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Share Us
In hindsight, I’m not sure that was the best idea considering Jade’s scent still fills the small space.
Lowering the windows, I turn the ignition and start to drive. I have no destination in my mind, just the road. For a moment, I contemplate going to the clearing, but even that doesn’t have any appeal. What used to be my safe space turned into another memory connected to Jade, and going there would just hurt too much. So instead, I drive until the sun starts to set over the horizon, coloring the sky in oranges and pinks.
Checking the time on my console, I let out a shaky breath before turning around and going back to Blairwood.
I pull into the parking lot of the church with just enough time to get my ass to the basement before the meeting starts.
I never thought about these meetings in the past. It seemed like something abstract. Something that exists in another world, something that can’t happen to me. Until it did, and then I came here and looking at these people, all so different in their own way, I realized that there aren’t rules to addiction.
Anyone can become an addict.
It doesn’t choose you based on your gender or age or where you come from.
You’re the one who makes the choice. You can say yes, or you can say no.
For a while, my answer was yes.
Not any longer.
I scan the group as I go to my seat, nodding at the few familiar faces just as Richard, our group leader, steps into the circle and offers us a kind smile. I listen as he greets everyone, and a few new people stand up to introduce themselves.
Some people share their experiences, while some just say their name. Either way, it was fine. That was what I loved about these groups. There was no judgment whatsoever. We’ve all done things we aren’t proud of, but we’ve made the first step toward getting better.
“Is there anybody who’d like to share something today?”
I lift my hand, and Richard’s eyes meet mine. As it turns out, he was the same guy that was sitting outside when Nixon brought me here that very first time. Later on, when I asked him why he didn’t try to stop me from leaving, he told me that he couldn’t help me if I didn’t want to help myself, so he let me go hoping I’d come back.
He nods at me, so I stand up and clear my throat.
Saying these words never got easier, but still, I pushed myself to say them out loud.
A reminder of what I’ve done.
How much I’ve fallen and all the things I’ve lost because of it.
“My name is Prescott, and I’m an addict.”
CHAPTERFIFTY
JADE
“I’m so, so sorry, Jade. I should have never left you alone.”
I push upright, my back muscles stiff from lying in bed for so long. It’s been two days since my last chemo session, but I was finally starting to feel more human. “You didn’t leave me alone. I told you to go. You had a class to get to.”
Grace shakes her head. “I shouldn’t have listened. God knows I know better than to listen to you.”
“She has you there,” Rei chimes in from the spot next to me.
“Gee, thanks, you two.”
“I’m serious! Anything could have happened to you.”
“But it didn’t,” I insist, relaxing against the pillows behind me.
“Because Prescott was there,” Rei gives me a pointed look that has the color rising in my cheeks.
“Right,” Grace drawls slowly.
