Hey, so, this isn't my first fanfic, but it's my first in a year, so go easy. Feel free to give constructive criticism and comments in the reviews.
A few notes: I'm trying to make the ward experience as accurate as I can based off of my own experience and what I've read about others. As far as characters go, you might notice that Rosalie's bears a resemblance to Lisa from Girl Interrupted. I did this on purpose, as she is based off of that character. The characters at first may seem somewhat unlikeable, but they grow as people as the story goes on. They are, of course, getting treatment for these kinds of faults.
This wasn't the first time Bella had visited a shrink. Hell, it wasn't the hundredth time she'd seen one. This was, however, the first time she would be seeing a shrink under the roof of a psychiatric hospital.
She'd heard stories about the facility. Rumors about how it was dirty, dark, and locked down like a prison. The only accurate description was the lockdown. She'd gone through at least ten different doors that needed a key card to open. However, the building was spotless. It sort of smelled like a dentist office. That too clean scent. The lights hurt her eyes. Yes. This was exactly like her dentist's office.
"When do I get to go home?" she asked the psychiatrist, her voice shaking. She was ready to fall on her knees and beg, she did not want to stay in a state hospital.
The psychiatrist, a tall blond man, probably in his early forties gave her an amused look, as if she'd said a joke he'd already heard before. "You're getting a little ahead of yourself, you just got admitted." He opened her file, turning a few pages, but, of course, making sure Bella couldn't see anything.
Bella scowled. It was ridiculous, so stupid, how therapists stuffed book after book with information on one patient, yet the subject would never be allowed to see. She disliked shrinks. They were paid to write shit down and wait it out until their patients either killed themselves or had some amazing revelation on their own. It bothered her, no, it sickened her to no end that people were making money off of the sorrows of others. Not to mention after years of experience, she could confidently say that therapy does not work. At least, not for her.
She turned her attention once again to the shrink, noting that the name Cullen was neatly carved into the large wooden desk. "I don't belong here," she insisted, feeling the anger spike in her voice. "I'm not crazy."
Dr. Cullen shrugged. "We don't like to use terminology like 'crazy'" he explained as if he were talking to a toddler. "Do you really think you'd be okay leaving today?"
Bella scowled. Of course she'd be okay. A week in the hospital, and a scare like this one, she'd never attempt suicide again. Or if she did, she'd make sure she succeeded. "Yes," she answered confidently.
"Then would you like to talk about what happened that night?" he asked, glancing observantly at Bella. She hated how shrinks looked at people. Like some kind of fucking game to them, an abstract puzzle for them to take apart and then put back together, but this time making it ordinary, acceptable to society. She found the whole thing preposterous.
"Which night?" she asked innocently, although she knew exactly what night the psychiatrist was referring to. He looked expectantly at her. After a few moments, realizing her stalling tactics wouldn't work on him, she shrugged. "I tried to kill myself."
Dr. Cullen nodded, pressing his pen between his lips as if he were deep in some thought. How bullshitish. "And why did you do that?"
"Because I wanted to die." Bella would not allow this man to get into her head. She would not lie, because lying was stupid, but she would not tell the truth. Because to her, the truth felt pretty stupid too.
Bella had intended to kill herself months before she had executed her plan. This planning started first in November as an impulse, something she would do whenever she was upset, and then became much more real in January, when she began to cut herself. And then, as the beginning of spring began to edge closer and closer, she finally did it. She was original about it too. She wasn't about to do something so played out, like down a bottle of aspirin, or slit her wrists in a bath tub. No, she was original through and through. So she ate probably a thousand seeds from a datura plant growing in her yard.
She had always been fascinated with the pretty white flowers growing in her yard, always been drawn to the spiky pods dangling from its branches. One day in March her curiosity drove her to google the plant, where she discovered how potent a poison it was. This was when she realized how easy it would be to end it all. She had everything she needed growing in her yard.
