This must be Catholic, Nate thought, passing the holy water on the way in. The church was dark on the first floor, with the mass hall completely black behind a set of glass doors. He followed the light and the sound of a girl’s giggling up the stairs to his right. The stairs led him to a very long hallway which resembled a school, more than a church. Once the group spotted him, everyone stopped talking.

He took a moment to study the group. It wasn’t very big, and complete with six other teenagers and one adult man. He noticed the girl, who must have been the one laughing, who wore a Gundam T-shirt and gray sweatpants. Her hair was long and artificially red, with one braid hanging on her left side. Her face was covered in freckles. She was very beautiful, apart from her nose which scrunched up slightly like a pig.

One of the boys looked very similar to Robert Nolan, with the same body figure of strong muscles, what clearly must be a six pack, and probably a football player at his school. No doubt he was popular. Another boy was wearing a school uniform, Asian, who looked younger than everyone else at about twelve or thirteen, with a bowl-cut and healing scratch on his cheek from something. The third boy was tall, a dark caramel color, and dressed in brown pants and a blue shirt. He wasn’t as muscular as the Robert Nolan lookalike, but he was tall with broad shoulders and clearly had a regular exercise routine.

The final girl looked a lot like Kelly. She was already giving him a stare that reminded him of the girl. She dressed similarly to her, too, with tight-fitting clothes and a shirt that showed off her navel piercing. She was thinner than Kelly, though, without as many curves, but wasn’t on the thin side either. He got the impression she was part of the popular group at her school.

Then there was the very last, sixth member, of the group. Simon Shaw, who was leaned back against the wall, making him shorter than even the Asian kid, and turned away from Nate as if he didn’t actually know him.

The man stepped forward, widening his arms out with a forming smile brimming on his face. “Welcome! Are you here for the group?”

Nate flinched, turning away from Simon to face the man. “Yeah? This is Alateen, right?”

Simon looked up at him, looking a bit confused.

The man snapped his fingers. "That's right. I'm Stan, I'll be supervising the meeting today."

Nate nodded, sort of bowing to the man. So, everyone here was in the same or similar situation as him. They all had a connection to alcoholics.

He shrugged. "My uncle told me to give it a shot so… here I am."

"We're happy to have you." The man smiled far too much, but Nate could tell it was genuine. That, or he was a very good liar. "We're just about to start if you want to head inside." He pointed to the door.

All of them filed in, Nate at the tail. He chose to sit as far from Simon as he could, which had him at the very end of the table right beside the sponsor.

Stan set a book on the table and placed his hands on either side as he leaned against it. "So, since you're a newcomer, let me sort of explain what we do here. You're aware of our purpose, correct?" Stan asked.

Nate shrugged. "I guess it's a support group for kids with alcoholic parents?"

Stan pulled out the chair and took a seat. "That's a bit right. We're here to give support to each other as we deal with having an alcoholic in our lives. Alcoholism is a family disease. It affects every member, not just the alcoholic."

He laughed a bit. "Yeah."

"So, we can go around the table and say a little bit about ourselves before getting started. I'll go first. I'm Stan - try not to use last names, this is an anonymous group - and my daughter has struggled with both alcoholism and drugs. Now," he looked down at the book to play with its cover. "I am the sponsor of this meeting, not necessarily a member, so I'll be making sure that everyone is keeping with the twelve traditions we follow in Al-Anon, which coincide with AA." He looked at Nate. "Did you want to go first, or last?"

"I'll go last."

"Alright, then we'll go this way around the table." He gestured to the Gundam girl beside him.

"My name is Penelope."

"Hi, Penelope." The group spoke in unison.

"I started coming to Alateen when my dad started going to AA. It was a great to heal together, but my dad has always struggled with it. Being here helps me understand that I'm not alone and there are other people who go through these things, too." She smiled. "That's all."

"Thank you, Penelope."

Beside her was the Asian kid dressed in his school uniform. He seemed a bit shy and spoke softly. "I-I'm Jun-seo… but you can just call me Jun if it's easier. Um… my aunt is an alcoholic. And my dad." He paused. "I'm done."

Next in line was the boy that reminded him of Robert Nolan. "I'm Oliver." His voice was so deep. Nothing like Robert. "My older stepbrother and my mom are alcoholics. Since I'm the youngest I never really got to know my mom before the disease. In some ways, I feel like I've missed out, but right now I want to just focus on all of us getting better together. And, if someday I could see how she was like before all this, that'd be nice. Done."

Nate found himself smiling. Which faded when he realized who was next.

"I'm Simon." He leaned over the table, looking down. "I learned about the group when I went to an awareness school meeting when I was a freshman. My mom is an alcoholic and I don't have very many people to rely on, so the group is a nice place to go to get myself together. I'm done."

The well-dressed boy was next. "I'm Logan." His voice was fairly deep but calming. "A family friend of mine had an alcoholic father growing up, and starting drinking. We're really very close. Both our mothers. It's stressful to see her like this." He paused, twirling his thumbs. "Alright, that's all."

The final one, the girl that reminded him too much of Kelly, sat up straight. He could already tell she had a bitchy attitude. "My name is Adaline, but I go by Addy. My dad is an alcoholic. Now my parents are divorced so my dad really only ever comes to see me when he isn't drunk or sleeping under bridges. It's like he doesn't even have a rock bottom." She sighed. "Done. Thanks."

