Characters were updated
Ferdinand was sat down at a circular table with five unoccupied chairs. The nurse with him pushed his chair into the table and walked away briefly to get his meal.
While she was gone, another nurse with two kids walked in. She sat them down in the chairs, telling them to be good, before running off to get their food.
The first one, a boy with a dark complexion, brown eyes, and black hair, smiled at him.
"Hello!" He shouted, way too enthusiastic.
The girl with him turned to look at him slowly an shushed him loudly. She had long brown hair and brown eyes.
"Avery, Michael, be nice." A nurse chirped, pushing two more kids to sit down, then walking to the other nurses.
The boy that had just sat down looked up with an emotionless face. "Who are you?"
Ferdinand Was taken aback by the sudden hostility of the boy. He didn't even know him yet. He felt like crying.
The boy stared at him expectantly. "Well?"
Ferdinand jumped out of his daze and picked up his whiteboard with trembling fingers. He wrote a quick 'Ferdinand' across the board and held it up so they could see.
The boy nodded in understanding and frowned. "That's a nice name."
Ferdinand was beyond confused now. His face and emotion didn't match his words.
"Anyways, I'm Foster," he continued with the frown. "I'm here for depression and not being able to match my emotions with what I'm saying."
Ferdinand nodded slowly.
The girl who came in with him bit her lip. "I'm M-Mal. I'm h-here for P-PTSD and a-an eating disorder."
"I'm Michael! I'm here for autism and bipolar disorder!" He smiled.
"I'm Avery. I'm here for Torretts and ADHD," she smiled kindly, her hand twitching.
The nurses walked back with their food and set it down in front of them. "Mal, Ferdi, you have to eat the whole meal."
Ferdinand sighed and started eating the food slowly. It was surprisingly good, but he knew he couldn't keep it down.
The nurses walked to their own table, a different nurse he hadn't noticed before sitting down in the open spot between Foster and Mal.
Mal seemed to eat her food well. Lucky.
Ferdinand stood up halfway through his food, his face pale white as he started gagging. The nurse with him quickly took him to the trash can, where he emptied the contents of his stomach.
The nurse rubbed his back and helped him back to his table. "Alright, that's...a start."
Ferdinand sighed. He just wanted to get better.
It seemed too far away.
—
"So, What are you here for, Ferdinand?" Avery asked, kicking her feet back and forth and leaning forward eagerly.
Ferdinand took out his whiteboard again and wrote slowly, trying to delay the time. He didn't want these strangers to know.
'Schizophrenia, PTSD, Depression, eating disorder, self harm,panic attacks, muteness, and anxiety' he wrote, debating whether or not he should turn it around.
"You'll have to tell them at some point today. You should do it now. They won't judge you," the nurse piped up.
Ferdinand nodded and slowly turned the board around.
The others nodded in understanding.
Ferdinand was taken aback. No pointing fingers, sympathetic glances, laughs, jokes, or mean words.
For once, he felt like he belonged.
Chapter 3 =^_^=
I'm really excited for this book. For the disorders, I experience them or have friends that experience most of them. Some of them I'm not so sure about. Please tell me if I get anything wrong, it would be a big help.
Thank you
~Pastel
(Pronounced Pay-Steel)