Bella hadn't bothered to write a note to anyone. Who cared enough to read something like that? Plus the commonality of it all made her gag. She had to be different. Something in her head told her it was the only way to live, or in this case, die. She hadn't made an attempt to contact anyone either. What was the point? She didn't want to be talked out of it, and she didn't care what anyone else said. Not that they had much to say. Bella didn't have much of a reason to live.
Then again, she didn't have much of a reason to die. Yeah, her girlfriend dumped her, so what? Bella felt a stab of self-loathing. How stupid of her. How played out. At least she could almost say her death was original, if her reason was not.
Bella stared blankly at Dr. Cullen. She had quite a legendary pokerface. Too bad she didn't play poker. "Why did you want to die?" the doctor pressed, and Bella could hear the irritation start to show in his voice.
"Why do I need a reason to want to die?" Bella countered, as if what her psychiatrist had asked was the most ridiculous question she's ever heard. He raised a brow and Bella continued. "People who have a reason to live, when that runs out, they don't have a reason anymore. They're a waste of space."
"And what was your reason?" Dr. Cullen asked expectantly.
My girlfriend. Bella thought bitterly, however, the words that came out of her mouth were completely different and untrue. "I never had one. That's why I tried to kill myself."
Dr. Cullen nodded. "I think during your stay here, we'll end up filling that void. We'll help you find your reason." Bella smiled and nodded, happy her stupid interview was over. She'd just have to put a smile on her face and fake it till she made it. She was used to doing that anyway.
Dr. Cullen dialed a short number on his phone, calling an aid. "I need someone to escort Miss Swan to her room," he requested into the receiver. A few moments later a group of three men in scrubs came into the office, their steps almost in sync. If Bella wasn't so irritated, she would have found it rather comical.
"Which room?" one of the men asked gruffly.
"Fourty-six," Dr. Cullen answered, not bothering to look up from his paperwork. Bella wondered if she would have a roommate and felt a small shudder wrack her lithe form. She did not want to share a room with a crazy person.
The men nodded, wordlessly gesturing for Bella to follow them. She glanced, unsure if she should listen to the authority there or cause trouble. As if reading her mind, the one closest to her, a thin man with a peppery receding hairline shook his head. "Don't try anything," he warned. "We will tranquilize you if we have to."
Bella nodded, coming to terms with the fact that she would most likely be staying here for at least the next couple days. She would be on her best, happiest behavior, and when she saw the doctor again, he would be signing her out of this shitty place. Still, that thought didn't stop her from flipping him off as the door closed behind her.
They must have gone through another ten locked doors before finally reaching the adolescent part of the facility. Bella glanced through the thick, most likely shatterproof glass of the doors, making awkward eye contact with a few girls who were drawing with markers on the floor. The door behind them locked shut as the door to the ward opened. "And here we are," the receding hairline man announced, letting Bella walk hesitantly into the hall. The patients made no attempt to leave, nor did they make any to greet the new girl. Bella was fine with that though. The less attention from these weirdos the better. Not to mention everyone in the hall looked to be about fourteen, three years junior to Bella.
Bella turned around to ask where her room was, but the men had already unlocked the first door and begun to walk away. She heard the door click shut, and she knew she wouldn't be able to rely on any help from them. She surveyed her surroundings. In the center of the hall, there was a large receptionist desk, with a small storage room next to it. She walked over, avoiding the kids on the floor.
"Hi, I'm Bella Swan, apparently I have a room somewhere here?" Bella asked the woman at the desk. She paid no attention to Bella, instead examining a line on a paper before grabbing the phone and dialing a number at record speed.
"Hi! I haven't seen you around before!" a voice chirped behind her, making Bella jump almost a foot into the air. "Sorry," the voice giggled. "I'm Alice."
Bella turned, expecting another child. The girl, Alice, however, was rather attractive. Not really her type. She wasn't really into the short, dark pixie hair cut kind of girl, but she'd probably go there if she had the chance. She looked about the same age as Bella, maybe even older. "Hi," Bella greeted, not sure what else to say.
