to speak again, ”I wasn't going to touch the stuff until you coaxed me into it. Damn them for getting to you to get to me,” she shook her fist as if she were truly angry, then she smiled and lowered her hand.

It wasn't hard to hear the sarcasm behind his words. Perhaps she was just too positive of a person, or he was too negative, or maybe he'd just been through this enough to not see it the same way. Whatever the case, they really did have different views about this place, other than the fact it had to be an extension of hell.

She'd been quite proud of both her accomplishments today. Upsetting her therapist and getting a reaction from one of the nurses. So telling Charlie about it was only icing on the cake. It was his reaction that only seemed to fuel her fire a bit more at the prospect of breaking one or the other. ”Oh, don't you worry. It'll happen. If anyone can do it, it's me.” It was obvious she seemed very sure of herself.

There was however one thing she had forgotten to take into consideration. Withdrawals. It would only be a matter of time before she had to deal with them, and in a few days she'd be dealing with the worst of it. It was good she forgot about that for the time being, because every time she thought about it, it terrified her. What would happen when the memories came back? When there was nothing to keep her from feeling? When life was all she had to face?

”Any idea what we're supposed to be doing after this?” For the most part, it seemed they weren't informed of anything that was supposed to happen, ever. Was that supposed to be part of the program, make them deal with everything that was thrown at them, on top of suffering without their 'vices'? It seemed cruel. Though nothing about this place seemed very kind. Even the smiling therapists didn't seem very nice; it seemed like a major front.

[HIGH on cough sweets]

xxxxxxxxxxxso now i cut these loveless wrists
xxx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■
xxmy head sure hurts today i'll take another twenty pills and try to make my troubles go away
_______________________________________________________________

xxxxOH WHAT A WASTE OF A PERFECTLY GOOD, CLEAN WRIST


“They twisted your mind by proxy,” Charlie observed, giving the female a smile as she feigned anger. “I’m not sure how I feel about my role as the wolf in sheep’s clothing, though. It would have at least been nice if I’d been given a say in the matter, if they’d actually told me such would be my role in this lovely little drama they have us playing out.” Although Charlie was willing to guess it was nothing new: in all the pairs created inside of the building there would always be a weaker individual. It was simply Charlie’s role to play out. If they couldn’t break through to Audrina through the normal methods they would resort to using Charlie. Even with the notion of it happening to many people, of Charlie having not been the first individual to find himself in such a position, he did find himself more annoyed than he would have expected. It was as though they were dictating the lives of those inside of the building. They weren’t helping; they were just pushing people around.

If only Charlie could get his hands on a medical or psychological book of ethics, just to see if they had any standing to make a complaint.

The building was liable to come equipped with some kind of library – a place for the inmates to have some downtime, a place to think about the kind of life they had been living – yet Charlie could not imagine those kinds of books would be supplied. It was just like how prisons were not supposed to supply books that would lead to further problems. In this case, there would be no books referring to any kind of addiction along with no books about the medical world. The former, however, was liable to leave the library completely empty. With the wide range of addictions that the building seemed to accept he was willing to say that anything and everything would be deemed unhealthy reading.

Alas, that plan went completely out of the window.

“Oh, I have no worries at all. I have complete faith in you,” Charlie assured the female. Not that she needed reassuring. Audrina walked around with the air of self-confidence that Charlie would have loved to possess. Hell, he would accept even a smidgen of her confidence. “Just be sure to keep me posted on all the updates. Without the internet it means you’ll have to come running in the way you did today with the news rather than sending out a tweet to the world.”

Audrina’s next question, however, seemed to lessen Charlie’s good mood and a sigh slipped from his lips. “Honestly, I’m not at all sure. I was told that a group session was to come although I really couldn’t tell you when that is to happen. I was told ‘later’ but that definition is hardly helpful. Do they mean later today or later in the week?” Charlie gave a light shrug of his shoulders to emphasis his point, his eyes drifting off to search the room. “Perhaps they expect us to socialise with the other people. You know, integrate ourselves into the society. There are already a handful of people looking over at us.”

