"How was the flight young lady?" The man holding the sign asked the young brunette he was there to greet.
"It was fine. Thanks." She said in a soft voice. "I'm Ashlie by the way." She continued, sticking out her hand.
"Nice to meet you...Ashlie. Would you like me to put your bags into the car?" He asked, grabbing her suitcases before she could respond.
"Uh, sure. Thanks." Ashlie said standing there awkwardly waiting for instructions on what to do next. The driver saw her awkward stance. He opened the back door and motioned her in. She sat down and waited until he slid in the front seat. This was it. There was no turning back now. Actually there was no turning back when she boarded the plane but now it was actually happening. As the driver struggled with loading her luggage she took out her phone and plugged in her headphones. The soothing melodies started to play but her nerves just wouldn't ease up . She started to play with her newly painted, black nail polish on her fingers. Without her noticing the driver had slipped in and already began driving down the road.
"Um, excuse me sir" she uttered, turning off her music. "Where exactly are we going?" she continued to ask.
"We are going to the point of the island. It is the west beach. It is cut off from most of the cities and it is the most relaxing place. That is the reason they do the therapy there." He answered looking in his rear view mirror. "It will not take that long, sweetie." He added trying to comfort the girl.
"Thanks." she replied sinking back into her seat. As excited as she was, she felt more scared than anything. She took in the scenery as they drove. She noticed the tall palm trees and the colorful flowers. The tropical looking birds. But the one thing that stood out was the blue water. It wasn't just the typical grey blue ocean she was used to. It was a bright blue, something she hadn't ever seen before. For a minute she thought about what it would feel like just to lay in the water. Just to lay in the water and drift away. Suddenly the car stopped, yet again, breaking her from her thoughts. Just as she realized that they had stopped for good she looked up on saw this big, gorgeous house. She let a small 'wow' escape her mouth. Her parents had money, buy she had never seen something this big.
"Would you like me to walk you in?" The driver asked as he opened her door.
"Uh, no. No, that's fine. Thanks." She stuttered. As she got out of the car her eyes met a man walking down to drive way to her. He was tall, thinner, mid-4o's, dark hair and had what looked to be a clip board in his hand. She was frozen in place. Not because she was scared, but because she didn't know what she was supposed to do. She felt her heart beating faster and her breathing get slower. Luckily, it wasn't a full blown attack. She calmed herself down just as the doctor reached her.
"Hello, you must be Ashlie. I'm Doctor Hinel." He said reaching out to shake her hand.
"Uh hi, Doctor Hinel."She replied taking his hand.
"Let me walk you inside. You're lucky. You're the first one here so, you get first pick of the rooms." He said walking away from where they stood. Ashlie followed him all the way up to the front of the house. It was much larger up close. It looked to be three stories tall. Doctor Hinel ushered her inside.
"Okay, so girls will be on this side" he said pointing to the right of the house "and boys will be on the left side. You can go ahead and pick your room. I will have George take your bags up and set them at the end of the hallway and you can take them from there. You can get settled in and once everyone gets here we will have a session." He said making sure Ashlie understood.
"Okay." She uttered as he walked off. She wandered up the countless stairs, lingering on each one just admiring the house. Once she got to the hallway she took a right and continued wandering around. She looked into the first room and she fell in love. It was much like her room back home. The walls were a clean white with very few pictures. The bed was king sized with crisp, white sheets. The feel of the soft carpet calmed her. But the thing she fell in love with was the glass doors that opened to the balcony. The view of the ocean was breathtaking. She could stand there forever.
Before she could come back in some one had entered the room. "Is this going to be your room, miss?" George, the driver, asked startling her. "uh, y-yeah. Thanks." She stuttered as she hurried inside, closing the doors carefully behind her. He set her bags down and left the room. She shut the door and sat down on her bed. Everybody should be arriving soon. She was nervous. As she was sitting on the bed she looked at her bruised knee that she got from a dancing accident. It had turned to a dark purple. Getting bored, she looked around her room and found a stereo. Knowing she had brought a CD, she got up and looked through her bags. She found her The Maine Cd and crawled over to the stereo to place it in. She pushed the play button and laid down on soft carpet letting the song take her away. "we've got champagne taste, but not enough money for the real thing. we've got flames in our veins and just enough money for the weekend. " she sang along. She fell into a sort of daydream, dreaming about her family back home going on with there lives.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Ashlie sat up and quickly ambling to her feet. The door began to open just as she put her hand to the door. A young looking red head entered the room.
"The doctor guy told me to tell you to come down in about 30 minutes, rich girl. We're just waiting for you." She said leaving down the hallway as she spoke.
Ashlie stood there a bit stunned. She had never seen that girl in her life so why was she so rude? The stereo kept playing as she stood there. As she walked back into the room she made sure her outfit looked okay. She turned off her stereo and hesitantly walked down stairs. There were 9 kids her age seated around Doctor Hinel. She quietly walked in trying to avoid everyone, but all eyes fell on her. Her face turned bright red and she took the remaining seat next to a good looking boy not younger than 18. She looked around at everybody in the room, memorizing there faces. As soon as she sat, Doctor Hinel began to speak.
"You all are going to be here for a year. I want you to get to know each other. We will go around in a circle and tell everybody a little about ourselves and why we are here. You start." He said pointing to a young man that sat straight across from Ashlie. He was younger looking with blond, almost white hair. He had the deepest green eyes that were almost the color of palm leaves.
He cleared his throat. "My name is Braxton Oliver Grant, i'm 18 and i live with my mom and my dad. We live in Arkansas. I don't work and i got home schooled for the last two years of high school because i got bullied." He said choking at the last part.
"Next." Doctor Hinel said. The girl next to him leaned forward. She looked really familiar.
"Um, well my name is Karlie Grayce Graylon. I'm kind of a model. I'm only here because my sister thinks i should be here." She giggled. "My parents died when I was young and i kind of got into some bad stuff. I live in New York with my older sister." She said looking in the direction of the black haired girl.
"Next."
"I am Bridgett Indiana Mikelson." The blond girl casually said." I am 20 and my dad died in a work fire and my mom was never really the same. My sister raised me." She continued, looking down at her feet.
"Why don't we hear you talk Ashlie?" Doctor Hinel asked, trying to make the situation less uncomfortable for the blond girl. Ashlie felt her face heating up. "Um, well my name is Ashlie Elisabeth. I live with my parents and my brother in Washington state. I dance and I work at an auto body shop. That's about it." She said speaking like a maniac. "And why are you here?" Doctor Hinel asked. "Because i have anxiety and depression." She answered lying her head on her propped up knees.
"What about you?" He said pointing to the boy next to her with his pen.
"My name is Teagan Andrew Gibson and im 21. I'm here because i don't have a choice." Teagan answered bluntly. Ashlie took a liking to him instantly. The other girls did too.
" Can I call you Drew?" Karlie asked, batting her eyelashes.
"Probably not, dear." He said smirking.
"There doesn't need to be any conflict. We just need to get though this and you guys will get to do whatever you want afterwards." Doctor Hinel sighed looking down at the clipboard. This went on for the rest of the session. The red head, Johanna, was 18 and here because she ran away. Hunter Scott, 21, abusive step father. Carmen, 20, brother died in the military. Devon, 18, 'gangster', bouncing around foster homes. Jackson, 20, lives with his grandma, alcohol addiction.
