Page 6 of Zero Chance

“Go ahead and stay,” a boy on the other side of the circle said.He wore a green shirt and was the only black kid in this group.“We won’t rat you out.”

Alec exhaled deeply.“Cool.Thanks.”

And before we could even be seated, an adult man joined us, calling himself Matt.As Alec and I rushed to take our seats, Matt informed us he was going to be our group leader, all the while exclaiming his surprise about us being all boys.

But wait.All boys?

Crap.I’d forgotten about the weird girl.

I turned to find her over in the other circle.She was sitting in the same spot where I’d left her, and she was staring right at me as if I’d abandoned her.

Jerking my head to the side, I silently commanded her to come over here with us.

She only frowned in confusion.

Behind me, in my circle, the green-shirt kid was saying, “Good because Parker here hasn’t spoken a word out loud since his parents died.”

Wait.I whirled back to gape at the boy in the turtleneck who was supposedly mute.

Dude.I would totally flip out if I lost the ability to talk.

Talking was my thing.

While Counselor Matt assured everyone it was okay not to talk, I turned back toward the other group.When I saw the girl was still looking at me, I waved her over, inviting her to join us.

But she only scowled back and shook her head, refusing to budge.

She was probably one of thoserulefollowers who always did what she was supposed to.Such a shame.

Behind me, the green-shirted guy had introduced himself as Thane Eisner and told us his mute friend was Parker Ohrley.And two seats over, some blond boy was claiming he was Foster Union and that he’d lost his brother.

I widened my eyes at the girl as if that would tempt her to change her mind.But she still didn’t move.

Next to me, Alec nudged my arm to get my attention and let me know it was my turn to share with the circle.

I whirled back to say, “Keene Dugger.My mom.”And then I checked on the girl again.

But her group had just begun, and everyone over there was being asked to stand.No longer paying attention to me, the girl rose to her feet and followed her own leader’s instructions.

I shrugged her off and turned back to focus on my people.

Alec and Hudson had already taken their turns, and the last boy was in the middle of telling us his name was Damien Archer.

So there we were.Thane, Parker, Foster, Keene, Alec, Hudson, and Damien.The seven.

From that point on, I became a part of their crew; I was one of them, and I never thought about the weird girl again.

Not for another eleven years, anyway.

1

WAVERLY

Loads of suicide, death, and depression ahead.

But also laughter, hope, love, and healing.

You’ve been warned.

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