In fact, there happened to be a lot more than a mere handful looking over. The big question was who would make the first move towards enlarging the family.

[Luvly1]

xxxx◦ The deeper you stick it in your vein
xTHE DEEPER THE THOUGHTS,
xxxxxxxthere's no more pain » I'M IN HEAVEN,
xxxxxxxxxxxxx╳ :I'm a god, I'm everywhere,
I feel so hot,
xxxxxxxIt's not a habit, it's cool, » I feel alive

With a heavy sigh and a shake of her head, Audrina went just the tiniest bit serious, ”I don't think we're supposed to know our roles. They just push us around and whisper in our ears hoping that we'll recite the lines they give and play the parts they have in mind.” She'd stuck with talking about this whole thing like a play, because it seemed like it. Though, if she had anything to do with anything, she wouldn't be easily pushed into any roles. At least that's what she liked to tell herself. Her plan was to ruin their little show by changing it into something unexpected.

Speaking of her changing up their planned program. She was already in the midst of that by trying to breakdown her therapist. Laughing at his words, she nodded, ”That's the only way I see fit to share any news pertaining to me.” She liked attention, and in doing that she was willing to make an entrance that called many eyes. It was part of who she was, and she didn't see that changing. Of course she also couldn't remember the last time she was completely sober, so who knew how she'd behave then.

At the mention of a group session, she couldn't help but make a face. This could either end up being very dull, or incredibly entertaining. ”I hate when people use the term later without you knowing when they mean. I get it if you've already planned to see the other at a certain time and you tell them 'Okay, see you later,' but otherwise it just shouldn't be allowed.” She pushed what was left of her food away and sat back in her chair.

At the mention of people looking to them, she glanced around to see he was in fact right. ”Couldn't hurt to have a few more friends here on the inside. Especially ones who know how this place works.” The look on her face said that she liked the idea of having more intel on this place. Leaning closer to him, she quietly suggested, ”Let's go meet some people.” Really, she was curious to know if he'd come with her or if she'd be on her own.

Audrina only looked to him for a moment more before she pushed herself up and made her way over to another table with a few guys sitting at it. She jumped up to sit her bottom on the table with a large grin. ”Hey fellas! I saw we caught your attention so I thought I'd come say what's up. I'm Audi, drug addict, and that over there is my buddy Chuck. Sorry. I mean that's Charlie.” She called him Chuck, and he didn't seem to mind, but she didn't want to have everyone calling him that if it bugged him in the least bit. As always, she'd done a great job of breaking the ice. She shook their hands and found that she was now sitting with Nath a gambler, Dave an alcoholic, and Chris a sex addict. ”You know on the outside I would have had a hell of a time with you guys,” she partially joked.

[HIGH on cough sweets]

xxxxxxxxxxxso now i cut these loveless wrists
xxx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■
xxmy head sure hurts today i'll take another twenty pills and try to make my troubles go away
_______________________________________________________________

xxxxOH WHAT A WASTE OF A PERFECTLY GOOD, CLEAN WRIST


Charlie gave a slight frown as some of the amusement slipped away from Audrina. A small sigh came from his lips as he listened to her words, more than aware that she was speaking the truth on the matter. “Then go on to play the roles in the big wide world,” Charlie added, finishing what Audrina was saying. He was more than aware of how it worked. Therapy was exactly the same outside of the building. The only difference was that here they were locked up, being watched to make sure they played out the role. Only once the all-seeing eyes were happy would they be allowed a test run outside. Charlie had to question just how many people inside of the building were repeat visitors.

The amusement was back in her voice as she spoke about how she would share any news. With a smile, Charlie nodded his head. He could see it already, the way in which she would prance around to share any and all information pertaining to havoc she caused. It wouldn’t be long before she made a name for herself amongst the staff. Whether or not that would prove to be a good thing was yet to be known – on first glance you’d think it to be a bad thing however there were a number of small ways in which such a thing could become beneficial. They would just have to wait and see what Audrina cooked up and how it played out with the staff. It would be their entertainment, if nothing else.

