In the mess hall, the patients sat around the long tables and chattered with each other, some more hesitantly than others. A majority of the teenagers exchanged dirty glances to the counselors that would come in to get their own meal, but still have those dirty glances as they looked around at the other teenagers they were there with.
Jeremy made his way to the table that the counselors were sitting at, already gabbing away and discussing their first or multiple meetings of the day. He sat down next to Hannah, who turned to him and smiled. She set down her fork and extended her hand to hold his forearm once he sat down. "Jer, I am so sorry that we unloaded so many new patients onto you short notice. I would have taken more than one, but you still have the least amount out of everybody." There was a childish grin that played across her lips, though her eyes tried to play the sincerity card.
He shrugged, taking his fork and started to prod it at the food on his plate. He put a smile on his face and looked to her. "It's going to be a challenge, but it's about time that I've caught up with the lot of you." He turned his head away and went to eating his food.
Olivia P.O.V.
Across the room, she watched as Jeremy went and took his seat with the other counselors. A scowl sprawled out from her lips, and she angrily jabbed her fork into the food in front of her. There was a male sitting across from her, his eyes narrowing as he watched her. She looked away from Jeremy and at the boy, taking in his skinny physique, short tufts of blue and black hair, his well defined cheekbones, and his thin lips starting to peel apart as if he were getting ready to say something.
"What? Got something to say?! Say it!" Olivia blurted out.
The man blinked at her and then had a grin crawl across his thin lips, stretching them even thinner. "I take it you don't like your counselor. His name is Jeremy, yes?"
Her eyes squinted at him, but she nodded instead. "Yeah. Are you one of his?"
"No." He shook his head. "I'm with Hannah. Damn girl's a freak." He shot her a serious glare for a moment, then gave a chuckle. "But you would know a lot about being a freak, wouldn't you?" The expression on her face must have been like a deer in headlights mixed with confusion. "Why do you think I'm here?"
She gave a short grunt, with a bit of a chuckle. "Are you saying I'm supposed to care? We're all fucked up here kid. I don't care what's wrong with you." She dropped her fork and crossed her arms over her chest.
The man raised his eyebrows at her, then leaned his arms on the table, crossing them just as she had. "Well, I'll tell you this. If I can tell you five things about yourself, you can at least try to guess why I'm here."
"You don't know shit about me, you don't even know my name. So sure, go ahead." Olivia rolled her eyes at his offer.
"Okay." He drew in a breath. "Well, I already got he first one earlier when I called you a freak. So, one. You're a sexual person, which leads to two. You're not sexual by desire but rather emptiness. Three, you had a father figure but multiple; your aura gives off that you're not into guys my age, which is a shame, but rather older men. Four, you have abandonment issues so you put up walls to everyone, that is, until five, an older man tells you he loves you or likes you, and the second he does you tell your entire life story." He paused, watching her facial expressions. "So, are you going to guess why I'm here?"
She blinked. How the hell did he know all this? "My guess..." Olivia paused, having moved her hands underneath of the table to begin fiddling with her fingers. "You're obviously a counselor in training. And if not, you're freakishly observant. You're the freak."
He chuckled. "Freakishly observant. That's a way to put it. That's not all that's wrong with me, but it's a good start. My name is Cale."
"What kind of name is Cale?"
He raised his eyebrow again, then extended his hand. "Mine."
Olivia looked at his hand, then slowly brought hers up and shook his. "Mine is Olivia."
"Olivia..." He tilted his head and smiled. "What a pretty name." All of a sudden, he gripped her hand a lot tighter. "We can be freaks together, Olivia."
