In the dimly lit confines of his prison cell, Charlie, a lean man with piercing eyes and a brooding demeanor, sat slouched on his bunk. The weight of his loneliness weighed him down – a heavy anchor in turbulent seas. Feeling as if the system had railroaded him, his heart was full of resentment. And with nobody on his side, it seemed impossible to do anything about it.

One day, as he shuffled through the chow hall line, Charlie overheard a conversation behind him. Two elderly men stood there, one tall and stooped with age, his face weathered like the desert floor, the other shorter and wiry like Charlie himself.

"You hear about that class they're offering?" the tall man asked, his voice gravelly with years of hard living.

"Yeah," replied the wiry man, his voice carrying a hint of excitement. "Dale Carnegie. 'How to make friends and influence people’.’"

Charlie's ears perked up at the mention of influence. He leaned in closer, pretending to scratch his ankle.

The wiry man scoffed. "Influence people, huh?"he retorted, shaking his head disapprovingly. "Sounds like a fat load of hogwash to me."

The tall man chuckled. "Maybe so, but wouldn't hurt to give it a try. Lord knows we could all use a friend or two in this joint. “

Charlie's mind raced. Influence people? He could do that. He was charismatic, after all.

With determination in his bones and a plan in motion, Charlie immediately signed up for the class, – absorbing each lesson like a sponge. after just a little over a week, Charlie decided to put his charming newfound abilities to the test. To his astonishment, it was working. Better then he had anticipated, in fact. it was as if he were a human magnet, attracting fellow inmates with a gravitational pull.

At the end of the six-week course, Charlie stood before the instructor, a kindly man with a warm smile and a twinkle in his eye.

"Congratulations, Mr. Manson," the instructor beamed gleefully, handing him a certificate of completion. "You've exceeded expectations and passed with flying colors!"

Charlie's grin was triumphant as he clutched the certificate in his hands. His plan was in motion. All he had to do now was bide his time, finish his prison term, and head to the ranch to assemble his Mary band of murderers —um— I mean followers.

It came without a manual And was far from casual Difficulty increased as we went Making it a necessity to vent Spotted only on weekends, barely Better days were seen very rarely Never a dull day promised If your effort is honest Feet first, heart second, Head last, I recommend Connections guaranteed That basic human need A bond that’s more than ordinary Signing up for life is necessary

Alex had hear plenty about the Circle during her time chasing it down. It was housing more empowered than she had ever seen together in her life.

She needed to find new allies and she couldn’t trust anyone from the agency or the academies so she needed to find people here. She wasn’t looking forward to the process however, so far the circle had only shown her brutality and force and she wasn’t sure she wanted people like that.

Not that she really had a choice.

Approaching a table 3 burly men sat around it clearly not enjoying the conversation they were having. One looked her way and sat forward grunting as he did.

“Whatcha want.”

“I want to fight.” Alex said, “as soon as possible.”

“No spots. How’d someone like you even get here?” The same man said, standing up towering over Alex who didn’t flinch.

“Same as everyone. I know things.” Alex replied, doing her best to not crack under his stare.

“Well then I’m sure you’d be happy to-“

Alex leapt forward slamming a fist into the man’s head. She had heard about inductions in the circle and by this point was tired of conversation about it. Now was the time for action.

The man stepped back as Alex emptied her pockets and a dozen rocks fell out. She looked them around her knee and leapt forward slamming the knee into the man’s stomach.

He dropped to his knees groaning while the other two men laughed.

“Any more stupid questions or are we going to open the door?” Alex spat grabbing the groaning man’s face.

Rumbling beneath her feet she looked over as the walls began to slide apart revealing a small metal room.

“In there. Be careful others won’t find what you did here nearly as funny as we did.” One of the men said still chuckling as he helped up his friend.

Becca, a young woman in her late twenties, found herself longing for deeper connections and meaningful friendships. She had always been a bit of an introvert, preferring quiet evenings at home over loud parties and crowded social events. It wasn’t that Becca disliked people; she just struggled to find her place in a world that seemed so fast-paced and superficial.

One day, while scrolling through social media, Becca stumbled upon an advertisement for a quilting class. It promised not only to teach the art of quilting but also to provide a warm and welcoming environment where participants could connect and form lasting friendships. Intrigued by the idea of combining a creative outlet with the potential for new connections, Becca signed up without hesitation.

As the first day of the quilting class arrived, Becca felt a mix of excitement and nervousness. She gathered her materials, a bundle of colorful fabric and a brand-new sewing kit, and made her way to the cozy little shop where the class was held.