"You might be rooming with me and my roommate," Alice announced, sounding rather happy. "They moved another cot into our room, and there aren't any other new kids today..."
Bella smiled, glad she got someone who seemed relatively normal and was at the very least friendly. "That's good," she sighed, relief showing in her voice. "I thought I was going to have to room with some weirdo…
Alice grinned a secretive, mischievous grin. "I think that's the first time I've ever been referred to as 'not a weirdo,'" she laughed, causing Bella to blush slightly in embarrassment, feeling flustered that this girl was laughing at her. "Don't worry, I'll prove you wrong," Alice promised.
"Alice, are you bothering people again?" a soft, icy voice questioned. The most beautiful girl that had ever graced the air around Bella was leaning casually against the doorframe of one of the rooms. She shook her head, her straight, platinum blonde hair grazing her forehead before she delicately brushed it to the side. Bella couldn't take her eyes off of her. She was breathtaking, with perfect breasts, long legs, and a toned but not overly muscular figure. And her eyes… They were such a deep blue, they could almost be described as purple.
She must have realized that Bella was staring, because her expression went from looking somewhat annoyed, to extremely amused. Bella frowned, feeling flustered by the beautiful blonde. Her discomfort was obviously humorous to the girl, because she snickered almost dangerously, turning coyly to show off her perfect ass. "You like what you see?" she questioned Bella.
Bella blinked, surprised at the girl's forwardness. "Um..." she started but the girl cut her off.
"Well, I don't like what I see, so stop fucking staring at me..." she snarled, turning into her room and slamming the door behind her.
"Sorry," Alice squeaked, clearly used to the coldness of the other girl. "That's my, well, I guess our roommate..." she explained in discomfort.
"Doors open, Rose," the receptionist shouted, before getting up and walking over to the group of younger patients.
Bella heard a small amount of rustling before the door slammed open, smashing against the wall opposite of it. She was now shirtless, though still, to Bella's disappointment, in her bra. "I guess there's no fucking privacy around here," she snarled. She shoved Bella out of the way, before grabbing a pen off of the receptionist desk. "Are you worried I'm going to do this?" she asked, aiming the pen at her throat. Several orderlies had begun to make their way over to her. She tossed the pen at one, narrowly missing his eye, before retreating back into her room, though this time leaving the door open.
Bella blinked, amazed. She should be concerned, weirded out by 'Rose's' psycho behavior, but she found the whole outburst kind of sexy. She groaned internally. It was just like her to drool over the craziest person in the vicinity. First feeling disgust, then lust.
"So uh, yeah," Alice grumbled, breaking Bella out of her thoughts. "Welcome to the residential side of the hospital…"
"Wait, residential?" Bella asked, suddenly very panicked. She did not sign up for this, and she sure as hell hoped her parents didn't. And yet, all the drugs, the cutting, the stealing… And the attempted suicide. Her dad couldn't deal with that, and her mom wouldn't even deal with her when she was happy. The uncaring, neglective staff was starting to make sense. This place was for the incurable.
But then what was Bella doing here? She wasn't crazy. Yeah, she was emotional sometimes, impulsive, but so were many teenage girls. And a lot of people smoked pot. Her main big issue was cutting, and she'd never do that again if it meant getting out of the hospital.
"Oh, gosh, you didn't know?" Alice cried apologetically. "I'm sorry Bella... Residential doesn't really mean like forever... It's just more time than the emergency facility. But hey, we have more privileges here, and the rooms and stuff are nicer."
Bella ignored her, walking straight to one of the supervising adults. "I need to see Dr. Cullen right now," she growled.
The man looked amused at the request. He was maybe in his early twenties, had bronze colored hair and green eyes. If Bella rolled that way, she might even have called him handsome. "You can't right now, he's seeing someone else. You can talk to me or anyone else if you're having a problem. We have group therapy in an hour."
