Feel Real

Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

"Tonight I am finally able to take my girlfriend out," Daniel told Sammy and I as we ate breakfast. He was looking at me when he said it, smiling wide. 

I shook my head at him, biting my lip as a smiled. 

"You say it like you have never taken her on a date," Sammy said. "Which should technically be the truth, considering most patients don't leave mental institutions for pleasure activities."

"What can I say? The nurses love me." Daniel winked. 

I covered my mouth, hiding my smile. "Are you cheating on me?" I joked. 

"Maybe." 

"Stop," Sammy said in a monotone voice. "You're too cute I'm dying." 

Daniel and I both looked at Sammy. She put her hands around her neck, shaking and fake joking. Nurses ran over to us but Daniel told them it was a joke. 

"I have the best friends," I said.

"Same here," Sammy said.

"Same here," Daniel said. He stood up on his chair, raising his orange juice in the air. "I propose a toast. I came into this hospital parentless and soon-to-be brotherless. This hospital was nothing but depressing until I met Sammy. And then I met Casey." Daniel smiled at me. "I am beyond blessed to have met these friends in such a hopeless place. To everlasting friendships." Daniel lifted up his cup, nodding at me before he took a drink.

                                                                                                     ***

"Where will we be going tonight?" I asked Daniel. We were in my room, Sammy was talking to Daniel and I, watching us talk with intensity. Sammy picked apart Daniel and I's relationship, evaluating each look and touch. She told me she was writing a book about Daniel and I. Of course, the character weren't named "Daniel" and "Casey" but, they were pretty similar. I believe it's something like Dylan and Charlie. 

When we talked at night, Sammy would tell me about her book. She had been working really hard on it, writing it when I was spending time with Daniel. It took place in a mental hospital. The girl was stubborn like me and the boy was caring like Daniel. At first, the girl is reluctant to fall in love but, soon, she falls head over heals. 

It's strange to think that your romance is being turned into a story. Like every girl, I've always dreamed of a storybook romance, never imagining to get it. And in a hospital of all places. I hope her book gets world-wide recognition; not so my romance can be world known, but because she deserves it. 

Sammy says she's starting her new life at my school with a clean slate. She's going to focus more on English and writing so she can get better. How cool would it be if she got her book published in high school? That would be beyond amazing. And I can't image anyone else who deserves to be recognized at such a young age. Sammy may only be seventeen, but she has the soul of a eighty year old.

Even though Sammy has a full ride to Yale, she's still applying to other schools such as Boston University, Brown, and NYU because they have amazing creative writing programs. I'm so proud of her.

"Tonight," Daniel said, "we are going to dinner. It's going to be the most traditional date. I got a suit from one of the nurses husbands and a dress from one of the nurses's daughter. One of the other nurses knows the chef who runs a fancy restaurant down town who is giving us his best meal for free. And an other nurse knows a limo driving who will take us there and back free of charge."

Both Sammy and I's jaws were on the floor, our hands covering our mouths. 

"I wish I fell in love with Daniel," Sammy said.