Obsessive, Compulsive.

Twenty Seven.

Overnight I listened to the sound of the new girl crying like music through headphones.

In a weird way it calmed me down to know that someone else was awake and upset. I didn't feel as alone.

Being up this late gave me a chance to think: I was disappointed with myself for having a panic attack. I'd been getting so much better that I'd have definitely been out of Saltridge in time for the birth of Adrianna's baby, but now I'd let myself down and had a panic attack I wasn't so sure. Everything was ruined. I had ruined it all.

Staff members were always in the centre at night. They had to be there, they couldn't just leave us here in case someone got out.

Whenever I got lonely at night I would knock on my door until someone came and found me. It was encouraging to know that people were always outside. I always hoped for either Alice or Bill to have a midnight talk with me.

That night someone came and found me, though.

The lock in my door jingled and the door quietly opened. I looked up to see Bill poking his head in. "Hiya. I'm so glad you're still up."

"You know I always am." I sat up. "What's wrong?"

"Would you do me a huge favor? Can you come and talk to the new girl? She won't listen to me. You're closer to her age, she might believe you if you tell her it's okay here." Bill asked.

"But it's not okay." I raised an eyebrow.

"Well. Just let her know we're not going to kill her. Please?"

I pushed the blanket back and stood up, straightening out my pyjamas. "What's wrong with her? The new girl."

Bill sighed. "You know I can't tell you that. She'll tell you if she wants to. But, one thing... She's from a Children's Home. An orphanage. So don't mention family. Okay?"

"Alright." I acknowledged that and followed him out into the hallway, tip-toeing until we got into the girl's room and closed the door.

She was sitting on the floor in tear stained pyjamas. Her hair was dark brown and greasy and her skin was pale and sickly. Skinny and weak, she looked malnourished.

"Hello." I said gently. The little girl didn't look up, but it wasn't enough to make me give up. "My name's Bella. I'm sixteen. What's your name?"

She still stayed quiet.

I thought about what a kind person would say in this situation. Who was the kindest person I knew? Probably Felix. What would he say in this situation?

"Do you want me to give you a nickname?" I said into the silence. My mouth turned into a smile. "My friend Robbie calls me Bean. I used to hate it but it makes me laugh now."

Silence.

"Do you know what Bella means?" I asked. She shook her head. "It means 'beautiful' in Italian. It sounds like a name that has a romantic backstory, but you want to know why my Dad chose the name? He likes pizza and pizza is Italian. Mum wouldn't let him pick any other Italian name other than Bella."

The girl giggled.

"Do you know what your name means?" I tried to get a response from her, but gained nothing. I looked up at Bill. "What does your name mean?"

"Well," He thought for a moment. "Bill is short for William, but I have no idea what William means."

"Bill is short for William?" I frowned.

Bill chuckled. "Yeah?"

"Whoa." I looked at the floor. "I had no idea."

"My name is Jules." The girl spoke up, her voice timid. "Short for Julia."

Bill's face lit up and I smiled warmly at her. "That's a beautiful name."

"Un bel nome." The girl nodded.

"Huh?" I turned my head to the side.

"It's Italian." She said. "It means 'a beautiful name.'"

"Oh!" I was impressed. "You're clever. How'd you know that?"

She shrugged. "I like to learn stuff when I'm bored."

"That's cool! I just talk with my friends when I'm bored. Do you want to be my friend and hang out with me while we're here?" I asked.

She thought for a moment before smiling. "Okay."

"My friendship group has Antonia and Eve in it. Sometimes Robbie. They'll like you." I assured her.

"Why are you in here?" She asked out of nowhere. "What's wrong with you?"

Bill opened his mouth to say something but I interrupted him. "I've got OCD."

"I've never met someone with OCD before." Julia said absent-mindedly. She paused. "Are there insane people here?"

Bill was about to talk again when I interrupted him once more. "I think the people here are misunderstood. I think that normal people might class some of us as insane, but to us we're normal. I think everyone has a different gauge of sanity, especially here."

"Is there anyone that has to wear a straight jacket?" She giggled.

"Sometimes I think we should put Robbie in a straight jacket." Bill laughed. "To stop him eating everything in the kitchen."

I smirked. "I'm going to tell him you said that."

As if on cue, the door opened and Alice stood there with Robbie. "Bill, I need to talk to you..." Alice's voice was shaky.

"Huh? What's...? Okay. Okay." Bill straightened out his shirt and walked towards the door. "Bella, keep everyone safe. Yeah?"

I nodded, and Julia, Robbie and I were closed inside the room.

"This is Robbie, the boy I told you about." I gestured. "Robbie, this is Julia. The new girl."

"Hello." Robbie waved.

"Hi." Julia smiled. "Why are you here? What's wrong with you?"

Robbie hesitated and I stared at him. I didn't know what was wrong with him, either. He never told me, and no one else felt comfortable telling me despite my begging. He wouldn't tell her, would he? Without hesitation? That wouldn't be fair.

He looked at me for a moment before looking back at Julia. "I've got autism. And some other problems that they can't really diagnose."

Oh.

"Cool." Julia smiled.

"What have you got?" Robbie asked her.

"I see things. They're imaginary friends, really, but people think I'm crazy." She explained. "There are two little girls: Eighty and One Hundred."

"Their names are numbers?" Robbie looked interested.

"Yeah. I don't know why." She smiled. "Eighty is nice, she's always around. One Hundred is evil, though. She's got big black eyes and she sits in the corner and stares."

"Are either of them here now?" Robbie glanced around the room.

Julia shook her head. "They don't like it here."

"Ah, okay." Robbie acknowledged. "When they turn up, let them know that it's not too bad here."

She smiled. "I will. I'll tell them about the kind people I've met, too."