The other side of Audrina, the less amused one, resurfaced when talk of group sessions occurred. Charlie was hardly looking forward to it himself. He was not the kind of person to sit sharing his secrets whilst everyone looked on and frowned, the therapist psychoanalysing him in front of everyone. He had never been in such a situation before and he had hoped to avoid it. He was not a group person – least of all when he was being made the centre of attention due to negative aspects of his life. “The later the better, in my opinion,” Charlie told her as she rattled on about the non-specific they were given. In fact, Charlie wouldn’t lose any sleep if it never happened.

It was Charlie’s turn to wear a distained expression when Audrina spoke of socialising with the other people. Before Charlie could formulate a reason why jumping headfirst into the snake pit was dangerous, Audrina was on her feet and heading to the nearest table. Letting out a small sigh, Charlie reluctantly stood and followed her over. By the time he was awkwardly standing near the table, Audrina had already found a perch and was introducing them. Charlie gave a weary smile as the trio looked in his direction.

Pretty soon, however, Audrina had them talking. Nathan was a gambler, David was an alcoholic and Christopher was a sex addict. At the mention of the last one, Charlie did a double take. They really did let anyone in here, naming anything and everything an addiction. Although, he did notice the way Christopher’s eyes lit up when Audrina spoke about having fun with them outside of their little slice of hell. Was he dangerous? Surely he wouldn’t be allowed with the rest of the group if he was. Such a thought, however, was due to Charlie’s anxieties kicking in.

“So, what are you here for Chuck or Charlie?” Nathan the gambler asked with a smile upon his face. “If you’re partnered with a drug addict we can cross that one off the cards.”

Charlie was quite for a few moments, avoiding eye-contact with the group as his eyes drifted around. “Self-harm,” Charlie finally admitted. His voice was low, barely audible. Was this the group therapy they’d been promised? Were they to share secrets in the cafeteria?

His answer, however, did not change the situation any. Evidently they were all accustomed to hearing such things and only asked as some kind of ritual. “So how are you enjoying the place?”

The one caused the rest of the males at the table to laugh – Charlie included. Suddenly he wasn’t quite so nervous, even willing to take a seat next to David.

[Luvly1]

xxxx◦ The deeper you stick it in your vein
xTHE DEEPER THE THOUGHTS,
xxxxxxxthere's no more pain » I'M IN HEAVEN,
xxxxxxxxxxxxx╳ :I'm a god, I'm everywhere,
I feel so hot,
xxxxxxxIt's not a habit, it's cool, » I feel alive

When Nathan asked Charlie what he was here for, Audrina was suddenly disappointed that she hadn't made the others guess what she was here for. That would have been fun to see if they could tell, or what they might think of her at a glance. Maybe she'd do that with the next group of people she met.

Her eyes went back to Charlie, seeing his uneasiness as he stated his reason for begin here. He almost seemed ashamed of his 'addiction'. Maybe he really did want to stop. Or maybe he just felt it wasn't anyone's business but his own. She could understand that too. Her mind stayed on the thought for a moment longer before she heard the question that was asked.

Laughing along with the others, she saw Charlie sit down. It was a mini win for her. She felt as thought she made another little crack in the walls he'd built around himself. Yeah, Charlie needed a friend like her to help pull him out of his shell. Little did she know how much she would be needing him later.

“So how long have you guys been here?” She was hoping to be able to get good information, like: which nurses to avoid, which doctors were totally useless, which 'patients' were and weren't any fun. Stuff like that. Of course there was tons of other things that would be useful to know too, but all that would come with time.

David was the one to speak up this time. ”I've been here the longest. Five months. Nath has been here for two, and Chris is going on a month.” Five months? The idea of being here for five months, hell even just a month was terrifying. Was she really going to be trapped here that long? Of course she knew it would depend on how long therapists thought she needed to be here. She hoped that maybe she could convince them she was better before she was stuck here too long.

For a brief moment, she'd been so lost in thought that she hadn't paid attention to the conversations going on. But they had seemed to move on, and she had to try and catch up to where they were. Thankfully, being her, it was easier to be done than for most.

Glanced over to Charlie, she looked to see how he was holding up being around more people. It would do the guy good to make some friends other than her. She was glad to be able to claim she broke through first, but she didn't want to be the last. Charlie was a nice guy, and deserved to feel more accepted.