Upon entering, Becca was greeted by the friendly instructor, Ms. Jenkins, who had a warm smile and a genuine interest in getting to know each participant. The class was small, consisting of only six people, including Becca. There was a mix of ages and backgrounds, but they all shared a common desire to learn and create something beautiful.

Over the next few weeks, Becca discovered the joy of quilting. She learned different techniques, experimented with various patterns, and marveled at the transformation of fabric into intricate designs. But what truly surprised her was the bond that formed among the participants.

During the class, conversations flowed easily. They shared stories, offered advice, and laughed together. Becca found herself opening up, sharing her thoughts and experiences without fear of judgment. The quilting class became a safe haven where friendships blossomed, fueled by a shared passion for creativity and a genuine interest in one another.

Outside of class, Becca and her newfound friends organized quilting sessions at each other’s homes. They exchanged fabric scraps, shared patterns, and even started a group chat to stay connected. It was as if the quilting class had woven their lives together, creating a beautiful tapestry of friendship.

As time went on, Becca’s confidence grew. She no longer felt like the shy introvert she once was. The quilting class had given her a sense of belonging, a place where she could be herself and be accepted without reservation.

One day, Ms. Jenkins announced that the class would be participating in a local quilting exhibition. The news brought a mix of excitement and nervousness, but Becca knew she had the support of her friends. Together, they poured their hearts into creating a magnificent quilt that represented their journey as individuals and as a group.

At the exhibition, Becca marveled at the sight of their quilt on display. It was a testament to their friendship, their creativity, and the transformative power of shared experiences. As she stood there, surrounded by her friends and their beautiful quilts, Becca realized that she had found more than just a hobby. She had found a community of kind-hearted souls who had become her chosen family.

From that day forward, Becca continued her quilting journey, cherishing the friendships she had made along the way. The quilting class had not only taught her a new skill but had also helped her discover the joy of connection, reminding her that sometimes, the most meaningful friendships are found in the most unexpected places.

I thought it was really cool This huge deal I’d made it into the program, Be taking physics before high school Get myself an upper hand I could picture myself coming to school the next year, Armed with information like it was a weapon No one would doubt me again Even if that last part’s in my head

And then five months passed I guess I never thought they were going to And I wondered suddenly if the kids here were smarter, better If I could do this

I told my parents my concerns, But they wanted me to try I guess that makes sense after the dedication and the time So I went that very first day I made three friends An eclectic crowd that I didn’t see as rivals Not yet

I think I might’ve enjoyed it too, But very quickly the fuzzy feeling felt like an open wound And I was waiting for the day to end To escape again

I was drowning through dry words Upset things didn’t make perfect sense And the emptiness that eluded once consumed me again

She chose the wrong moment to ask if I was okay She should’ve figured out something’s wrong sooner Even if it’s just been a couple days

I convinced myself I needed to stay, If I was going to get anywhere in my life But I wasn’t strong enough, Placed in an environment I couldn’t survive

And I know I’ll regret this I’ll always wonder what could’ve been If I held out a little longer Hadn’t given in…

But right now that doesn’t matter Because I can’t wake up tomorrow and act like I’m okay. Being honest here? It’s been months since I’ve truly felt that way

“Choo, Choo! Welcome to Love Express. How may I hel—” Hannah said with a 1000-watt smile.

“Stop talking. I want a refund and I don’t want an argument.”

Hannah’s eyes grew wide. Love Express was an app that set up group meetups for local singles. Hannah was an Engagement Associate for their events. She coordinated with the venue staff, checked reservations, and handed out name tags. Her stomach did flip-flops looking at the irate woman before her.

“I’m so sorry your experience has not met your expectations. Let me call up your account.”

Flustered, Hannah glanced at the woman’s name tag and began trying to type the last name into the first field. Spinning pinwheel of death popped up on her company laptop screen. She groaned.

“Ma’am my computer is running a little slow. If you could give me a few minutes here. Could you tell me what happened tonight? I want to help.”

“Is this some kind of scam? I’ve heard about this on American Greed where companies steal your identity and empty your bank accounts and take your house. My nephew’s wife is a police officer and if I don’t get an immediate refund there will be hell to pay!”

Hannah looked around the tavern nervously. A few patrons were looking over at them. The angry woman was pacing back ind forth in front of the Hannah’s registration table. Hannah remembered her now from when she had checked in. The woman’s glitzy top and scrappy heels read more nightclub that Trivia Pursuits but Hannah figured older people were weird.

Love Express had weekly themes and tonight’s event was 90s trivia night. The company had booked a small banquet room with a DJ/host to play music and video clips. Love Express passengers where assigned teams and the venue provide snacks and drinks. It was supposedly a low risk way to make new friends and spark romance. For Hannah it was a summer gig during college that paid more that Home Depot.

