Andy didn't want to go to school on Monday. When his alarm went off he turned it off and rolled over. He went back to sleep. Amy came to check on him when he didn't come downstairs and found him still asleep. She sighed, but left him alone. He needed sleep.
  Amy and Chris hadn't had a civil conversation since their fight. Amy was still upset. She understood why he'd done it, but that didn't make it okay. Andy hadn't left his room since Friday. Chris was worried. Everything was falling apart and he felt responsible in part. The problem he'd been trying solve was only getting worse.

———

On Tuesday Andy went to school. He drug himself from class to class barely staying awake. He didn't talk to anyone and ended up with detention when he straight up refused to answer the teacher. So after school he found himself back in the history classroom. Mrs. Benintendi sat at her desk grading papers. Andy studied his notes for his upcoming science test. He wondered if his mom was picking him up and if so if she was already outside. The clock on the wall ticked and Andy stopped thinking about his notes, focusing solely on the clock. The monotony of it made him zone out. His eyes slipped shut and he was almost asleep when Mrs. Benintendi spoke.
"You can go now." He nodded and stood, slinging his backpack over his shoulders. When he stepped outside what he saw made him stop. Sebastian, Remington and Emerson. His mom wasn't there. He walked over to the car and knocked on the window. Sebastian put the window down.
"Hey, we're your ride today. As long as you don't need to go home for anything we'll go straight to the rec center." Andy nodded and slid into the backseat with Emerson, who had earbuds in and was drawing. "Do you need to go home?" Andy shook his head. He'd completely forgotten it was group day. He nudged Emerson with his elbow and started signing to him when he had his attention.
Why are you picking me up? Emerson put his pencil between his teeth so he could answer.
Your mom isn't feeling well and asked Sebastian to take you to group and bring you home afterward. Andy nodded. Remington was humming loudly. Other than that the ride was silent.
"Hey! Almost thought you weren't coming!" CC said, coming over when Andy walked in. Andy shrugged and followed Emerson toward the middle of the room. The two of them sat down and began to draw. Andy's hands were shaking too much for him to draw. He dropped his pencil and pulled his hands into his sleeves. He yawned and didn't realize he'd closed his eyes until he started tipping sideways. He jolted up and Emerson laughed softly.
Tired?
Haven't slept in days. Got in a fight. Everything hurt. And Mom and Dad had a fight. Emerson nodded.
Sorry. Andy shrugged and yawned again, covering his face with his hands.
"Stop! Stop it!" Chloe yelled suddenly. She was swinging her arms around. Awsten backed away from her, tripped on his own foot and fell on top of Andy who frantically pushed him off. Chloe was still yelling and Geoff was trying to calm her down. She pushed Geoff who stumbled back and fell on Emerson who pushed him off and made him hit Andy who was getting overwhelmed by everything and started to cry. Andy crying made Emerson cry which sent Remington running for Sebastian. Chloe was still yelling. Sebastian was trying to calm Emerson down, Remington accidentally kicked Andy, Alex took his eyes off Lisa for half a minute and she lost her balance and fell onto Mike who stumbled back from the unexpected weight and Lisa hit the floor. Alex panicked and rushed to help her. Jack's eyes closed against his will and he walked into Gracie who got pissed because she was trying to help Awsten. Everyone was talking over the top of everyone else. Someone stepped on Andy's legs. He had his hands over his ears and his eyes closed. Poor Vic had everyone trying to tell him what happened at the same time and he could only hear half of it. Emerson and Andy were both still crying. Remington was on the verge of crying because Emerson was crying and everyone was yelling.
"Everyone be quiet!" Vic said. Everyone complied and then the only thing that could be heard was Emerson and Andy crying.
"What happened?"
"I'm sorry." Geoff said, "Chloe panicked. She's okay now." Chloe was standing beside Geoff with her eyes to the side, muttering under her breath.
"I fell on Andy. I was trying not to get hit. Sorry, Andy." Awsten said. Andy didn't acknowledge him.
"I fell on Emerson when Chloe pushed me." Geoff added.
"My eyes closed by themselves and I walked into Gracie accidentally." Jack said with a sheepish smile. "Sorry." Gracie was still scowling.
"Andy, are you okay?" Andy didn't answer. He had his hands pressed against his ears. Now that Emerson wasn't crying any more Sebastian turned his attention to Andy. He wanted to comfort Andy the way he comforted Emerson, but he couldn't. So he did his best to work around Andy's dislike of physical contact.
"Andy? Can you take your hands off your ears?" He asked softly. Andy slowly lowered his hands and opened his eyes. "Are you okay?" He shrugged.
"I'm sorry I kicked you." Remington said. Andy shrugged again and pulled his hands back into his sleeves. Emerson sniffed and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
You don't look okay. Emerson signed. The truth was Andy wasn't okay. And he hadn't been since he'd found out Amy had cancer.
I'm not. And I don't know why. Everything's blah. And overwhelming. Why? Andy was still crying and his signing was sloppy. Emerson didn't know how to answer that question.
I don't know. I'm sorry.
I want to feel something again. I'm not happy. I'm not sad. I'm just here. Andy was starting to misspell things. What he was talking about sounded like depression. Everyone else watched their interaction with wide, concerned eyes. I want it to stop. I want it to go away. This conversation had not gone the way Emerson expected it to. He was at a loss for words.
"Emerson, what's he saying?" Sebastian asked softly. Using words instead of fingerspelling Emerson did his best to tell Sebastian what Andy had told him. Sebastian moved his gaze from Emerson to Andy to Vic. Vic seemed to understand.
"I think we should all go home. It's almost five anyway. We'll try again Thursday?" An array of answers were given and everyone started gathering their things.
"Remington get your coat and Emerson's." Sebastian said. Remington nodded and walked off to find his coat. Sebastian stood up and offered Emerson his hand. After helping Emerson he offered his hand to Andy. Andy ignored him and stood up by himself.
Thank you. He signed to Emerson. Emerson gave him half a smile and a nod.