Bella glared at him. "Look," - she glanced at his name tag - "Edward," she hissed, poking him in the chest and causing several other patients to watch in anticipation. "You're going to take me to him because I asked you to and it's your job to help me, right?"
Edward shrugged, turning around to talk to one of the girls about the rules of the TV room. Bella scowled. "Hey!" she snapped. "Who the fuck is going to tell me what the fuck I'm doing here?"
Edward turned back to Bella, sighing. "Look, you need to go to your room before I take you to the isolation room, okay? I'm not the one who you should be discussing this with, you'll see your social worker in a couple days on Monday."
"I need to talk to someone NOW," Bella demanded, feeling very much like a seven year old.
"This is exactly why you're staying here," Edward explained calmly. "If you can't deal with waiting a few days to talk to someone, how will you deal with the outside world?"
Bella scowled. She knew this tactic well, having dealt with many different people in the world of psychology. If you can't *blank* how will you strive in the real world? It was a stalling tactic, a way for them to either avoid answering a question, or plastering on another issue that their patient doesn't actually have. The whole thing made Bella nearly shake with rage. She turned and walked back to where Alice was now seated on the floor.
"That was quite the scene," she commented dully. She too was doodling with a marker in a sketchbook. Bella guessed they probably didn't allow pencils. Too sharp.
"I need a cigarette," Bella groaned, sliding against the wall to sit next to Alice.
The pixie girl giggled. "Ask Rosalie," she advised. Bella looked back and saw the pretty blonde glare at Alice for volunteering her kindness without her consent.
"You aren't bumming anything from me," she growled, climbing off of her bed and walking out into the hall. "If you have money, I'll sell you a cigarette."
Bella blushed, realizing Rosalie was still in her bra, and stared shamelessly at her chest, which wasn't hard to do as she was relatively short and Rosalie was rather tall. "S-sure," she stuttered, feeling very out of character.
Rosalie nodded, walking back into her room and getting what Bella guessed was a pack of cigarettes and sadly, a shirt. "Are you gonna come too?" Rosalie asked the smallest girl, sounding very uninviting. Alice shook her head, shooting Bella a small smile that almost showed a bit of fear. Bella ignored it though. It just meant more semi-alone time with Rosalie.
"Thanks," she breathed as she followed Rosalie to who knows where. The blonde nodded, not saying anything, but at least not totally ignoring the other girl.
When they hit the end of the hall Rosalie snapped to get the attention of one of the staff. "Hey!" she shouted. A tall, buff guy walked over.
"Yeah?" he asked.
"Me and Bella want to smoke," Rosalie stated, in a way that said even if he said no, she would find a way to do it anyway. He nodded, pulling out his key card and a lighter, opening the door at the end of the hall that led to a small walled off courtyard.
Rosalie pressed her cigarette between her lips, and pulled out a second one for Bella. The brunette held her hand out for it, however the other girl surprised her by pushing it between Bella's slightly parted lips. This action surprised her so much that the cig almost fell from her mouth. The big guy then proceeded to light both of them, standing watch to be sure neither of them did anything self-endangering.
They stood there for a long period of time; neither of them saying anything, just puffing on their cigarettes as the guy nearly dozed off. After a few more drags, Rosalie walked right up to their babysitter and put out the cherry on his arm. He yelped, causing Rosalie to snicker.
Once again, Rosalie's crazy nature was actually pretty attractive to Bella. "You gonna let us back in now?" she asked sweetly as if she hadn't done anything at all.
The guy rubbed his arm, grumbling something about how he should have stuck with football, and unlocked the door, allowing the two girls to walk ahead of him.
"Thanks," Bella said again, walking with Rosalie back to where Alice was.
