"Good morning! It is time to wake up, be outside of your rooms in thirty minutes!"
I groan and sit up in bed. "Why!?" I yell to the wall, frowning. I rolled out of bed and stood up. The bag of clothes was still on my bedside table, and I took out a pair of jeans and a black shirt. At the bottom of the bag was a space-jacket, stars and galaxies all over it. I threw that on over the black top.
After that, I ran into the bathroom and brushed my hair, making sure I looked at least presentable. I did. Sort of. Then I stepped outside and waited for a guard to come and get me. In a few minutes, they came.
"Are you Miss. Elizabeth Black?" I nodded. He wrote something down on a clip-board. "Good. Come with me, it's time for breakfast." I pretty much understood that.
We made our way to the cafeteria, stopping at a few rooms to pick people up. In the end there were about five of us, not counting the guard. Most of the people were older than me, and they seemed to be a bit wary of the newcomer. I just stared at the floor while I walked. We finally got to the cafeteria, or what I assumed was.
It was a simple room, with plain white walls and long rows tables. At the far side of the room was a long lunch-line, with a few people serving food. It looked like breakfast tacos, though I wasn't sure. I followed the others who had been taken to the cafeteria to the line, and got behind them. There was a pile of plates next to the line, one of which I grabbed. There were a few workers a few feet down handing out water bottles and foil-wrapped tacos. I took a few of each and left, looking for a place to sit. Finally I found a table with a girl my age at it. Her hair was dyed black, but it was fading. Her real hair looked about blond.
"Hi." I said, as I sat down across the table from her. "Hi." She barely looked up from her plate. It was quiet for a minute.
"What's your name?" I asked. She looked up this time, "Bea." she said, and looked back at her plate, "Your's?"
"Lizzy," I replied. She nodded. "So Lizzy, were you the new girl all the guards were pissed off about yesterday?" I nodded, and laughed a little. "Were they really that mad?" I asked. She nodded. "This one, he came in all red-faced, and then another was cussing at the top of his lungs. It was hilarious."
"Wow... Didn't expect them to freak out that much." I admitted, but realized I had pretty much done what I had wanted to.
"So why'd you do it?" she asked. I shrugged. "They came at me with tasers. I think my brain went into the whole 'fight or flight' thing. I chose fight." She looked at me confused.
"I don't do science." she said, and got up. "I'm going to get more food." She walked away. I sat for a minute, quiet. Then Bea came back.
"Hi again," she said. I waved.
"So why're you here?" she asked, "I told my friend I was going to commit suicide, maybe. She told my mom." I was quiet.
"Took too much Tylenol. That's all." she looked shocked. "Seriously?" she asked, "Usually it's just depressed people here! Not..." she looked at me, and trailed off. We were quiet for the rest of breakfast.
Once breakfast was over, and everyone had thrown away their plates, it was time for a "group session". I assumed that was some sort of group psychology or something. I asked Bea to show me where it was. She led me, and we seemed to forget about our conversation before.
"So how long have you been here?" I asked, on the way to some faraway room where all the teenagers had their "groups". According to Bea, we teens were a minority at the hospital.
"Hey Bea," said a man's voice. I looked up from my feet, "Hello Elizabeth!" It was Dan.
"Oh. Hi," I said. A few other teens were in the room, three. There was a circle of bean bags in the center of the room, one of which I sat in. Two more kids came in, and it was time to start.
"Hey guys," said Dan, "If you didn't notice, someone new is here today." The entire room seemed to be staring at me.
"Hi... I'm Lizzy," I said, forcing a smile. People were quiet. "Guys, say hi to Lizzy." said Dan. A few muttered "hi" while others waved. I blushed.
"So guys, what do you wanna waste time with today?" asked Dan. A guy across the room raised his hand.
"Anthony?" said Dan. The kid lowered his hand. "Halo?" Dan nodded, and everyone stood up and began to move towards a couch at the end of the room. A TV was attached to the wall in front of the couch, and below was a table covered in Xbox controllers. I was just a little late to grab one, but I figured I should see what I was up against. I sat behind the couch on top of an ice hockey table.
"So guys, let's talk about depression. Depressing thoughts. Where do they come from?" a small girl playing Halo answered. "Your mind!"
"Good," Dan answered, "And how do we stop these thoughts?" asked Dan, as he killed someone. "Dude!" yelled a guy, "But anyway, you break the cycle." Dan nodded.
"Lizzy, do you know how to do that?" Dan asked. I looked up. "Uh... Think different thoughts? Change your thoughts?" Dan smiled at me. "Perfect! Change your thoughts!" I blushed, as people looked back at me.
"You're gonna be great here Lizzy," said Dan. I smiled. Maybe I would. I wasn't sure.
