Dear Diary

e i g h t e e n

It was Saturday. Visitors weren't allowed at the hospital, so I sat my green couch, watching TV but not really focusing. Ari took up most of my attention.

The way her face lit up when I gave her the chocolate; it was almost like she had never had chocolate before in her life. I mean, I knew they didn't serve great food at mental hospitals, or just hospitals in general, but to the extreme that Ari was that excited to receive chocolate?

The way her face became solemn when I talked about her parents. It made me want to ask about them; I was curious as to what happened. What could her parents possibly had done or gotten into that Ari could go from extremely happy to moody in a couple seconds? I was dying to know (well, maybe not dying) but I knew she hated when people got into her personal business, so I knew not to even try.

My phone buzzed; I knew it was from Ari. She was the only one I texted anymore. The only one I really had left.

Her: heey

Me: hey:)

Her: whatsup

Me: not much u

Her: not much

I hadn't texted anyone in such a long time. I wasn't quite sure about what was "cool" this year. Did people still use "i-d-k"? Did they still overuse "swag" to the extreme that it wasn't even cool? I wasn't sure.

Her: i wish u could come over here. its boring over here

Me: agreed. it's boring over here 2

Her: probably not as boring as over here

Me: true true

Her: ;P

My phone was slow because I barely used it anymore. I mean, yeah, I carried it around with me, but only for emergencies. Emergencies didn't even happen, so I didn't use it.

My fingers felt clumsy on the keyboard, like they were too big, like they weren't meant for this kind of keyboard.

The spellcheck was weird. Or maybe it wasn't weird. Maybe I just wasn't used to it. That was probably the case.

Her: u could sneak over here

Me: how? your window is barred, there's be nurses in the hallway

Her: im sure ud figure something out

Me: i think u underestimate my knowledge

Her: u made it thru highschool didn't u

Me: ya but that doesnt mean i remember anything from it

Her: fine be a chicken ;)

A slow smile formed on my face. Was she really going to challenge me?

Me: is that a challenge

Her: mayb what r u gonna do about it

Me: prove u wrong. see u in a few

I knew this was stupid, ridiculous, absolutely reckless, and stupid, but I couldn't just let her think I was a chicken. My stupid pride.

I parked a block away from hospital and walked the rest of the way. Instead of walking through the front door (that would've been the stupidest thing ever) I snuck through the back entrance.

I found myself in what looked like a lounge of some sort. There were two couches facing each other with a glass coffee table in between. A sink was in one corner, with a coffee maker currently making a cup of coffee on top of it. There were two bathrooms, and one was occupied. I heard the roll of toilet paper, and figured I needed some kind of plan before the person came out and saw me.