These group therapy sessions hadn’t been required as part of the agreement with the court, but apparently Amanda had suggested the idea to my aunt and uncle, saying it would be good for me to be around girls my age.
I had arrived only a few minutes before the therapy session was to begin. I had panicked when I had gone out to the car with Aunt Lydia, and it had taken a while for her to help me calm down.
The other girls had already divided into a couple of groups when I arrived and were casually chatting amongst themselves, their voices echoing across the mostly empty room. I later learned that all but one of them had been to this therapy group before. None of them paid me any attention when I grabbed one of the two remaining seats.