Chapter 3: “My Life, My Decisions, My Choices...”
I decide to get up and change out of these stupid hospital robes. I open the top drawer and pull out a pair of white underwear and then close it. After that I open the next drawer down and pull out a white bra with a little bow on either strap. I know exactly what I’m going to wear. I pull out a red and white striped shirt with lace on the back, dark blue jeans, and my gold charm bracelet that my mom gave to me. I grab a pair of my special low cut socks and then pull on my bright red Converse. I walk into my own bathroom on the left side of my room and see that my mother has laid out all my make-up around the sink. I first brush my teeth and comb my almost impossible to untangle hair. I then grabbed my face primer to help with my disgustingly oily skin. I spread it out all over my face, and then put my skin colored powder on my cheeks, forehead, and chin. I tear up a little as I remember my best friend used to tell me I looked like a Puffer fish while doing this because I puffed up my cheeks to spread the powder evenly. I miss her terribly…
I still look horrible but at least now I look half decent. I finish by taking lipstick and covering up my much-chapped lips with a shade of red so bright it’s brighter than the sun will ever be. I feel much more relaxed now I don’t look like a mental patient, even though I am… Maybe I should do something to help take my mind off things.
I walk out into the hallway and see there are signs pointing to where everything is, kind of like Disney. If I turn left I can go to the front desk, or the pool. I don’t really feel like swimming and all I can do at the front desk is pick up registration forms for different “recovery” activities. If I go straight I can go to the fenced off sports area to play tennis, basketball, run track, play volleyball, or play soccer. Once again, I don’t feel like doing any of those things even if I do love soccer. If I turn right I can go to the dining hall, the “social area,” or the library. I’m not a very big reader, but for some reason the library seems calming… I turn right and walk down the long hallway filled with pictures of recovered famous acting and singing sensations and faculty member pictures.
At the end of the hall I see two large doors that appear to share the word Library in big gold letters. I open the door to the right and am amazed when I see how big the library is. I compare it to the one Beast showed to Belle in “Beauty and the Beast.” Straight ahead they have a place to get a snack or coffee, and the rest of the library is filled with magazines and books and cute little tables to sit and write or read. I decide to go up and down every isle of books just for fun. When I reach the fourth isle, I see a very interesting looking book. It had a red, worn out cover and a piece of torn up blue ribbon hanging on the outside, which is meant for marking your place. It’s on the third shelf, which I can just about reach. I pull it down and read the title. “My life, my decisions, my choice.” That sounds quite interesting to me, even though I absolutely despise reading. When I reach the counter, the lady asks me if I have been to the library before. I haven’t been, so she asks for my name, age, and room number. She then prints out a little card for me, just like at an actual library.
“You’ll need this card to access anywhere in this facility. You simply swipe your card and access will be granted. After you swipe your card I will take your book and scan the barcode on the inside cover like this… There, you’re all set! Now don’t forget to carry that card wherever you go! Enjoy!”
“Thank you. I didn’t catch your name.”
“My name is Ms. Chesterfield. I’m the librarian here at Life Restoring Center. And you are AnnaBella! It was wonderful to meet you and hope to see you here again soon! Oh, and that book is one of the best I’ve every read. I think you are going to love it.”
I walk to the café and ask for a hot chocolate. All of the food and drink here are included in the extremely high price of admission, so I don’t need to use my new card for this. I head over to one of the little chairs inside the café area and begin to read the book…
