Dear: Who Now?!

Chapter 9

We enter warily. It's a strange place. We come into an area that's like a living room that had been designed by a guy with absolutely NO taste! There's mismatched couches, an ugly wooden table, a bookshelf, and a hideous blue-ish rug! The walls are big white cinder blocks - the kind that's used in schools, with all kinds of weird paintings all over them. We take it all in for minute, then notice small hallways everywhere. We head to our left and turn into the left room. People look up as we enter and they smile. "Hi!" A woman with curly brown hair and caramel looking skin greets us. "Hi." We utter back nervously. "I'm Cindy!" She holds her hand out and mom shakes her hand. She holds her hand out to me but I don't take it. Mom elbows me and shoots me one of her famous looks which equal to 'Do what's expected or so help me God!' I ignore it and Cindy gets the point and drops her hand but not her smile or her high energy level. God - Why is everyone around here so full of energy? Cindy starts talking a mile a minute. "So how long ya here for? Which room would ya like to stay in? We have plenty of rooms as well as beds! It's like a giant slumber party full of strangers!" She goes on and on, not giving mom time to answer and almost seems to forget we're here. Mom lightly clears her throat which seems to get Cindy's attention and shut her up. "We'll take whatever room is open." Mom states. Cindy nods her head and looks around the room a second then back to us. "This room has two beds open - how convenient! You can stay here!" She bables. Seemingly stuck, mom nods her head and Cindy leads us to the two beds that are oh so conveniently open - How lucky...

After getting settled and showing our suitcases under the bottom bunk- yup, you heard that right - We got stuck with BUNK BEDS! That's all they have here. Anyway, after all that Cindy gives us a tour and I learn there's two bathrooms in our group room and communal showers down the hall. A kitchen, a mini fridge in our room! The living room that we walked into upon arrival and god knows what else. After our "wonderful" tour from Miss Loudmouth, mom encouraged me to take a shower, so I did.

For all the rooms this place has, you'd think the group room's shower would be big - but it isn't!  I look at it in disgust and wonder if I'm even going to be able to fit in it. I undress and start to lift my leg over the lip of the tub but suddenly stop. Lowering my leg again I glare at this "shower/tub" in newfound disgust - I just can't get over how small it is! I doubt a small child would barely be able to fit in it! I let out a sigh and suddenly think of something else - What if this hostel place is a nudist colony or something - or an undercover brothel?! I mean it does rhyme.. Hostel brothel. Just saying... I feel the panic rising in my chest and quickly try my hardest to squash it. Turning on the water and gathering all my supplies I go to get in the shower again but then realize two thing. 1. I still have all my makeup on and it's waterproof. and 2. I haven't locked the door. Sooo once again I postpone my shower and look around a second. Thank God! There's makeup wipes in here! Quickly I get to work scrubbing the shit off my face. Once done I look at my once white makeup wipes that are now fully black. Tossing them in the small waste basket next to the toilet, I spin around once more, making sure there is a lock on the door and twisting it. I tug on the door handle to make sure the door is locked. Turning from the door, I notice the room is full of steam. Quickly I hop in the shower and feel the burning hot water hit me. 

Not even five minutes into my shower my stupid brain starts up again "What if this tub is full of nasty germs and you catch them?"  Quickly, my eyes dart around as if I can see the so - called "nasty germs" that my subconscious just told me about. I try to relax and brush it off but the bitch returns! "What is someone was murdered right here in this very spot and your standing in an old crime scene where a dead body was! Just think about that!" The little voice inside me says, seeming proud of her thought. Unable to tolerate that very thought, my breathing picks up pace, the water seems to burn me. I can't breathe. I can't hear the water. I jump out of the shower and quickly sit on the floor. The voice comes back. "Tsk tsk. You were in the middle of getting all clean and now you're sitting on a dirty floor that hasn't been cleaned in God knows how long and who knows what's happened on this floor..." I can clearly hear the smirk in the voice. Disgusted I get up and unlock the door. I go flying out of the bathroom, into the bedroom we're staying in and run right into my mother. 

She's sitting on my bunk bed and looks up suddenly. "O? Are you okay?" She asks me worridley. I don't respond. "O?" She says my name again questioningly. I still don't respond. I'm frozen in my spot, reliving what the voice in the back of my mind said to me- not a voice! My subconscious! Suddenly she's next to me. I don't realize that until she touches my arm and makes me jump like ten feet in the air. "Ophelia? Honey? Are you okay? What's wrong?" Mom's staring into my eyes and I can clearly see the worry in them. That pushes me out of my trance and I start moving about but then I realize I'm just picking up random things, muttering, and placing it down, over and over again. Finally mom grabs my hands so tightly I can't move. "Ophelia Hope! Please! I need you to calm down! Honey - What's wrong?!" She asks me starting to sound hysterical herself. I tug as hard as I can to get out of her grip and finally I do and I go straight to my suitcase. I begin pulling clothes out and dressing, all the while my back turned on my mother and I try to make sentences but it's hard and I can't get much out. As I'm running out the door of the room, I utter. "Gotta get outta here!" And run out. 

Navigating through the long hallways is damn near impossible in my current state of mind. Finally - somehow - I make it outside. I take in deep lungfuls of breath and let them out. It's like I've just escaped a horror house in a movie and I'm glad to be free anad to be breathing fresh air. Not all there, I begin to wander around the building and slowly run my fingers against it as I walk. Once in the back of this weirdly shaped building, I see a picnic table. Walking over to it, I immediately choose to sit on the table part and rest my feet on the seat of the table. As I sit, I take in the building and finally realize how strange it is. It's a white building but there's scribbles all over it. All I can think of is how it looks like an adult coloring book that needs to be filled in. From where I'm sitting, I realize that they aren't all scribbles - they're drawings; and while some are still white and need to be colored in, some are. Furrowing my brows in confusion, I continue to stare at it. That is, until a voice scares me from my thoughts and I jump. Looking around, I see a boy or man? That looks exactly like David Henrie! "Pretty cool huh?" He asks me while staring at the wall with a smile on his face. I don't answer. So he continues. "Yeah, I heard that they made this so artistic people can let their creative juices flow." He says laughing. He seems to never shut up and continues on again. "Did ya know that anyone can use the wall." He pauses a minute before continuing. "To draw on, write on, fill in where color is needed. It's all for free use too! And the best part - You won't get in trouble!" He says excitedly. "You can pretend you're being a badass and grafetiting a building but there's no repercussions!" He finally shuts up and looks at me. "Wow! You look like a ghost!" He gets closer to me and intently looks at my face. Disgustedly, I pull back. Sadly, he has to let the stupidity come out of his mouth. "Why do you have so little eyebrows? Ya'know, you're kinda like a featureless alien!" Now, highly offended, I do the only thing that crosses my mind - I slap this kid across the face with all my might and take off!