"You said that already," Rosalie observed, looking Bella over. She shuddered under the blonde's piercing gaze. "I was wrong," she commented lazily, walking over to where a number of people had started to gather. "I do like what I see," she called over her shoulder, causing Bella to blush furiously.
Alice walked up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. "What are you doing just standing there?" she asked amusedly. "We have to go to group now."
Bella nodded, walking with the shorter girl into the large room that was parallel to the exit. The room was probably the dirtiest place in the entire building, including the bathrooms. The floor was sticky with crumbs, dust and odd stains dotting it everywhere. At the side of the room there was a single table, and at the front there was a small, black tv that had to be at least ten years old. In the center, a circle of chairs had been laid out, with at least fifteen girls gathered around, Rosalie sitting among the other older and more attractive group.
She gestured for Bella to come over. "This is my second roommate Bella," she announced, introducing her to the group. Bella waved casually, taking a seat next to the blonde. Alice sat on the other side of Bella, smiling and nudging her suggestively.
"I've never seen Rosalie warm up to someone so quickly," she whispered into Bella's ear. The brunette shrugged nonchalantly, though inside she was cheering.
"Hey!" One of the girls greeted. "I'm Tanya."
Bella noticed Rosalie stiffen beside her. From the corner of her eye, she saw the blonde dig her nail deep into the leg of the other girl.
Tanya yelled out in pain and surprise, and Rosalie scowled in annoyance. "God would you shut the fuck up?" she snapped, glaring at the girl who was now gently examining her leg. "You're so fucking annoying Tanya. I don't know why you called an ambulance after you cut yourself, you should have just died."
Tanya looked incredibly perturbed by Rosalie's outburst. She got up without a word and walked away from the rest of the group. "What the fuck was that about Rosalie?" Alice snapped, standing up to face the taller girl, her hands clenched into tight fists.
"Why don't we talk about that in our group today?" a kind voice suggested, but in a way that said they were definitely going to talk about that. "For those of you who don't know who I am, I'm one of the nurse practitioners, Esme, but I usually run the group therapy sessions here as well. Who would like to share how they felt about what Rosalie said?" she looked around the group, sitting in an empty chair.
Alice glared at Rosalie, who smirked and snickered confidently. "I'll share my opinion..." Alice announced. "Rosalie should stop using her mental illness as an excuse to be a bitch to people. Just because she doesn't have feelings doesn't mean she should go out of her way to make this place more miserable."
"Doesn't have feelings?" Bella asked before she realized the words were leaving her mouth.
Rosalie grinned, looking almost proud. "I'm what's called a sociopath. We're very rare, and we're mostly men..."
Bella stared in shock, not really knowing what to say. A sociopath. The word disturbed her, but not in the way it should. How dare they label Rosalie like that. It was unfair. Anyone could change. The name sociopath felt so inescapable, so permanent. Yet Bella could feel something different from Rosalie. She wasn't a monster, even if she reveled in the belief that she was.
One of the younger girls mumbled something incoherently. She turned away, not able to face the group. "Yes?" Esme urged, smiling encouragingly even though the girl couldn't see her. "Go on, Jane."
The girl, Jane, shrugged, turning to the circle but keeping her head down, avoiding eye contact with not only Rosalie, but also the entire group. "Why do you say things like that? Don't you care how people feel or what they'll do?"
Rosalie laughed. "What someone else does isn't my fault," she reasoned. "Just because I press the button doesn't mean I built the bomb." She glowered at the circle, as if daring them to disagree. No one said a word. "Besides," she continued. "It's not my fault she's an overemotional, suicidal whore."
"Why do you like to hurt people, Rosalie?" Esme questioned, sounding much like a manager interviewing someone for a job.
