Okay guys! Here's the first chapter of my new story. I hope you guys like it and please review.
She kept running. Her chest heaved up and down as she turned the corner, leaves crunching under her feet. She frantically looked behind herself as the sirens began to become louder and louder. She quickly dodged into someone's yard, taking a shortcut through their backyard. In an attempt to hop over their fence, her jeans got caught on a nail.
"Crap!" She yanked and yanked until the material finally ripped free and she continued to run. "These were sixty bucks."
This was the fourth time she had found herself running from the police. She mentally kicked herself for forgetting to remember to get Puck to be her spotter. It was really stupid how it happens to be so recently that she keeps getting caught. She had been shop lifting since she was eleven years old and she had gotten real good. Guess she just became cocky and careless.
This time had been so stupid. She casually walked through the store like she always did, looking for something worth snatching. It was all pretty boring until she saw a necklace that caught her eye. It was a silver necklace with four little crystal music notes on it. Not even looking at the price, she picked it up and walked toward the mirror. She held it up to her neck and smiled. She and Puck had come up with many clever strategies as how to steal something without getting caught. It took them years to perfect, but they never failed. Until now.
Suddenly, the necklace fell to the floor, and she walked over to a rack nearby. She pulled on a shirt until it too fell onto the floor. Bending down, she simultaneously picked up both the shirt and necklace with the same hand, only to drop the necklace into her purse. When she was at full height, she looked around to see if anyone had witnessed her act. When it appeared no one had, the girl smiled and put the shirt back on the rack. She had just stepped out of the door of the store when a person came crashing into her, causing her to fall over and all the contents of her purse to spill out, including the necklace.
"Hey, that girl tried to steal that necklace!" Her neck snapped to find another customer flagging down an employee, who picked up the phone. She knew what was coming and did the only thing she could think of. She ran.
So, that's how she got to running across town, trying to get to Puck's house before the police got to her. She really thought she was going to get away, but when she came out of that neighborhood, two police cars were coming right toward her. She booked it in the other direction, eventually tripping over her ripped jeans. She got up and was about to keep running when a cold hand wrapped itself around her arm. She was whipped around to face the intense stare of a tall blonde woman in a police uniform.
"Miss Lopez, you are in serious trouble."
Santana sat with her arms across her chest in one of those courtroom chairs. It wasn't even one of the cool looking courtrooms like in Law & Order. Just some boring little room with four chairs and a Judge's stand.
"Miss Lopez," Judge Figgins started, looking down on her, "this is the fourth time you have been caught stealing this month! Do you have any idea how serious this matter has become?"
Santana just shrugged her shoulders.
The judge continued. "You can't be bailed out by your parents anymore. You will have to go to trial, and since you're seventeen, I guarantee they will try to try you as an adult! Do you know what that means?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
Santana immediately stood up in her chair. "Wait, Judge Figgins, I can't go to prison! I have a life, I'm only seventeen!" She was panicking. Prison? Theirs is no chance in hell she would survive in prison.
"Well, I guess you should have thought of that before committing felonies, Miss Lopez." Figgins replied pointedly.
Santana fell back down in her seat, putting her head in her hands. She could feel a major headache coming on.
"There is the matter of a plea bargain to discuss…"
Her head shot up. She gave the judge a skeptical look. "What's a plea bargain?"
"A plea bargain is when a person pleads guilty for a lesser charge. If you were to consider a plea bargain, you could get off with a couple of weeks of community service." Figgins cleared his throat.
"Yes! Yes, I'll do the plea bargain thing, the community service. I'll do anything not to go to prison." Santana felt like she was begging. She was the resident bad ass in Columbus, Ohio. She's never begged for anything. But this time she was desperate.
Figgins simply nodded. "Alright, I will set up a program of community service for you and contact you or your parents on the information needed." He looked at her serious then, "Now Santana, just because this program will 'get you off the hook' or whatever you kids are saying now, doesn't mean this will be your free pass to do it again. I will be assigning you a parole officer as well to keep you out of further trouble. Is that clear?"
Santana nodded. "Yes, Your Honor."
Judge Figgins smiled. "Great, so it is settled," he picked up a piece of paper and examined it before writing something on the paper and handing it down to Santana. "You will be performing six weeks of community service at the Lima County Mental Institution in Lima, Ohio. You will room with one of your advisors at the institute."
"Mental Institute?"
She was doing community service at a freaking mental institute! She'll be stuck around a bunch of crazies for six weeks. How much worse could her life really get?
"Oh, and Santana? Meet your new parole officer, Sue Sylvester."
Santana looked at the door to find the very same tall blonde woman whose arm had brought her to her doom.
Officer Sylvester stared at her with that same intense glare. But this time, it was matched with a cynical grin as well. "Nice to meet you, Miss Thang."
Oh, great.
The next Monday after her court encounter, it was time for her departure to Loonytown. Her parents had packed everything in her car and got her set up to drive to wherever the hell Lima, Ohio was. Once packed, she said goodbye and another round of sorry's to her parents and her little brother, Carlos. After she left her house, she stopped at Puck's to say goodbye. They had been bros forever. It was hard to say goodbye.
