So, Why Are You In Here? *ON HOLD*

Chapter three: Illusion of Power

Day 5:

"Okay guys, it's time for the sharing circle." Mia chirped, earring a loud groan from Logan. This was the first group therapy session I'd done since I arrived here. There were only five other people in the group, including me. There was Logan, Larkin, Theresa and Elizabeth. Theresa looked like a splitting image of Goldie Locks, where as Elizabeth looked like Wednesday Adams.

We all wore tracksuit pants, each a different colour, and Mia wore jeans like usual. I don't know if my mind was being too cliché or something but I felt like the colour of everyone's pants said something about them. Wait, what? Yeah that was stupid because Logan's wearing light orange pants and that's supposed to be a happy colour, I could tell he was in a bad mood today.

The ear-splitting sound of plastic chairs dragging along the squeaky wood into a circle made my eye clamp shut. I carried my chair instead, nobody else seemed to care about the noise. It was the shrill screech like running fingernails down a blackboard, the one that send shudders through your body and makes you touch your fingernails to make sure they're still there.

"Logan, you're first. Mae is new, so how about you tell us your story."

He growled like a child, letting his head fall back and swivel around his shoulders. Eventually he gave in and got comfortable in his chair.

"Well, Mae," So he blames me for having to talk. "Long story short, I collect bottles of Vodka, great hobby, and one day my lovely mother decides to go snooping through everything I own. She found the shoe boxes I hid my collection in and sends me here for being an alcoholic. Of course she never stopped to ask why or when I had started my collection, getting me out of her way was without a doubt her main priority. I've been here for 5 months."

"Thank you, Logan. Now what's your fear?" Mia asked.

Logan visibly tensed a little, a flash of irritation passed through his hard gaze on the floor. "I don't have a fear."

"Everyone has a fear."

He shifted his eyes around the room before locking his stare on me. I squirmed uncomfortably under his hard stare, refusing to meet his eyes. "Mae hasn't said anything yet."

Mia focused on me instead of Logan. "Okay Mae, how about you tell us your fear?"

"I don't have a fear." I mumbled.

"Everyone has a fear." Logan imitated Mia before.

"If you didn't have a fear then you wouldn't be here, Mae."

I inhaled slowly and dropped my guard. "I'm scared of getting hurt. Bad things happen to women everyday, rape, abduction, physical and mental abuse, I'm afraid of that."

"That stuff happens to men too you know." Logan grumbled.

"I know, but women are more vulnerable. I have to protect myself."

"That is so ridiculously sexist."

"Well then I apologise for wanting to be safe." I sneered at him.

He sat up properly from his slouching position and locked his jaw. "So are you saying that men never get hurt or anything like that, it's always the women."

"Logan, I-"

"Are you a feminist, Mae?" He licked his lips and put his hands on his knees.

I quickly brushed my hair behind my ears and returned his hard glare. "Yeah, I am."

"So you believe women should get treated better than men."

"No, I believe everybody should be treated the same."