Open mind

Chapter 1

My mom and I were sitting on the bed. I'd be sleeping in here for six weeks. I was frozen and unable to talk to her. I knew it hurt her to see me like that, but I simply couldn't talk. I stared at the fan blowing in my face. This room looked like a prison cell. A small bed with a nightstand attached to it, a basic desk with a fan on it, a sink, a closet without handles and a door with an iron plate on it so you couldn't break it. As if that wasn't enough there was an alarm on the door as well.

'Why don't you just try it for one night?' My mom softly asked me. I wanted to scream that she had to take me back home. But I knew she found it just as hard as me. 'If we leave now there is no chance you can find help here again.' I wanted to tell her I didn't care, that they were taking everything away that made me feel even remotely happy. 'Just one night. If you still feel the same tomorrow you can always leave.'

I knew this was important. I needed this and the rest I'd get here. But it was so different than I had expected and it was hard to accept that. Everyone would be so disappointed if I said no now, if I just went home. So I nodded, I hoped she had noticed. 'I'll see you tomorrow then, when I pick you up for horse riding.' She pressed a kiss on my head and got up from the bed.

I couldn't bear to look at her as she walked out of the room and silently closed my door. When I heard her footsteps on the stairs I broke down crying again. I lied down on the bed and grabbed the blanket. I held it on my mouth to cover my sobbing. the sound of a leaving car didn't make it better.

I laid on the bed with my face buried in the pillow. Finally my tears had stopped pouring down my face like a waterfall. I didn't want to be here. I couldn't stay at home, I understood that. But why here? No laptop, no phone, no internet. It meant I wasn't going to be able to talk to the few friends I had, nor could I play the games I normally played. What the fuck was I supposed to do here all day? I had my pencils with me, but I couldn't draw all day, right? I could write on paper but that was annoying since writing goes slow. In my head I'm already three sentences further.

Right when I had decided to try it for a few days a knock came from the door. Shortly after Jean came in. 'How do you feel? He asked. He looked genuinely concerned. 'Fine.' I replied as I sat up, hoping he wouldn't notice I had cried.

I chose the hard way, staying friendly and patient as he spoke the words I already knew were coming. We talked about my habit to hurt myself and stuff like that. It wasn't a very light conversation. Then again, what did you expect with this place? This house was full of teens with problems and grown ups trained to handle these teens.

'Tomorrow is Saturday, it's the day we clean. But you don't have to do that since you just got here. In the weekends you can sleep in. But you'll probably hear vacuuming around eleven.' I let out an annoyed sigh when the door closed. This was never going to work without earphones. Just Jean alone was annoying already. They just didn't know how my ''ability'', as some called it, worked. They must have thought I could only read minds when I wanted. Wrong. I heard all thoughts of all people all day. It was torture.

At least I could keep my laptop until ten to tell my friends goodbye and to calm down. It frustrated me to no end that my friends didn't use facebook. I didn't have my phone, so I couldn't reach them. I'd try calling them tomorrow then.

I woke up from the sound of a vacuum. My head hurt. What time was it? I turned on my side to look at my alarm clock. Quarter past eleven, it was a decent time to wake up. I prefered to wake up around this time. Because if I woke up earlier I would have no idea what to do with my time. On the other hand my day would be too short if I woke up much later than this. Now I could calmly take my time having breakfast and getting dressed.