[HIGH on cough sweets]

xxxxxxxxxxxso now i cut these loveless wrists
xxx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■
xxmy head sure hurts today i'll take another twenty pills and try to make my troubles go away
_______________________________________________________________

xxxxOH WHAT A WASTE OF A PERFECTLY GOOD, CLEAN WRIST


As soon as Charlie was seated Audrina continued the conversation, jumping right in with a question. Of all the questions that Charlie would have thought to ask the obvious – the question Audrina asked, of how long they had been there – had not occurred to him. Upon hearing David speak, Charlie was almost sorry that Audrina had asked. The fact that Christopher had been present for a month seemed like an extended visit to hell, let alone to two months that Nathan had been dealt and the five months of entrapment which David had been dealing with. If those numbers were anything to go off Charlie was in for an extended vacation.

“Yeah, but I’m going to be out of here before you,” Nathan told David. “You see, I was in therapy prior to being sent to this little piece of heaven therefore I will get out first.”

David gave a scoff, shaking his head. “Prior therapy isn’t going to help anyone. Before you arrived there was someone here who was making the same claim. Despite prior therapy they still spent almost a year in this place,” David told him.

Someone had spent almost an entire year in this place? The notion was enough to chill Charlie’s blood. He had been hoping that Nathan’s words would be a sign that he would get out of here quickly yet it clearly was not to be the case.

“Good behaviour doesn’t help much, either,” Christopher muttered.

“Only because you have been partnered with the least attractive person in here,” David replied, a grin upon his face. “If you’d been partnered with one of the prettier specimens they would have placed you in solitary.”

“There is a solitary confinement?” Charlie asked his voice barely above a whisper. What did a person need to do to end up in such a place, and what happened in such a place?

Once again the trio of males were laughing. When they’d finally managed to pull themselves together, Christopher offered Charlie a smile. “He wasn’t serious. This place is all about the group work,” Christopher explained. “They want you to work with other people, as a way to overcome your supposed issues. Not that I can see how certain things are deemed to be issues.”

“Not this again,” Nathan groaned. “We do not need to listen to your lengthy lecture upon how sex is nothing more than biology, have it is part of our DNA to reproduce.”

“But it is,” Christopher argued. “It’s written in the DNA of every animal. We want to survive. There is nothing more to it than that.”

Both David and Nathan gave an exasperated sigh, loud enough to cover the sound of Christopher’s voice. “Please, someone pick another topic of conversation before I murder this guy,” David called out, feigning melodrama.

With a tentative clearing of his throat, Charlie decided to speak up. “We were curious about group therapy,” Charlie told them. “Is there anything you can tell us about it?”

[Luvly1]

xxxx◦ The deeper you stick it in your vein
xTHE DEEPER THE THOUGHTS,
xxxxxxxthere's no more pain » I'M IN HEAVEN,
xxxxxxxxxxxxx╳ :I'm a god, I'm everywhere,
I feel so hot,
xxxxxxxIt's not a habit, it's cool, » I feel alive

The mention of someone being here nearly a year made all traces of a smile vanish from the blonde's face. It was one thing to have to put up with this for a few weeks, even a month or two, but an entire year?! That was pure madness.

Knowing that letting her fear show was not something she wanted to do, she quickly covered it up and listened to the conversation currently going on about Christopher's roommate. She even managed to muster up a chuckle. That seemed to be enough to help her get back to herself, and soon she had pushed the idea of being stuck here for a year deep down in the recesses of her mind.

Charlie's question over solitary, made her smile, though she could see where his concerns were. The second the other guys started laughing, she realized they'd only been joking.

Laughing at Christopher's attempted arugment, she shrugged, ”He's right. But,” she turned to look at Christopher, ”You have to admit you don't do it for reproduction purposes. Which would make your argument invalid.”

Another laugh as David begged for a new topic, and she mentally rifled through a few topics. Before she could bring any of them up Charlie was questioning group therapy. There was a slight glint of pride when he spoke up. It was another crack in his unsocial wall. Maybe she was doing him a little good. At least she liked to hope.

