I never would have thought sitting around doing nothing would be so amazing. It didn't matter how long I laid there, but I didn't have to go to school today! God, how messed up did I have to be to get that excited about it?

I took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling. 

All I needed to do was meet the other people here, and hope none of them were like Kendall. As if like magic, there was a knock at my door when another tall, thin kid walked through. "Sup," he said as he sat down on the other bed, "I'm your roommate."

"Oh," I said, sitting up, "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meetcha." He leaned forward and held out his hand. "Name's Zach."

I reached out and shook his hand. "I'm Robbie."

"So, how many times have you been in one of these places?" he asked

"It's my first time."

"Then if you have any questions feel free to ask me," he said as if he had experience.

"What about you?" I asked as I shifted to sitting on the edge like him.

"This is my fifth."

"Fifth? Is that normal?"

It was subtle, but I saw him bite his lip.

"Not really, no. It's your first time so it's fine, but it's best you don't act surprised by how many times people have been in here."

"Oh, umm," I stuttered as I shoved my foot in my mouth, "Sorry."

"It's alright. I'm more used to it than the others, but there are some people who went through a whole lot, and they already know how many times they've been sent here. They don't need someone making it a big deal."

Some guilt did hit me, but it seemed like it could have been a lot worse. "What should I say then?"

"Just let them know that you hear them. You don't have to say anything if you don't want to, but if you do, then tell them you understand. And if you want then you can tell them it's your first time. That's how a lot of us started to get to know each other. Just make sure you don't ask why people are in here unless they want to tell you. That's a biiig no."

"Thanks for the heads up. I'll do my best to remember that."

"Good. Now come on, some of the others want to meet you," he said as he got up and waited for me in the doorway.

Well, this seemed like the best chance I've been waiting for. I stood up and walked out with him down the hall and into the main area. 

Immediately, a bubbly girl about my height came up and hugged me out of the blue. 

"Alice," Zach said as he pulled her off me, "At least ask if it's okay to hug him first."

"Sorry," she said with a big smile and held out her hand. "I just get excited meeting new people. My name's Alice." 

I shook her hand, "I'm Robbie."

A few other people came up to us from the front, with two girls coming from behind.

One of the two that came from behind was about as tall as Zach, and had a buzz cut. The other was someone that didn't seem to want to take her eyes off the floor.

"Hey everyone," Buzz Cut said, "This is Susie."

"And this is Robbie," Zach said as he motioned to me.

 They all said hi as they pushed both Susie and myself over to the couch in the middle of the room to sit us down.

"As the two new people, we got a little initiation for you guys," Buzz Cut said, "Do either of you two not like group hugs?"

Susie and I looked at each other. "I'm fine with them," I said.

"Same," a high pitched voice came from Susie.

"Then let the initiation begin." 

All six or so of them jumped on us to start a big group hug with Susie and I at the center.

"You're awesome!"

"We love you guys!"

"You're both amazing!"

Holy fuck. This was the last thing I expected, but I couldn't have asked for a better start than being pelted by compliments. 

"Things are gonna get better!"

"You're not alone!"

"We're here if you need anything!"

I never thought I'd break out laughing and smiling right away, but here I was, smiling like an idiot.

They all got off after they were done shouting love at us, and Buzz Cut spoke up again. "You are now official members of this ward."

I sat there and rubbed my mouth. I had no idea how good it felt to have random stuff like that yelled at you, and it looked like Susie thought the same with that smile she had.

"Thank you guys," I said, "I don't even know you people, but I really needed something like that after everything."

"That's what this place is for," Zach said as he fell down next to me on the couch. "We support each other to help everyone get better."

When Dad said this place could help me, I thought it would be stuff like talking to a therapist. Not something like this.

Buzz Cut sat next to Susie and held her hand out to me. "I'm Trish,"

I took her hand and she gave me a full on death grip. "Nice to meet you."

"And that," she said as she pointed to the person on the left and went down the line, "Is Beth, Joe, Tim and you already know Alice."

There were other people around, but they kept to their own.

"It's nice to meet you all," I said, "So what exactly is going to happen here? Because this is already a lot different than I thought it'd be."

"Well, you're going to have a lot of free time, but there's stuff like group therapy," Zach said, "And you're also going to be meeting with a therapist too. Other than that there's no much else."

"Kim mentioned that group therapy thing. What's it like?" I asked.

"She'll tell you guys all that when it starts. We're going to have lunch soon and then we'll have the next meeting after dinner later tonight."

Him mentioning food reminded me that I hadn't eaten anything in days, which flipped a switch and got my body feeling weak. "Good."

As things settled down, we just sat around and watched TV as I did my best to 'shut down' so I could last until lunch. When it did, I completely threw away manners and ate as much as I could as fast as possible. I didn't even pay attention to anything or anyone around me. Not only that, but it tasted amazing! That didn't say a lot with how hungry I was, since everything would have tasted good, even this hospital food.