"I don't hurt people," Rosalie answered, examining her nails. "It's not my fault other people are overly sensitive lunatics. You act like I'm the craziest one here, but I bet if I point out that Victoria gained weight, she'll end up puking her dinner up tonight." She stared at the thin, pale redhead across from her. "But hey, even though she's grotesquely thin and still trying to lose weight, I'm the crazy one?" she laughed, getting out of her chair. "This group therapy thing is a joke. Therapy is a joke." With that said, she too stalked out of the room. Bella almost stood to follow her, feeling like that was what she should do, but stopped herself. She needed to participate in these activities. She needed to prove she wasn't crazy.
"Why don't we talk about something else?" Alice suggested, taking the attention off of Rosalie's outburst. "Why don't we talk about why we're here."
Bella could hear Jane mumbling quietly and focused her attention on the younger girl's voice. "Don't look at their eyes, they want them, they'll take your eyes. You can't look into their eyes..." she whispered. She had begun to shake and rock. Bella realized how crazy some people in here were.
"That's a good idea Alice," Esme complimented, ignoring Jane's mumbling. "Why don't you go first?"
Bella glanced curiously at Alice. She had wondered what the other girl, who seemed relatively cheery and normal, was doing there. "Well," Alice started, pausing to gather her words. "I'm here because I set my house on fire." Esme nodded, moving her hand in a motion that suggested she continue. "While I was still in it."
"And why did you do that?" Esme asked.
"It was different. There was something wrong. I had to," Alice answered confidently, as if the idea of biting a house down because it wasn't perfect made total sense. "But," she continued, "I know now that was just my OCD or whatever…And I know I can stop my compulsions and I don't have to do anything."
"What about you Bella, would you like to tell the group why you're here?" Esme asked, looking expectantly at Bella.
"I tried to kill myself," Bella confessed, looking down. She felt weird. Excluded because she wasn't as crazy as the rest of the group. Then again, what was sanity? What if being crazy was actually how sanity was supposed to be? Her mind took a tour around these strange possibilities, delving deeper into the world of insanity she had only visited once, the night, and a couple days after, she ate the datura. She had unlocked another part of herself, though she would never tell that to the shrinks.
"How?" Alice asked curiously, breaking Bella, thankfully, out of her strange and almost disturbing thoughts. Bella glanced at Alice in surprise. She'd guessed people were more forward there, since they all had relatively similar stories, at least in the level of embarrassment. People didn't seem to keep secrets here.
"I ate a bunch of datura..."
"What's that?" a girl who literally had grey skin asked.
"It's a plant that makes you trip balls," Rosalie answered from the hallway. "Right?"
Bella nodded, feeling strangely comforted by Rosalie's presence, even though she knew that the blonde would probably end up using the information against her. "Yeah..." Bella confirmed.
Alice rubbed Bella's shoulder lightly, earning a hard glare from Rosalie. "Why datura?"
Bella shrugged. "I'd always liked the flowers. And I was always drawn to it. It just seemed like the right way to go. It drew me in. Then when I ate it, it cast me away. I saw people I'd never met before, talked to my dead cat, smoked invisible cigarettes with my girlfriend that wasn't there." Bella saw Rosalie's eyes darken at the mention of a girlfriend.
"Why'd you do it?" Rosalie asked, taking a seat in Victoria's lap. Although Rosalie had indirectly insulted her, the redhead did not reject the other girl, surprising, and oddly enough, infuriating the brunette girl.
"Why are you here Rosalie?" Bella countered, feeling rage and rejection in the pit of her stomach. How could Rosalie want someone like Victoria, so thin, so snapable... She imagined holding the girl in her arms, and just breaking her into two. The snap of her spine was so loud it broke her out of her thoughts. Or at least she thought, until she saw Rosalie leaning over, her thumb and middle finger pressed together, ready to snap again.
"You spaced out there, Bella," she commented amusedly. "I'm here because a year ago I pushed the buttons on a time bomb, making it go off a little sooner than it should have."
"What does that mean?" Bella asked in confusion.
Alice answered, glancing fearfully at Rosalie. "It means she made someone kill themselves."
