Drunk or Sober

Sign Language and Suicide

//trigger?

"HARLEIGH!" Rosie panted, after running four flights of stairs because the elevator was broken. She looked as if she'd have an asthma attack right there in Harleigh's room. I was right too, because she pulled out an inhaler and breathed in and out. "ARE YOU PREGNANT?"

Harleigh and Ramona stared at her with cold, aggravated eyes. "She's just a kid, Har." Ramona whispered, causing Rosie to angrily take a seat in the rocking chair and cross her arms.

"Am I pregnant, Ramona?" Harleigh mocked.

I sighed in relief. Harleigh wasn't pregnant, clearing up any possibility of me becoming a father anytime soon.

"Not that I recall." Ramona laughed.

Rosie didn't seem to believe her. "You sure? Cause I mean, there's obviously a problem with you and babies."

"Leave the poor girl alone, Rosie." Wyatt said, pushing her out of the room.

"You can fool them, but you can't fool me!" Rosie called back.

"Meet us in the cafe!" Wyatt laughed, exiting the room with her. Isaac followed behind on queue. "Oh hello beautiful stranger!" Wyatt's voice got softer and flirtatious. We all turned his direction to see Ryder standing in the doorway. Wyatt mouthed call me and Ryder walked in, sitting in the rocking chair.

"Hey Ryder," Ramona broke the silence.

Ryder didn't respond; he didn't even acknowledge us in the room. He just stared at Harleigh. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I tried to. You wouldn't listen." Harleigh crossed her arms. Ramona and I shrugged our shoulders.

"Harleigh, are you insane?" Ryder rubbed his temples and looked stressed.

"What exactly's going on?" Ramona asked quietly.

"You almost killed yourself, you almost killed-"

"You don't even want it, Ryder!" Harleigh menaced.

"I didn't even know! You didn't tell me! Were you just going to keep this from me? You know what they'll do to you now?"

"I don't fucking care. It's my life!"

"You're ridiculous, I can't even believe you right now." Ryder got up and switched seats with Ramona.

"Shut up." Harleigh rolled her eyes and turned her head.

"Look at me."

"No!"

"Harleigh, please, just talk to me, like actually-"

She kissed Ryder. Ramona and I narrowed our eyebrows and quickly got out of the room to leave them alone.

Now obviously, I was positive Harleigh and Ryder had the weirdest relationship I'd ever seen, but the thing that got me most is what they were talking about.

Was Harleigh pregnant for real?

---------------------------------------------

Isaac made some hand gestures to Rosie.

"What's he saying?" Ramona asked as we all sat in the cafeteria together.

Rosie laughed to herself. "He just asked me what the hell's going on." She made a bunch of quick hand movements of her own.

"You know sign language?" I asked, examining how quick and swift her hands were as she told Isaac a story.

"Yeah, I learned when he got here." She blushed. "It's like second nature now."

"Oh please, she's being modest. She studied day and night for three days to master the art so she could actually talk to him. I'm yet to learn it fully." Wyatt declared, before getting up and filling a tray full of the dinner food served here.

"How long have you guys been together?" Ramona smiled.

"Well, we've both been here for a while; like since December."

"December?" I repeated. "Why?"

She laughed. "My old school won't allow me; they think I'm sociopathic. So I go to school here, where I can also get my fair share of therapy anytime and also avoid 'getting into more serious trouble', they say." She held Isaac's hand. "As for Isaac, he's been going through some new treatment for his hearing. They're using some weird stuff, so they just decided it'd be good to keep him here. Nothing's really worked, except this one rare mixture shit, and he heard his mom's voice." She smiled at him. "Didn't last though."

"What about Wyatt?" Ramona asked.

"Wyatt... Oh, little Wyatt." Her voice got quieter. "He tried hanging himself. And when three months here passed and they thought he was better, they sent him home only for him to slit both of his wrists two nights later. Like butter, he tells me! The nurses always watch him a little closer than the others, because they think next time he tries something, he'll actually die."

"Talking about me again?" Wyatt laughed, setting the tray of yellow and green soups in front of us. "C'mon Rose, don't scare our new friends. Lord knows they don't have any problems of their own, right?"

Ramona and I looked at each other.

"What he means is... You guys are just here to support Harleigh, right? You guys don't-" Rosie pushed her sleeve up and took a plastic knife, pretending to cut her wrist then neck.

Ramona's eyes widened.

"Relax! Here, eat some soup and calm down," Wyatt laughed, pushing two bowls of soup and a plate of bread our way. "It's broccoli and cheese- my favorite." He smiled.

I lifted my spoon and swallowed the hot, creamy mixture when Lennox and Nate pushed me over to take a seat on the end of the bench.

"WHO MISSED USSSS!" Lennox pushed over a bowl of soup and two spoons her way for her and Nate. I groaned. "Oh c'mon Wessy, don't get too excited!"

Wyatt narrowed his eyebrows and looked at her. "You're his sister, right?" He pointed at me.

"Yup! She is. And my girlfriend!" Nate stole a kiss on her cheek and I nearly shoved them both off the bench.

"This place is... Interesting?" Lennox said, lifting a spoonful of soup into her mouth. "We heard you guys went to group therapy! How was it?" She said 'group therapy' as if it were something foreign.

"What's their uh... diagnosis?" Wyatt whispered to Ramona.

"Shockingly enough, they don't have any." She answered.

"Actually, I had ADHD when I was a kid!" Lennox screamed from the other side of the table.

"You should really get back on those meds." I said silently and bit my lip.

"What was it like? Are we allowed to go?" Nate spoke up.

"Oh my god, imagine, Nate... us in group therapy?" Lennox laughed.

"You guys should definitely go!" Wyatt said sarcastically.

"WE HAVE TO!" Lennox stood up with her spoon in her hand.

/// dis can't be good!!/

//PS WHOS HAPPY NENNOX IS BAAACK