After that, and another hour of sitting around, Kim came up, "Alright everyone. It's time for group therapy. Gather up."

We all got up and walked over to a circle of chairs that people dragged up.

"Hello everyone, I hope today's been a good one. Robbie and Susie, I know you two missed this morning, so I'll explain to you two how this works. Every day we have everyone come up with goals that they could accomplish each day, and in each meeting we check in on how it's going with that goal. Right now, I'd like you two to think about what you'd like to accomplish this afternoon, and work towards that for the rest of the day. In the meantime, we're gonna go through everyone else. Who would like to go first?"

Alice, that super bubbly girl shot her hand up. "Can I start?"

"Of course," Kim said.

With a big smile. "It's going well. I just want to try to keep on smiling through the day and think about what I'm going to do when I get out of here,"

"That's good, but don't feel like you have to force it. It's alright to not want to smile."

"I know, but it's okay," she said with her smile still up, "I think it'll help me with everything." She sure wasn't the kind of person I expected from this place, but it was really nice to see someone like her.

"If you think that it'll help, then we want to encourage you as long as it stays healthy."

It went clockwise from her, and Trish was next.

"It's going well. I practiced with Zach a bit with saying no and not backing down. I think I got a bit of a better handle on it."

"That's fantastic," Kim said, "Do you think you'd be able to do that in a real situation yet?"

"Not sure, but I'm trying my best."

"And that's all you can ever do," Kim said, "Just do your best and keep working at it." She looked at Susie sitting next to Trish. "Did you have a goal yet, or did you need more time?"

Susie, who looked like a deer in headlights, "Can I have more time?" Susie mumbled.

"Of course, we can continue with Zach."

"Things are good. Like Trish said, I helped her out a bit, and hopefully I helped Robbie a little with getting settled," he said, motioning to me.

"That's great, but don't forget that you're here for you. How's your anger goal going?"

He scratched the back of his head, "I was able to hold it back, but it's still there."

I looked at him and could hardly believe it. Zach having anger issues? He seemed like the most chill person here.

"Being able to hold back out bursts is still a good step, and something to be proud of. Do you have any way you like to vent your anger?"

"Not anything specific. I've just been trying to keep my mind off of things by talking to people."

"That's a good method. You should look for a way to vent on your own as well. That way you can handle your anger when no one else is around to help."

"Alright," he leaned back, "I'll try and find something that works. I guess that'd be my goal tomorrow."

"Good to hear, and what about you, Robbie? Have you come up with anything, or do you need more time?"

I was so focused on listening to everyone else that I didn't come up with anything. "Could I have a little more time?"

"Sure thing," she said and went to the next person.

I gave it some thought while the others talked about their own goal progress. I was there because of Kendall, but they wanted something I could do today. Maybe just try to relax? It wasn't a big goal, but it's what I really wanted most of all.

Kim called on me again once everyone was done, "Robbie, have you thought about what you want to try to do for the rest of the afternoon?"

"Yeah. After this entire weekend I just want to be able to relax a little."

"That sounds like a great goal for your first day. Did you have any activity in mind to help you relax?"

"The people here are really nice. Maybe just play some games with them. Or just hang out after I get some rest."

"We can do that for sure," Trish said.

"Yeah," Zach said, "And we can bring in Susie if she wants as well."

Susie looked like she didn't know what she wanted, but nodded anyway.

Sitting on it, there was one thing I wanted to work through as well.

"I want to think about what I'd say to the person that's been bullying me," I said.

"While that can be therapeutic, it's important to not get too tangled up in that. If it causes you any stress, then we want you to step back from that."

"I won't push it if it gets me upset," I said.

"Good, now what about you, Susie? Have you come up with a goal yet?"

She didn't answer at first, and was still staring at the floor. "Can I say the same thing as Robbie? The relaxing part."

"Of course. That's what you guys are here for. To get back up on your feet, and if that means relaxing, then go for it."

Group therapy went on for a big longer as we talked about how people have been feeling. It was pretty nice, but my room, more so my bed, was calling to me.

"Alright, we're gonna let you guys go, and we'll see you all after dinner to talk about how the day went for everyone."

Most of everyone slowly scattered after that. Except for Zach, Trish, Susie and myself.

"You guys wanna chill after you get some rest?" Trish asked Susie and myself.

I stretched out, "Sounds good, and it's been nice to meet you guys."

I got a mix of 'nice to meet you too' as I walked to my room and fell down on the bed. 

For the next hour or two or three, I stared up at the ceiling and felt so much better than being at school.

 

---

Her dragging me down the alleyway because she got pissed.

---

 

My mind went back to what happened, but it did make me think of something.

 

---

“Tell me about whatever the hell this anima thing is."

---

 

It sounded like she didn't know what they were.

I rolled over on my side. Why else would she bring up anima if Mr. Roland didn't talk about them to her?