“Ma’am please. I can assure you. We are not a scam. I’m looking up you account right now.”

“I have sat in that room for two hours and not one person has talked to me or so much as bought me a drink. I am not paying good hard earned money to watch a bunch of uglies play stupid games. Where is my money!”

“Ma’am I’m in the system now and I have cancelled the fee for this event. That fee will be returned to the credit card on file. To cancel your subscription you have to go online and—“

Impatiently, the woman tapped her long painted nails.

“Cut the bullshit, and refund my fee and my full subscription now. I will not be taken advantage of you hear me, bitch."

The woman punctuated each word with an angry jab of a painted nail. Hannah elaborately looked behind her and then cocked her head to one side. The two women exchanged hard stares.

“Well,” the customer asked. “I’m waiting.”

“Well you can wait until hell freezes over and that outfit comes back into style but I know you did not curse at me and then expect me to help you with anything.”

Full of attitude, Hannah swished her fingers in the air dismissively. She slowed her breathing and logged out of her laptop.

“What? It’s your job to help me. Haven’t you heard the customer is always right?”

“Lady, I was born in 2005 I haven’t heard of anything. But if you think you can spew your attitude on to me because you’re unhappy or lonely and your night didn’t turn out like you planned, pump your brake ‘cause we are done here.”

Hannah closed her laptop and crossed her arms. A group of guys by the tavern’s pool table gave Hannah a round of applause. The customer spluttered and then her shoulders sagged.

“Lady there’s a full refund policy just log in tomorrow and cancel if this isn’t for you or bring a friend and try another event. Everything will be okay in the end and if it’s not okay yet it is not the end.”

A look of recognition dawned on the customer’s face and walked out the bar with measured steps.

Sandra lives alone in the back woods of Indiana. She spends her days writing emails back and forth from her work from home job as a customer support supervisor for her local library.

When she was younger Sandra spent so much time in the library, exploring strange worlds and vast continents from the comfort of the small cottage she and her mother lived in.

As the years went by, Sandra outgrew that small cottage; but she never did explore the open ocean or traverse bleak deserts in the name of adventure. No, she found the only excitement that would enter her life recently would be when she would have to chase away local wildlife after they dug through her trash.

“It’s a simple life. I need no more, no less” she would mutter, over her cooling tea on crisp winter mornings. As she looked out through the window in her kitchen, fresh snow had fallen in the woods just beyond her backyard. She heaved a long sigh. No more, no less.

She set her tea aside and made for the living room. The cream walls adorned in crochet and other homely crafts were once charming and cute. Now they represented a life that had seemingly come to a stand still.

She floats over to her laptop, it lays closed on a small desk tray, a droopy crochet piece hanging from the edges. She edges it closer to her as she lounges back into her soft leather recliner. She turns on the tv for some background noise to fight against the muffled silence of the snowy woods outside. Sandra turns the volume down to a whisper, she couldn’t care less about the discussions happening on Antiques Roadshow while she tries to get her work done. Another heavy sigh “Christ, who have I become?”, she was only 26.

As she opens her laptop she notices one particular email at the top of her inbox.

!! COMMUNITY SIGN ON - THRILL SEEKERS WANTED !!

It was probably spam that slipped through her filter. But hey, at least it was more exciting than antiques roadshow. She opened up the email to find that there was a group that met on the last Saturday of every month at the local library. Her library. And they would organise little group outings to go on “exciting adventures”, what classified as exciting in this neck of the woods, she wasn’t sure, but there were photos of cookouts, teams playing capture the flag, people paragliding, and those bikes with the four wheels that can go through mud.

Before she knew it, Sandra was skimming the safety waivers and mentally preparing what she was to wear for her first meet up.

Jared glanced down at the flyer he clutched in his hands. Bright, professional letters read: ‘Make close friends now! Ask me how!’ It was an obvious scam, and he knew that, but that didn’t prevent him from paying the ridiculous price for the course. His tax return felt better spent on booze. At least booze wasn’t mean, it just made you mean.

The woman who sold the course went by the handle Margaret Matcher on social media. That wasn’t her name but Jared supposed ‘Jillian Bartuzky’ didn’t have the same ring. She had promised him that she would help him make five close friends, closer than he’d ever had, in just one month. Well he didn’t have any friends, so anything was an improvement. Jared wasn’t overly unattractive or annoying, he was just one of those people you passed in a crowd, forgotten.

She had convinced him when she grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Her hands were so soft and radiated kindness. Margaret had arranged a bizarre form of speed dating where people were quickly introduced to Jared based on the interests he gave to the course seller. He had no idea where she found the people, but they were real, and they all showed up. He felt like he’d endured some sort of human zoo where people were brought by to gawk, leer, and smirk at him.