———

When they reached Andy's house Sebastian got out and followed Andy to the door. Inside Andy headed up the stairs, but stopped when he heard Sebastian talking to Amy. Sebastian was talking about how he was worried about Andy. Andy decided to stop eavesdropping and went up to his room, where he curled up on his bed with Harley and his little blue dog and listened to music. He felt numb. It was a feeling he'd never experienced until recently. He didn't like it. And he didn't know how to make it go away.

———

"I don't know what to do for him anymore." Amy admitted to Sebastian. "He's refusing to talk at all these days and I don't know enough sign language to actually have a conversation with him." Sebastian nodded in understanding.
"You should talk to Mom. She might be able to give you some advice." Any sighed and nodded.
"I just wish he would talk to me. I want to help him. I just don't know how."
"I'm sorry for dumping this on you right now. I know you have a lot on your plate as it is."
"No! No, it's okay. Thank you for telling me." She smiled, but Sebastian could see right through it.
"I should go. Remington and Emerson are in the car."
"Sure. Thank you for giving him a ride."
"No problem. Let me know if you ever need me to do it again. I don't mind." He smiled.
"Thank you. I'll do that." And then he left. Amy sat down at the table and put her head in her hands. How could she have not realized Andy's as struggling so much?
When Chris got home he found Amy crying in the kitchen as she tried to make dinner for them. She told him what Sebastian had told her. When he went to check on Andy he was asleep so they let him be. Things seemed to be falling apart faster the more Chris tried to fix them and he was at a loss for what to do.

QUESTION: So it occurred to me that none of you know much about Andy's "group" and I wondered if you had any thoughts about them.

Sorry it took me so long! We're leaving for a trip next week so everything's crazy with getting ready for it and stuff. Anyway. Comment, vote.

Avery L.