The Eleventh Ward

Chapter 14

We pushed my bed against the wall so we could all sit in a circle on the floor. My bedside table served as a bottle opener and we got Gracie to divide up the jelly beans evenly. You might think that 2 beers each would do absolutely nothing to us, but we were a group of teenagers that hadn't drunk in a very long time, so those 2 beers got us fucking wasted. Luke failed to mention that he was king of poker and he won all the jelly beans 3 games in a row. We had just started our fourth game when Ashton knocked on the door.

"Guys, its lights out in 5 minutes. Boys have to go or you're all fucked" One last smile before he closed the door and walked off.

"Are you like fucking him?" said Lacey, still staring at the door where Ashton had been.

"No!"

"Then how'd you get all this stuff?" asked Erin "because if I could get this shit for a few blowjobs I'd be totally up for that" she laughed.

"It was an apology for tranquilizing me" I waited for them to make fun of me more but instead they started laughing about the word 'tranquilizer' until the boys tried to get up and sneak off to the other corridor. I got up to hold the door open for them, and when Luke went out last, he turned back to face me.

"Thank you for tonight" he smiled. I wondered if I could kiss him and blame it on the alcohol but instead I smiled back and said "no problem" and closed the door behind him. I turned back to face the girls and stared at the mess. Leftover jelly beans were spread out over the carpet where Luke hadn't got them in his pocket, beer bottles stood discarded around the room and I wondered how the hell I was supposed to hide them before lights out check. Erin looked like she could help with cleaning up, but the others were gone. Because Lacey never ate anything, the alcohol affected her more than anyone else and she was practically passed out against the bed frame. Gracie was sat talking to her brother, giggling uncontrollably at things he was saying to her. She looked so happy so we just left her while we tidied up. In the end, Erin had to carry Lacey back to her room (she had fully passed out and there was no way we could wake her up) and I lead a dizzy, laughing Gracie back to her's. When I finally lay in bed to try and sleep, I never felt happier. Everything with Lea suddenly became things in the past and I stopped worrying about whether I would have to stay here for a while longer because it didn't seem so bad anymore.

The next day I wandered into therapy with a hangover. I never bothered to learn my doctor's name and he knew that so that was one less thing to worry about. I sat on his sofa and when he asked me if I was alright, I claimed to have a bad headache. Throughout the session he didn't click what the cause of the headache was, instead he tried once again to help me remember what happened that night. I told him I was sick of trying to remember it and that even if I did, they probably wouldn't give a shit anyway. He finally accepted my response and told me to have a good last week. When he said that, my eyes flew open and I stared at him.

"What do you mean 'good last week?" I said

"Brandi, you're on a one month psychiatric assessment. That ends in a week. That's when your final ruling is" I stared at him in disbelief. It couldn't be ending in a week, it couldn't have gone by that quick. I'd have to go back to juvie. All these thoughts started whirring round my mind and I don't know if it was because of the hangover but my head started thumping and I passed out in my therapist's office.

I woke up a few hours later in my bedroom with my head still banging. I groaned and turned over, opening my eyes to see Ashton sitting on a chair on the other side of the room. I would have screamed or something but after spending so much time in the ward, I wasn't surprised they sent someone to watch over me. When Ash realised I had woken up, he came over and sat on my bed.

"Hey, you alright?" he whispered. I groaned quietly and he giggled. "Thought so. I'm never sneaking you alcohol again"

"You might not have to" I said, my throat dry.

"What do you mean?" I put my head up and leant on my elbow.

"I got one week left here and chances are I'm going back to juvie" The smile disappeared from his face and he looked down.

"You really think you're going back?" his voice was quieter now, almost sad.

"I'm not exactly the craziest person Ash, and this is the psych ward. Last time I talked to a lawyer, I was going to be locked up for a while" I sighed and flopped back into my pillow.

"I wish there was something I could do" he said, looking back at me with a sympathetic smile.

"Stop that"

"Stop what?"

"Sympathetic smiling. I fucking hate it"

"Sorry your highness" he laughed. "Gonna miss having you around though. You're probably the only girl that hasn't tried hitting on me"

"You're not my type" I laughed.

"You either" he stood up and walked towards the door "I'm not into crazy girls"

"I'm not into normal boys" He smiled quickly before slipping out and letting the door close behind him.