Sane

7

We all just sat for a few minutes and had small talk, them mainly anyways. I quietly listened and would put my input in every now and then.
"I'm Minni by the way." Said the curly blond with a big smile. She looked like she always managed to be in a good mood despite any situation. She raised her slight chubby hand and made on offer to shake mine which I accepted.
The boy next to her cleared his throat which caught her attention.

"This impatient goofball here is Turner." He nodded only a single time with a small smile.

"It's nice to meet you all, I'm Destiny."

"Nice to meet you Destiny." Said Minni, Turner, and Jake almost in sync. Kyra muttered a small "nice to meet you" and Ryan resorted to a simple nod.

"So since we have an addition Destiny we all do our own little circle except without the 'if you're here we can help you' bullsh*t. Basically we just go in a circle and tell each other why we're here and a little information about ourselves. We've been doing this with each new addition every since Turner and I started our little group with Ryan."
Kyra huffed along with Turner as Jake smiled. Minni looked excited and Ryan the complete opposite.

"Oh y'all hush, she deserves to know if she wants to be in the group. You do don't you?" I thought about it.
Should I really trust these people? Like I just met them, but they've already saved me from one incident. Couldn't they help with another say if we were trying to escape? I mean come on who wouldn't want out?
Other than them being an ally some of them do seem like genuinely nice people.
After a second I nodded to which Jake almost danced from excitement.

"Ger-ate! I'll go first so I'm Jake Timbill, I'm twenty years old and I'm here because I was admitted here because my parents didn't approve of me being gay. Once I was old enough to leave on my own I tried, but they wouldn't let me leave until I'm fully "fixed". I believe they're just draining my parents pockets..."
I was shocked at all Jake was saying. He's gay? He's trapped here too?
"Jake that's awful." I stated not feeling as bad about what I'm going through.

"Yeah, I get through it though. I'd say the main thing keeping me going is Jay."

"Whose Jay?" I asked only for Minni to interrupt.

"Jay is Jakes super hot Korean boyfriend who is a total bad boy and muscle bunny." Turner flashed a face of hurt only for Minni to giggle, boop his nose and kiss him with apologise in between.
Jake on the other hand was blushing a deep read and laughing lightly.

"Yes, he is my bad boy muscle bunny and he is actually waiting and trying to wait for a good opportunity to get me out. I swear he's tried about everything at this point; even going to the police and trying to get them to understand, but for some reason this place is almost invincible. Nothing can hurt, destroy, or escape it. Believe me... we've all tried and no matter what everytime it's always an absolute fail." Jake sighed a sad and heavy sigh before a small smile illustrated his face.

"Maybe one day I'll get out of here and live my life with Jay."

"Why must you give a sob story everytime." Said Turner wiping away a fake tear before laughing, although the laughter died down quick when he noticed no one was going to join him.

"I'll go next..." Minni's bubbly voice washed throughout the room and almost all the sadness was gone from everyone. She seemed to give a distraction from all the pain and sadness to everyone and we all greedily took it.

"So as you all know I'm Minni and I'm here because I gained an eating disorder at the age of thirteen..."

I was taken aback by how she said everything without a sad glint in her voice or even a small stutter of her words. She confidently talked about everything as if it were everyday conversation.

"I was bullied at a young age about my weight, so I hardly ate and if I had to I would always throw it right back up minutes later. My parents noticed my sudden weight loss and put me on supervision until they figured out the problem. They asked me to promise them I wouldn't do it again and I did, but I never kept my promise. As a last resort at eighteen they checked me into Crawford Bay and I haven't been able to leave since. If you haven't noticed I'm over the disorder, yet they still seem to wanna keep me here for 'further treatment'. The odd part is that they haven't given me proper treatment like they used to when I was still battling the disorder. Just like Jake I think they're just soaking up my parents money till they drain them dry. A few months ago I was in the same situation you were just in. I left my room and found myself trapped until this cutie over hear got me out of the nasty situation. He brought me to him and Jake's shared room and the rest is history." She and Turner were smiling wide and shared a quick kiss before Turner spoke up.

"There's not much to my story actually. I'm here because I'm a pyromaniac and love to light stuff on fire. When I was little I almost burned myself and my crib because a lighter dropped out of my father's pocket and into the crib. Luckily the corner of the blanket was the only thing that got burned, other then an ass whooping my mother gave me. I just loved fire for some reason. I burned holes in my carpet, melted the plastic on shower curtains with incense, and even would pull pull out my own hair to burn or melt my chewed off fingernails. The last straw was when I ended up burning my childhood home down completely. They talked me into coming here because it is supposedly the best institute in the county. I still get the desire to burn something, but Minni helps me control it and makes sure I don't do anything dumb." He laughed lightly and squeezed Minni tighter.

"Adorable everytime." Cooed Jake as he clapped his hands quickly while grinning with his eyes closed.

"Sorry,  I'm a sucker for romance." This time it was me that smiled and laughed lightly.

"Ryan? Kyra? Would the two of you like to contribute?"

They both were making eye contact with the pale floor, neither saying anything.

The silence only raised my suspicious even more. How much worse could their story be?

After a while it was obvious that neither of them planned to speak up, Jake decided to just change the subject.

"Alright then, Destiny? Would you like to contribute to the group?"

Was there even anything I could contribute? I mean I'm stuck here with no recollection of how I got here.

"To be honest Jake I really don't know why I'm here." His brows furrowed in confusion.

"How so?" I shrugged my shoulders not knowing how else to describe it.

"I just woke up here a day or two ago with no memory of how I got here. I don't even know why I was checked in here. A nurse from earlier said it might have been a mistake since I'm younger than eighteen, but he had to check with the Dr. Dean first."

"Wow, that's odd? You're the first person I've met that doesn't know why they're here. Maybe it was a mistake?" I shrugged again, but was hopeful that he's right.

It remained silent before the intercom blared throughout the building.

"Dietician needed in Utilities and Food."

"Lunch is going to be served, we'd all better get back into our rooms." Stated Minni sadly as she squeezed Turner tight. Ryan and Kyra sighed softly and they both looked at each other with fondess, yet sadness. Almost as if they had sympathy for the other.

"Your right Minni. It's only a matter of time before the hallways are filled with unwanted attention." Jake stated while standing up from his single chair. He sighed and clasped his hands together before he started making his way to the door to usher us out.

"Oh Destiny, by the way we meet up here every Tuesday and Friday if you wanna join since you wanna be in the group. Remember y'all no eating lunch or dessert!" With that all of us except for Turner and Jake were left standing into the pale hallway.