 

---

"We have a way to get her to stop for good."

---

 

...No. Even if Mr. Roland did have one, then he wouldn't risk getting in that much trouble just to get Kendall to wake hers up.

 

---

Kendall looking scared when she came back from the meeting.

---

 

I rolled over to my other side.

Kendall was a bitch, but I wanted to think I wasn't scared of her. Kendall with an anima though? That was fucking terrifying. If he actually woke hers up, then it's no wonder that psychotic fuck tried to kill me. How did he think that was going to work?

Finally, I went back to staring up at the ceiling.

As if I needed any other reason to hate going to school, but there was something else...

 

---

Kendall getting pissed when I brought up her family not knowing what she's like.

---

 

She was probably a perfect kid for her family. If there was anything that I could use against her, then it'd be that.

I ran my hands up and down my face and stretched out again.

It wasn't like I could do anything about it right now, so I decided it'd be best to just focus on the positives. That being that I wouldn't have to be anywhere near Kendall for a few days at least. Though I didn't actually know how long I'd be here.

Kim stuck her head through the door. "Robbie, your families here if you want to visit them."

I popped off of my bed at this really great surprise. "Yeah I do." 

"Great," she said as she led me out and down to some kind of visitor room. 

It wasn't even for a day yet, but it felt way longer than that since I was brought here. Getting to see everyone again and tell them about today was going to be one of the best. Even if things were a little boring with just laying around. I wasn't complaining though. Better than everything that was going on with Kendall for sure.

I sat down and less than a minute later my family walked in, and they all looked as excited to see me as I was them. 

"Hey son," Dad said as they sat down, "How's it been going?"

"Really good. The people here are a lot nicer than I thought they'd be."

"That's great," Mom said with a bright smile, "We were worried it wouldn't go well."

Emily rushed around the table and gave me a big hug. Seeing her smile when she saw me was just heartwarming. "I missed you, Emily."

"When are you coming home?" she asked.

"Umm, I don't actually know," I said as I looked at Dad.

"It depends how you're doing," he said, "It's around four to ten days Mr. June told me. Also before we get too into it. Sophie said she's going to be getting a ride from her dad soon, and your friend Emma is here to visit you as well if you want."

"Alright, and Emma?" I paused to think in case I somehow stupidly forgot a friends name, but nothing came up. "I don't know anyone named Emma."

Dad narrowed his eyes. "She seemed pretty tall but she was sitting down, and she had long straight blonde hair. Also her face was all beat up."

My smile dropped. "...Did she have a deep voice?"

"Yeah."

Was he fucking serious!? She was still trying to get to me!?

That anger I managed to escape thanks to this place came back twice as strong as burning in my chest.

She seriously wasn't going to let anything stop her. Even when I'm in a place like this.

My hands curled up into fists and I hugged Emily tight. 

No! I was done letting her do this to me! She pushed me this far because she didn't care what she did to me. Fine! If she wanted to go this far to try and hurt me, then it was my turn. The only way I was ever going to get her to stop was if I hurt her just as much. 

"Robbie?"

That stupid bitch probably wants to keep up that golden child bullshit for her family.

A small smile came up on me out of nowhere. 

"What's wrong?" Dad asked.

Snapping back to it, I looked at him. "She's not a friend. Her name's Kendall. The person who's been doing all that stuff."

Saying that was far easier than I thought it'd be. I didn't know if it was because I had enough of her shit, or because I was too pissed off to care anymore.

"Are you serious?" Mom said. Both her and Dad tried to hold back something, but they were probably as pissed as I was.

"I want to talk to her," I said.

"Why?" Dad asked, "I don't want her anywhere near you."

Still hugging Emily, "Because there's things I need to say. She can't do anything to me here, so it'll be fine."

"I really don't agree with this," Mom said.

"Please. I've been sitting around thinking about what I'd say to her, and I don't want to wait for it anymore if she's going to come here herself."

Mom and Dad paused for a moment and started to whisper to each other. It took a full minute before getting back to me.

"If you really want to talk to her, then we won't stop you," Dad said, "but we're going to be watching. If we see her doing anything then we're coming in and kicking her out."

"If she does anything then I'll kick her out myself."

I stopped hugging Emily so I could get up, open the door and call over one of the nurses.

"Can my dad go get someone in the waiting room that wants to visit me?"

"Yeah, that'd be fine," she said.

Dad stood up and walked out with her. While I waited, I sat down again and went back to hugging Emily some more.

One last moment of peace before I tried to fuck over Kendall as hard as possible.

 

---

Note:

Hello and thank you for reading our chapter!

We just want to real quick note for those that may have spent some time in inpatient care, or those that might in the future. The quality of these places can range from really good to absolutely horrible, but we wanted this to be a good and helpful part for Robbie. Please do not assume that all wards are like this. If you need to go to inpatient, then do your research and try to find the best one for you before going.

Thank you, and we hope you have a wonderful day!