A girl at the tender age of sixteen years old, walks home from a long day school. She speeds up when the feeling that she is being followed begins eating her up.
At night, she sits on her bed and finishes her homework for the next day. She closes her curtains because she swears she saw a camera flash just outside her bedroom window.
A random, normal day includes her going to the mall with friends. She finds herself constantly looking over her shoulder. She swears she has seen this person in every store she has been in.
Each time she goes out, everywhere she goes, she is watching her and she can feel her eyes on her constantly.
One day, she not only follows her back to her house, she follows her inside too. Up until that day, she never made any direct contact with the girl. Now, she finally wants to meet her after watching from afar for so long. She has had enough of keeping her distance. She wants to really get to know her now.
She hid in the girl's bedroom closet while she made herself an after-school snack in the kitchen. She sits down at the table with her food and starts her homework. She sends her girlfriend a quick text before returning to her work.
She sits.
She waits.
She has been following her for weeks. She knows her entire schedule: her every move. She knows her parents will not be home until much later.
Eleven o'clock to be exact.
Hours go by and the girl is finally ready to sleep. She wanders up to her bedroom and climbs into her warm bed. She curls into the blankets. They are very warm tonight. Unusually warm.
Just as she closes her eyes, the closet door opens. She opens her eyes and lifts her head to see what the disturbance is. That is when she sees her, standing in the middle of her bedroom.
She screams and immediately calls the police.
She begged the girl not to call anyone. She tells her she would never hurt her. She loves her. She only wants to get to know her.
But the terrified girl called the police anyways.
That was the last time she was able to see her. She had to run for her life when she dialed 911. She knew his would for sure mean she would be dealt a punishment. She doesn't want to be punished for loving someone.
A manhunt pursued for almost a week before she was found hiding in a local cemetery. The owner of the land called the police to report her suspicious activity within the graveyard. She was unable to avoid police any longer and was quickly brought into custody after that.
From that moment on, she sat in a dirty jail cell while he impatiently waited for the fair trial the U.S. constitution promises her.
The girl did not go to school for a few weeks after the incident. She did not feel safe leaving her house anymore. Then again, she didn't feel safe being inside her house either. She made her lose complete sense of safety everywhere she went.
During her trial, the girl takes the stand to explain her side of what happened between her and the defendant. She stares at the girl nonstop. She thinks she looks beautiful up there. She sees her staring. She wishes she was somehow hidden from her view.
She describes the feeling of being watched day and night. She tells the judge exactly how uncomfortable she became even in the safety of her own home. She tells everyone in the room of how she can't sleep at night until she and her parents search every inch of the house for intruders. And how even after the house has been checked, she needs to take prescription pills to force herself to sleep.
Her lawyers beg for her to be considered mentally unfit for trial. They had doctors test the young woman. Her lawyers believe she needs help from professional doctors. The doctors who ran these tests full-heartedly agree with the determination by the lawyers.
This woman is mentally ill.
The judge sentences the young woman to at least four years in a rehabilitation facility that will focus on making her better.
For the next four years, she will spend all of her days and all of her nights surrounded by highly skilled doctors and other patients like her in search of a cure for their sickness.
AN: thanks so much for reading this story. I hoped you liked the first chapter!
Ps. This chapter is very short for a reason. I promise the following chapters will be much longer!
Let me know if it is hard to follow since both main characters are female and nameless in this chapter!