"Dude, have fun with all the nutjobs. I won't be surprised if you come back crazy yourself." Puck playfully ruffled her hair and gave her a hug.
"You know, out of the two of us, I always thought you were the one going to end up in jail." Santana joked.
Puck put a hand on this chest and feigned hurt. "Ouch, Santana!"
The two burst out laughing until they were interrupted by Officer Sylvester calling her to get her butt on the road. They hugged again and after that she was by herself, driving to her fate because of some stupid mistake.
"I hate my life."
Five and a half hours later, Santana pulled up to a depressing looking building with the words 'Lima County Mental Institution' writes across the top. She figured she was in the right place.
When she walked inside, she swore she was in some kind of movie or something. There were people spread out all around the front room. There was a woman in the far corner making a bear out of cotton balls. There was a nurse trying to calm down this child who was screaming profusely. And there was a man eating a plastic plant.
"Dear lord, what have I gotten into?"
She cautiously walked up to the front desk, where a young woman was typing away at the computer frantically. She had been standing there for five minutes before she cleared her throat, finally making her presence known. The woman looked up, looking startled.
"Oh, hello. How may I help you, sweetie?" Santana examined the woman's appearance. She couldn't be more than twenty-three and she had short black hair and soft eyes.
Santana placed a hair behind her ear. "Um, I'm Santana Lopez. I'm not sure if someone told you about me-"
"Yes! Santana, your parole officer has informed us about your arrival. We are very glad to have your help around here. As you can kind of see, we really need it." She laughed nervously, looking at all the crazies in the front room. "I'm Olivia, by the way. I'm the receptionist. I will just call your supervisor to let her know that you're here." She smiled before picking up the phone on the desk.
While Olivia was on the phone, Santana took the opportunity to look around more closely. She noticed how sickly the place looked on the inside. The wallpaper was an unsettling shade of green and peeling in some places. There was a sitting area to the right that consisted of smelly polyester chairs and a wooden table in the middle with nothing on it except for a rubber duck. All the plants were fake and there was nothing in sight that could be in any way considered sharp or dangerous.
In short, the place looked boring as hell.
The sound of Olivia calling her name brought Santana's attention away from her head.
"Your advisor will be down to greet you in a moment. We really are glad you are here Santana. I'm sure you will be a help to all the patients here." Olivia smiled before turning back to her computer.
For a second Santana wondered how much the staff was told about her, but she shook it off and decided she was just being nice. A few seconds later, a short, plump woman came tumbling down the hall.
"You must be Santana Lopez, our new volunteer!" The woman exclaimed cheerily, tumbling over to Santana, giving her a squeeze.
"Yes, I am." Santana spoke, shyly.
"No need to be timid dear, you will get comfortable soon enough. My name is Gracie Moore, and I will be your advisor for your community service program the judge has set up for you."
"Nice to meet you, Gracie."
"It's a pleasure to have you. Now, if you will follow me, I will take you up to your room and explain to you what you will be doing for the next six weeks. C'mon." Gracie motioned Santana to follow her and the two left the lobby with all of Santana's belongings up to the third floor where all the employees stay. It is a twenty-four hour job so that they have someone on hand in case an emergency happens in the middle of the night.
They arrived at a door with the number twenty-two on the front. Gracie unlocked the door and revealed the inside. Santana walked in and sat on the bed. It was small, but efficient. There was a bed and a desk with a computer on it, as well as an empty bookshelf and a small closet. There was a window next to her bed overlooking the parking lot.
"I hope it's to your liking." Gracie chimed from the doorway.
Santana nodded. "Yes, this is nice."
Gracie walked in and sat in the chair next to the desk. She handed Santana a folder with a bunch of papers and documents in it.
"Here at Lima County Mental Institute, each of our employees is assigned a group of patients to become their aid. They give them their medications, take them on walks around the garden, sit in on therapy session, and simply hang out with them if they get lonely. They basically do everything they can to advise the patient to help them get better and maintain their illnesses." She paused, making sure Santana got all of that.
When Santana nodded, Gracie continued.
"Since you are only a volunteer and lack the training the other employees have, we will only be assigning you one patient." Gracie pointed to the folder in Santana's hands. "All you need to know about your patient is in that folder. From medical records to schedules for their therapy. Do not lose them. They are very important papers and highly confidential."
Santana nodded. "Yes, I promise I won't lose them."
Gracie smiled then her face seemed to soften. "Your patient is one of our more tragic cases. I advise you be very gentle with her and everything will go smoothly. Poor little thing," Gracie shook her head in sympathy, "Anyway, in the closet are your uniforms and on the desk I have put your work schedule. You work every day from ten to nine, except for Wednesdays. You have those days off. Anymore questions and you can come find me or any other employee. Got it?"
"I think I got. Thanks Gracie."
"No, thank you sweetie. I'm just positive Rachel will love you!"
