Underwater Read Online Free Page B

you love it.”
    He emphasized the word love while blinking his eyelashes swiftly. I shook my head at his antics.
    When people began to trickle in, I walked back to my usual seat in the corner. I sat down, took a breath, and closed my eyes.
    Let the meeting begin.

 
    I stood in front of a wooden door, holding the handle while contemplating the possibility of running away before someone came out and saw me. It was tempting, but Lettie would kill me. I also felt like I owed it to myself to explore the possibility of attending a support meeting. Who knew, maybe it would help?
    Yeah, right.
    I shook my head, and cracked the door open. The creaking sound it made caused every eye in the room stare at me.
    Great, I was late.
    My eyes fell on the man standing in front of the group. Bennie, I assumed. Lettie had described him to me almost perfectly. He was kind of short with a chubby body and face. His hair was brown and cut short and his nose was crooked, like he had broken it once upon a time.
    I waved my hand awkwardly and said, “Hey, sorry I’m late.” Lowering my hand, I wrapped my arms around myself, hating the spotlight.
    Bennie watched me with interest. “Aria, right?” Nodding, I stepped closer to the vacant chair near the entrance.   ”It’s nice having you here. I’m Bennie, the guiding spirit of this place.”
    Taking a seat, I couldn’t help raising my eyebrows at him. Guiding spirit? Was this guy for real? Where the hell did he think he was?
    I was going to kill Lettie.
    Looking over the rest of the group, I could see people of different ages. Most of them had friendly faces and smiled at me when I sat down. I tried to smile back, but I couldn’t find it in me to smile genuinely.
    “Well, let’s get back on track. As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted…” Bennie winked in my direction. “We are all here to learn how to deal with our reality and fill ourselves with positive thoughts and emotions, so when we get back home we’ll be able to bring it all back to our loved ones.”
    While he spoke to the group, I tuned him out and thought about my dad. When I left the house, he and Mom had been fighting. Ever since Dad had gotten the news about his cancer, he was so damn angry. He was impatient, irritated, full of fury, huffing and puffing all day long, and I just... I didn’t know what to do anymore. I spent so much time trying to build bridges and put out fires that I felt like I had no control over my own life. All my energy was spent at home. That was one of the reasons I’d decided to come here today. Maybe I could find answers at this crazy place.
    Watching everyone banter around with Bennie, I felt like I was on the outside looking in. Then, I felt someone’s eyes on me. From the corner of my eye, I saw movement in the far corner of the room. When I looked a little closer, I noticed a guy sitting in the dark, tapping his leg in slow, deliberate movements. His head was cast down, but his eyes... his eyes looked directly at me. My breath caught.
    Turning away from his glare, I looked back to the front of the room where Bennie was telling us about a person who defeated cancer.
    I tried to focus on what was being said, but the penetrating gaze from the guy in shadows made my heart pound wildly. When my eyes found their way back to him, I noticed the scowl on his face and immediately looked away. A part of me wanted to jump up and leave the room, go home, and forget about this whole thing. But I forced myself to stay.
    For Lettie.
    For me.
    My goodness, this was going to be a long meeting.

 
    W ho was the tiny girl?
    She looked as eager to be here as I did. I couldn’t help watching her.
    Why did I find her so appealing?
    From the moment she entered the room with a lost look on her pretty face and shy from all the attention, it was hard not to. She was so small. I was sure that if I stood next to her, her head would barely reach my shoulder. And oddly, no matter how tiny she looked, her