Dear Diary

s i x t e e n

I walked in the mental hospital and shuddered a little. It smelled like lemons; most hospitals smell like lemons. I hate lemons.

The lights further down the hall were flicking a little, like they do in horror movies. Unfortunately, I had to walk underneath it to get to the front desk. I quickened my pace once I reached that light.

I walked into the lobby, where a few people were sitting in those uncomfortable chairs they have in waiting rooms. I approached the front desk. No one was there, but I rang the bell that signaled someone was waiting.

A man a little older than me emerged from a room out of my sight. He smiled warmly at me.

"Hello, how may I help you?" he asked.

"May I visit Aristasia Merrivale?" I requested.

The man did something on the old-looking computer behind the desk for a moment, then pressed a buzzer next to the keypad. He talked into it for a bit, then looked at me.

"Room one hundred and seventy-three, North Ward," he said. "Go on ahead."

I nodded gratefully before heading down the hall labelled "North Ward" and searching for room one-seven-three.

"One-six-nine... One-seven-one... Ah, one-seven-three," I muttered to myself, knocking on the door.

This was it. I would finally meet her.

The door opened a bit, and a nurse peeked out.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Niall Horan. The guy at the desk sent me this way."

The girl's eye lit up with recognition before opening the door a little wider. "Aristasia isn't supposed to have visitors, but I suppose we can make an exception."

"You know I hate that name!" a voice from inside the room called. My heart sped up a bit; the nurse just ignored it.

"Come on in," she said, stepping aside.

The room was tiny and cramped: there was room for a bed and tiny bedside table, and even those objects made it feel claustrophobic. The bed was unmade, the white sheets kicked to the bottom of the bed and the pillow still had a little indent where the person's head had been. There was a window by the bed, but there were bars across, keeping the person inside.

"Who is it, Nora?" A girl emerged from a bathroom connected to the bathroom and studied me.

"His name is Niall," the nurse, Nora, said gently. "He said he wants to see you." She glanced at me. "I have to go for a minute. If there's any problem, press the button by the bed, and someone will be up right away." She proceeded towards the door, opened it, and left.

Ari scrutinized me and then sat down on the unkempt bed. She looked exactly like the picture in her diary, except different in some ways. For one, she wasn't wearing the red hoodie. Instead, she was wearing a white gown that didn't look very warm or comfortable. I assumed she got it from the hospital.

Next, her brown eyes looked tired, and there were dark circles underneath her eyes, like she hadn't gotten a goodnight's sleep in forever. The bed didn't look too comfortable.

Her dark hair was longer than in the photo, and less glossy, but other than that, it looked pretty much the same.

Ari turned her head, moving her gaze from the window to me. "Can you stop staring at me? It's freaking me out."

"Sorry," I murmured, looking away.

She continued staring at me. "You can come in, if you want." I was still standing by the door. "Granted there's not much space."