And with that, the plump woman left, leaving the criminal alone in her room. Santana sighed heavily, falling back on the bed. She looked up at the boring, white ceiling.
"This job is a freaking piece of work." She muttered to herself.
She got up and opened up her closet door. Inside there was a blue collared dress with her name and LCMI stitched on the front. There was also a pair of khaki pants a blue polo shirt with the same stitching.
After a while of just sitting and moping, Santana had herself unpacked and bored as hell. She picked up the file Gracie gave her. She was curious as to what insane person she was to become a slave for.
The first paper inside was a birth certificate.
Rachel Barbra Berry. Born on the eighteenth of December, 1994 at 7:45 a.m. 7 pounds, 9 ounces. Birth Father: Hiram Berry. Birth Mother: Shelby Corcoran. Adoptive Parents: Hiram and Leroy Berry.
So she and this Rachel chick were the same age. That seemed like it would be kind of awkward.
Santana shrugged her shoulders and went onto the next paper. It was a doctor's report.
Based on many tests performed over the course of her arrival, I have come to the conclusion that the patient, Rachel Berry, suffers from mild memory loss and slight hallucinations. Nothing too serious, however things may change in the future.
~Dr. Phillip Grey, PhD.
Santana looked through a couple of more papers before getting ultimately more bored. Her stomach growled and she realized she hasn't eaten since breakfast that morning. She got up and went to go find the commissary.
The commissary was on the main floor, just to the left of the main lobby. As Santana guessed, it was a big, white, boring room without sharp objects. She bought herself a salad before sitting down at one of the tables.
"Are you new?"
A voice from behind made Santana turn around. Standing with trays of food were two blonde girls, who looked similar to her age.
"I'm not a patient if that's what you're thinking." Santana replied with a little edge in her voice.
"Then what are you?" The same blonde said again, with an eyebrow raised.
"I'm a volunteer. Now that we have that cleared up, why don't you go somewhere else. I likes to eat in peace." Whoever this chick was, she was really getting on Santana's nerves. Just the way she was standing gave Santana the instinct that this girl felt like she was in charge.
Instead of leaving like Santana asked, the two girls placed their trays across from her and sat down at the table.
Santana sighed, and put her fork down. "May I help you ladies?"
The same blonde just gave her a winning smile. It was kind of creepy in Santana's opinion.
"We just wanted to welcome you. I've never seen you around before, so you are obviously new."
"Yeah, well like I said, I'm not a patient."
"Oh, we know. We would have seen you at the morning assembly if you were a patient." The blonde stuck out her hand, "I'm Quinn, and this is Brittany." Santana looked a the other blonde who had yet to say a word.
"Nice to meet you Quinn. I'm assuming you two are patients?" Santana raised an eyebrow. She was getting the crazy vibes.
Quinn huffed and crossed her arms across her chest. "Unfortunately."
Santana laughed. "And what is a pretty thing like you doing in a Crazy House?"
Quinn rolled her eyes. "I fainted at my birthday party from my anorexia. My parents thought that was a justifiable reason to send me here."
"Wait, that's it? That's nothing." Santana commented.
"Tell me about it."
Santana pointed over to Brittany who was playing with the ends of her hair. "What's she in for?"
Quinn looked at her friend then back to Santana. "She doesn't talk."
"She doesn't talk? Like, ever?"
Quinn shrugged. "Ever since the eighth grade, she has spoken a word. We went to school together."
Santana shook her head. "Wow,"
She noticed Quinn's attention turned to something coming from behind Santana. Quinn nudged the blonde's arm and pointed, getting Brittany's attention. "Crazy and ten o'clock."
Santana turned around to see what they were looking at. "What are you guys talking about?"
"See that brunette sitting by herself next to the potted plant?" Quinn asked.
Santana's eyes wandered until they settled on a girl with long brunette hair and a big nose. She was staring over at the television, eating a carrot stick.
"Yeah?"
"That's Rachel Berry. She's the craziest person here. And there are a lot of nut jobs here."
Santana's head snapped back at Quinn. "Wait, that's Rachel Berry?"
Quinn nodded and Brittany nodded. "Yep. Though she really is borderline mental. I wouldn't go near her if I were you."
Then Quinn's watch beeped.
"Oh, Brittany and I have group therapy in five minutes, we better get going." The two blondes stood up and Quinn threw away her untouched food. "We'll see you around…" Quinn paused and Santana realized she never told them her name.
"Santana." She stated.
Quinn smiled. "Well, we'll see you around Santana." She turned to leave and Brittany smiled and waved.
Once again, she was alone, but she was more focused on this Rachel girl. Despite Quinn and Brittany's accusations, she looked pretty normal. More than that, Santana was intrigued with her appearance. She was…quite beautiful. Whether she was crazy or not, Santana would find out soon enough.
"This is going to be interesting."
So that was the first chapter of Losing Your Memory! I hoped you guys liked it and please review! I'm trying to top my first story In Her Eyes.
-Katie