"I didn't make anyone do shit," Rosalie protested, leaning back to rest her head on Victoria's shoulder. "People have free will, that's what makes them human."
Bella felt herself nodding, agreeing with Rosalie's words. She was right. Bella never, not once, blamed her girlfriend for any of the horrible things she did to herself. Why? Because they were her choice. But every time she said something harsh, or when Bella got the silent treatment, or when she wanted a break, Bella would hurt herself. Not once though, did she blame her girlfriend. But she'd hoped her girlfriend would blame herself.
"Well," Esme started, clapping her hands together. "This has been a very..." she searched for the words. "Interesting group. You all have half an hour in your room to get ready for dinner. We meet at the front door. Anyone still in their rooms in thirty minutes will stay in the ward for dinner." She got out of her chair, followed by the rest of the group. "Oh, and Alice and Rosalie, show Bella to your room."
Alice grinned, grabbing Bella by the hand and literally skipping down the hall, Bella stumbling after her like an idiot as Rosalie followed behind the two, laughing at the ridiculous sight. Bella grinned, laughing as well, thankful, but slightly disappointed that Rosalie was amused and not jealous or whatever she was feeling before.
"First dibs on the shower!" Alice called, already in the bathroom. "Bella, your bed is the one by the dresser," the short girl explained, as Bella looked around the tiny room. There were three beds, no windows, two shelves by what Bella assumed were Alice and Rosalie's beds and a dresser by a freshly made bed. A pile of brown paper bags filled with clothes rested next to the bed on the left, while the right bed's shelf had clothes neatly folded and stacked, though a significantly less amount of clothes. On each there were a pile of books and a small composition book. Bella noticed she had one as well. Great, she would be expected to journal and share with Dr. Cullen.
Bella frowned, taking her seat on the bed, realizing she didn't have any of her things. "Where is all my stuff?" Bella asked Rosalie anxiously, not sure if the blonde would help her or just insult her and then let her off on her own.
"Come on," Rosalie said with a smile, beckoning for the brunette to follow. And follow Bella did. All while staring at Rosalie's perfect, sculpted ass. "Bella needs her stuff," Rosalie demanded at the front desk. The person on duty, an older woman in sky blue scrubs stared blankly at Rosalie, before her eyes lit up in recognition and began searching the area.
"Ah here," she announced, handing Bella a brown paper bag with about half the amount of things she came in with.
"Where's all my stuff?" Bella cried, rustling through the bag noting that her two hoodies were missing, as well as all of her books and several bras.
"We don't allow sweaters with hoods or zippers," the lady explained, causing Bella to see red. Rosalie placed a hand on Bella's shoulder, calming her slightly but not enough. "We also do not allow under wire bras or hardback books, and personal hygiene items will be kept behind the front desk, should you decide you need a shower, you are to ask someone on duty for your designated bag."
"That's ridiculous," Bella snapped. "What the fuck am I going to do with my bra or my hoodie?" She gripped her bag tightly, causing it to crumple up loudly. "I'm not fucking crazy, I'm not a fucking hamster, I'm human, you can't do this. I have rights."
The woman looked at her with cold, empty eyes. "Do I need to call an orderly and have you taken to the isolation room?"
"She's fine," Rosalie interrupted. "Come on Bella, I'll help you unpack. You can call your parents later and have them send you more stuff if you need it."
Bella nodded, thankful Rosalie was there looking out for her to prevent her from making too much of a scene. She almost jumped when she felt Rosalie reach for her hand, feeling tiny electric shocks through her fingertips as they brushed. "You okay?" she whispered soothingly to the brunette. Bella nodded and Rosalie squeezed her hand gently. "It sucks here…" she murmured, before letting go of Bella's hand and walking into their room.
But as long as Rosalie was there, Bella couldn't help but think the opposite.
Hey, I hope you liked it. I typed most of this via my phone, so uh, sorry if it's unedited. If you liked it, review because that will encourage me to put down my bong and write faster ;D