”Well that depends. What do you want to know about it?” Nathan said as he leaned against the table.

David didn't wait to hear what they wanted to know before he chimed in. ”They're small groups. Typically four to six people. And of course there's always a therapist around to say, 'good share', and 'what were you feeling at the time?' You know, the typical crap.” He paused only for a moment to let that sink in before continuing on. ”They try to do them about twice a week. Sometimes only once depending on how many people are here and if there are any problems.”

A questioning look came to Audrina's face. ”What do you mean 'problems'?” Not that she was really too worried.

“Sometimes people get out of hand thanks to withdrawals.” Nathan said, knowing he had been the cause of a problem once when he first got here. ”Most of the time it happens when people first get here. Some have thrown some pretty nasty fits.”

The mention of withdrawals sent a shiver down Audi's spine, but she managed to keep any traces of fear from showing on her face. Wanting to keep the conversation going, she asked, ”When's the next group session supposed to be? We were just told it would happen later, with no specification of whether that was later today or later this week.” Which still annoyed her.

[HIGH on cough sweets]

xxxxxxxxxxxso now i cut these loveless wrists
xxx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■ xx■ ■ ■
xxmy head sure hurts today i'll take another twenty pills and try to make my troubles go away
_______________________________________________________________

xxxxOH WHAT A WASTE OF A PERFECTLY GOOD, CLEAN WRIST


Charlie noticed the smile fade from Audrina’s face at the mention of being stuck inside of their new confinement for a year. Whilst she had a good poker face – a neutral expression quickly taking hold – Charlie did register the vanishing smile. At least he was not the only one terrified by the prospect. Audrina was unlikely to speak up about her fear, yet Charlie did not need to hear her speak aloud about how she felt. The wavering expression was plenty enough to confirm Charlie’s thought processes. Hopefully neither of them would have to deal with such an extended stay.

At least she was able to jump back into the conversation. Should they have to stay around for months – Charlie was not willing to think in terms of a year yet – then they at least had some likeminded people. Their current company seemed like the type to prevent insanity from taking hold. Hopefully there were more people like this little group. Perhaps being labelled addicts was a way of bringing people together? Charlie doubted the psychologists would like the groupthink, yet if there was ever a way of bringing a group of people together it was through giving them a negative label and forcing them to work through things together. You merely had to look at a history book to see the way groups reacted to being handed negative stereotypes. Charlie doubted they would rise up and create some kind of social movement against the label of addicts, but it seemed as though people were willing to watch each other’s backs.

Avoiding such thoughts for the moment, Charlie focused upon what David had to say pertaining to the group therapy. Small groups of four to six people didn’t seem that scary. The idea of sharing, however, was not at all fun. Charlie was fairly sure the colour drained from his face at the prospect. He wasn’t all that happy about speaking to his therapist, let alone speaking up in front of an entire group. It would not end well – of that he was sure. Furthermore, having two sessions a week – it was as though they wanted to push him over the edge!

When the subject shifted slightly to what kind of problems were to be face, Charlie half expected the answer to be something along the lines of people refusing to cooperate in the sessions. The answer they were given, however, was a lot more logical. Involuntarily, his eyes shifted towards Audrina at the mention of withdrawals. As impassive as her face was, Charlie knew she had to would be fearing them. You would need to be insane not to! It wasn’t as though going through withdrawals was a walk in the park. The female, however, kept the conversation moving before any more could be said on the matter. It was intention, it had to be.

Giving a small chuckle, Nathan shrugged his shoulders. “You know about as much as us,” the male answered. “We do not have a strict schedule. They rather enjoy shocking us with sudden therapy sessions.”

“My guess,” David interrupted, “is that there will be one within the next forty-eight hours. There hasn’t been any for a few days – four days, maybe five, I believe. Moreover, they always have a session after new people arrive. They like to greet you with an embarrassing session of sharing.”

“Lovely,” Charlie muttered, his shoulders slumping. “What you’re telling us is that therapy is literally just around the corner, and that we are to share our deepest darkest secrets with strangers.”