Excerpt from Sharing Strength

                  Dr. Kurtsman stood up and grabbed Kyle’s shoulders. He held tight as Kyle tried to shrug him off  but he did manage to get the pacing to stop. Jasmine stood and faced the man calling her out. He was nearly five inches taller than she was but that didn’t stop her from doing her best to look him directly in the eye. “I have nothing to say Kyle. Sit down.”

                  Dr. Kurtsman let Kyle go and took his seat again. Kyle and Jasmine stood staring each other down. Craig looked at Brian out of the corner of his eye and was startled to see the shock written on his face. He figured Brian would know his friend and be able to predict his behavior but He seemed just as lost as the other two men. The strange standoff went on for a full two minutes before Jasmine eventually backed down. She turned to find her seat but Kyle grabbed her from behind holding her tightly against his chest.

                  She screamed and fought but he held her with a strength she never imagined he possessed. Dr. Kurtsman jumped up but when Kyle shot him a glance it made him stop in his tracks. “Tell us what happened Jas! If we really are the family Rachel said we were then we deserve to know!”

                  “I have actually wondered what your deal is.” Brian stated. “Why don’t you stop being such a baby and tell us what’s up? Or maybe nothing is really wrong with you at all and you just want attention.”

                  Jasmine finally slipped form Kyle’s grasp and she turned  to face the rest of the group. “Fine. You want to know my story? You want to know what happened to bring me here? Here you go!”

                  With tears streaming down her cheeks she unzipped the heavy hooded sweatshirt she always wore and let it drop off her skinny shoulders. No one would have ever guessed just how thin she really was beneath the oversized hoodie. It fell to the ground behind her revealing the ragged tank top she had on underneath. No one was looking at her choice of clothing however. Her arms, hands and chest were covered in long red scars. The men couldn’t help but turn away. It broke their hearts.

                  Brian jumped up facing her. “So you cut yourself?”

                  “What?” She snarled, rage overpowering her shock at the accusation.

                  “You say you had a bad relationship. I am guessing he ignored you and you cut yourself for attention. He didn’t like it, I mean how could he? So he broke up with you and now you are here crying to us. Well there are people here with real problems not just being a baby like you.”

                  Jasmine couldn’t respond she was so taken aback. She was shaking as her anger built more and more threatening to explode. She looked at each of the men settling finally on Kyle. He was still standing his ground in the middle of the circle but he was looking at the ground. “Don’t you dare look away from me! You wanted to know my story, well here it is. Written all over me!”