Somehow after it was all said and done exactly five people wanted to be his friend. It had worked like a charm, at least he thought it had, until they’d stopped responding to messages less than a week later, or outright refused to hang out more than once. Jared found out from one of the friends that Margaret had paid them off to cover her end of the bargain. He was crushed, but more than anything he was pissed.

He confronted Margaret Matcher and she conceded the truth immediately. She went further by saying that he was hopeless, and a charity case like him should have been grateful anyone spent any time with him, paid or not.

That was two weeks ago. Luckily after some cajoling and convincing, Margaret had agreed to be his friend. The other five had come around as well.

They had all decided to move in with Jared to live together, at least parts of them did. One head, one torso, one pelvis, two legs, and Margaret’s soft, soft hands, though she just lets him call her Jilli nowadays.

He stapled the flyer under wooden wall hanging that his friend has been assembled onto. It would be a funny memory for them both. He clutched his friend’s hand and smiled. This was the start of something wonderful.

Mands, a makeup obsessed and self centered teen had probably done everything a teen wasn’t supposed to do. She drank beer underage, threw parties, failed classes on purpose, dated two people at once, gossiped to the point that her words became savage, created drama when it truly wasn’t necessary…. And she lied She lied a whole lot actually. She lied so much she practically made up her whole life. She lied about the fact that she was cheating on her partner. She lied about the fact that she was bullied by a nerd. She lied about the fact that her skin under makeup was acne cleared. She lied about anything you could think of. She lied about having friends. Since she was so popular and had so many people over, she never had a bestie relationship with any of the people she was “friends” with. Or even a friendly relationship at all. So as ironic as it sounds, she was so popular that she was unpopular. But all of that changed when she made a huge mistake. A few months back, she had stolen a dress from her friend Betty’s closet because it looked “too good” on her and she just “HAD to” take it home. Well, she completely forgot and wore it to the biggest party of the year. Her friend Betty didn’t have a good memory, but she remembered the dress. Even worse, she knew it was hers from the small thread coming out of the seams. Betty targeted and attacked Mands in every way possible the next week at school. Mands was pranked, bullied, and looked down upon no matter what she did to stop it. All of the popular squad turned against her. Then the worst prank was played. When Mands was walking home, the bulletin board displayed a flyer that read: “Calling all cool kids! An after school club only for the cool squad. Run by Jason and Mark” Immediately, Mands turned on her heals. She was going to that club. Her best outfit on, her hair and makeup spot on, she was ready. Instead of being greeted by the gorgeous faces of Jason and Mark, she was greeted by a group of people knitting! “Um excuse you” Mands said “but this room is for the cool squad” A girl looked up from her knitting and kindly smiled in her direction “Thanks for the compliment! Welcome to the knitting club, sit!” Mands backed away “No, I swear this was-“ Then she realized, she must’ve been pranked. Right there, she crumpled to the floor and started sobbing. She wanted more than ever for this to end. Knowing it never would. After 20 minutes, she looked up to see the same girl “Want a tissue?” The girl asked. Mands sighed “I need to-“ “Wear this” the girl held out a knitted scarf “It’ll keep you warm.” Mands wrapped the scarf around herself, and that’s when she saw it, true kindness. True friendship. True warmth. And that’s when she knew that this is where she would come every day after school. And that’s when she also realized how magical scarves truly are.

How hard can it actually be? To make new friends. I just have to go up and say hi and tell them my name and the rest will flow. Or at least that’s how the sign up video described it. But to be fair, that flier and website made a lot of promises. And for a program that ensures no pressure and no stress, there certainly was a lot of fanfare and confetti…..maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe this wasn’t the chill but exciting thing I was hoping for.

“Hi! You must be Lizzy!”

A shrill voice came from behind me, drowning out my monologue of hesitation and effectively shutting out my chances of escaping before being noticed. “Hiiiii, yeahhh, that’s meee” Wow. If I had a chance of convincing my anxiety that I can make a friend, I’ve certainly lost it now. The plan was to say hi as normally as possible. And I’ve already failed. And I can’t even make up for it by giving my name.

“I’m so glad you made it! We’re so excited to meet you! We were super happy with your sign up and really love to show cool people like you new and interesting things with other cool people!! You see, we’re not just a club for making friends, ya know! We also love making new career opportunities!”

“Oh…okay…I wasn’t really looking for a job—“

“It’s not a job, hun! It’s a way of life really! A chance to become your own boss and start something new! To gain freedom that a regular job can’t provide! It’s incredible and that’s why we’re always recruiting new people to join!”

Ahh. Fuck.