Finally, it came to Nate. He took a breath and sat up straight. "Uh… I'm Nate."

"Hello, Nate." The group spoke.

He adjusted himself again. "Um… I'm here 'cause my uncle thinks it'd be good for me. Recently I moved to a tiny island with only about five hundred people while my mom goes through rehab. But we all know she won't get sober. She never does." He sighed. "I, uh, got drunk a few days ago and drove my uncle's car into a lake." He waited for someone to say something, but everyone kept respectfully silent.

He went on, "My mom's been kinda depressed since my dad died, so she just spends her time drinking. I mostly just ignore it, but it's hard when you come home and the place smells like vodka." He stopped. No one said anything. "Um… I don't really have anything to add to that?"

Stan nodded. "When we share, only the speaker is allowed to talk. Just let us know when you finish."

"Okay. Well, I'm done talking."

"Then we'll continue with the meeting. So, our group isn't that big, but all of us are in attendance. We meet once a week around five, but you aren't required to come to every meeting. Come as you need." He pushed his piece of paper forward.

"So," he continued. "We work with the same principles as AA since alcoholism is a family disease. These are the twelve traditions," he moved the paper in front of Nate.

He glanced it over. "Okay. So how do I stop her from drinking?"

"You can't," Penelope replied. "Your alcoholic just needs to hit rock bottom."

"What's that?"

"The point they finally realize their life needs to change," Logan said.

Nate just huffed. "Aren't you supposed to tell me how to fix my problem?"

"We're here to heal," Stan explained. "We are learning to detach ourselves and to forgive."

"Forgive?" Nate scoffed. "You want me to forgive her?"

The group was silent for a moment. "Look, Nate," Stan sighed. "It's difficult, that's why we're here, but living your life resenting her for something beyond her control will only continue to hurt you."

"Beyond her control? Are you serious?"

"Nate," Stan sighed. "If someone were sick and canceled their plans to hang out with you, wouldn't you blame the sickness? And not the person themselves?"

"That's different."

"Alcoholism is a sickness. They don't want to be alcoholics anymore than you want them to be. But their path to getting better is different from yours. They need to get away from the drink, that's their own responsibility. Yours is to understand and forgive that person as they take that journey. This isn't a step by step guide on how to make your mom sober. This is for you." He paused. "Detach the person from the disease. We're here to understand that it's the disease, not the persons, fault."

"So you're saying she isn't responsible for anything she does?"

"She's responsible for healing herself and understanding her disease and controlling it. Just like if you or I had a disease that affected us on a daily basis. We would need to learn to manage it."

Nate huffed. As if.

"It's fine." Stan sighed. "You'll understand it eventually." He then opened the book in front of him. "Alright. Let's continue the meeting."

Nate didn't exactly understand the stupid group. If anything, the explanation just pissed him off more. He was just glad that it finally ended.

"It was nice meeting you," Stan smiled, holding his hand out for a shake. "Will you be joining us again?"

He had to. "Sure." He shook the man's hand, even though he hated him, and stepped out.

The rest of the group was waiting downstairs for their arranged pickups. Nate's eyes settled on Simon, who was actually talking to the other members. He, Logan, and Oliver were talking. It was the first time Nate had ever seen him acting socially. And with those types of people.

The boys stopped talking as Nate approached. Oliver smiled. "It was nice meeting you, Nate." He said.

"Yeah. You too." He looked down at Simon. "Can we talk?"

The other two made a face. "Do you two know each other?"

Simon held his hand out, moving away from the others and taking Nate's hand. They wandered over to the stairs.

"I didn't know your mom was an alcoholic," Simon said.

Nate nodded. "I didn't know yours was, either."

"Well… what do you want?"

"Uh, well, I don't want you here."

Simon looked at him like he was insane. "Uh, well I'm not leaving."

"Listen, I kind of have to attend these stupid things. You don't, right?"

"What makes you say that? Also, I was here first."

"I don't want my classmate knowing this stuff about me."

Simon laughed. "Like anyone would take what I say seriously, anyway."

Nate groaned. "Fine. Then I'll just tell Carter I'm not going to these stupid things 'cause of you."

Simon grabbed his arm. "Don't."

"Why?"

"Because he might tell my mom. My mom doesn't know I go to these things. She thinks I'm in an after school art club. Please. I want to come here. You obviously don't, so just leave."

Nate glared at him. "I really don't want to work in the damn diner."

"Is there a problem here?" Stan stood at the top of the stairs, his book and papers in hand. "I really can't have you causes problems."

Nate stared at him for a long time. Debating. "It's fine." He finally said. "I just… was getting to know him."

"Alright." Stan stepped down the stairs, holding out the papers. "Here. It's our twelve traditions and a copy of how it works." He tapped his shoulder, heading out. "Hope to see you next time."

Nate sighed. "Damnit." He groaned quietly. He turned to Simon. "Fine. Whatever. But don't tell anyone anything."

"It's not allowed anyway," Simon said. "We're anonymous."

"Fine. And I won't tell anyone about your mom." He held his hand out. "Not even Carter. Deal?"

Simon stared down at his hand.

"Deal."