Joe and his brothers finished their breakfast in silence. Joe knew this was the right thing to do, and he thought about something other than Callie for the first time in two weeks. Maybe this wasn't the end of everything. Maybe everything would be okay. After Joe finished breakfast, the family piled into their van, and Joe was sitting next to Kevin. Kevin kept flashing these apologetic, sympathetic looks at Joe, and quiet frankly, he was getting annoyed. He crossed his arms over his chest. Why was he being this way? It wasn't like he was leaving for months.

When they finally got there, Denise yanked out a suitcase from the trunk. It was the size of his torso, and it had ugly floral print on it. The water damaged fabric on the front gave a worn, hard look to it. Joe eyed the bag. What was that for? He guessed 'Sun Valley' had all needed toiletries, and it looks like she packed him his own goddamn house.

"Mom?"

"Joe, there's something I need to tell you."

"Oh, Jesus" He rolled his eyes.

"They're not just day classes"

Joe knew there was a catch. Anything with the name 'Sun Valley' was bound to be an institution. Like every other institution, the name did no justice. 'Lake View's never had lakes, 'Sunrise Creek's were never graced with sunrises, or creeks, and god, 'Sun Valley' was probably in complete darkness 24/7. A little fucking rain cloud probably lingered over it every second, to pour down on his parade. Not that there was even a parade there to begin with. So he was stuck in a place like 'Sun Valley' without a raincoat or an umbrella. Fucking amazing. It was probably full of counselors and therapists set out to ask him how he felt every minute. Cold and sterile, no outside socialization. Then it hit him. This was no different for him. He hadn't talked to his friends in weeks. He hadn't gone out of the house. He hardly ate anymore. Everyday he felt weaker. He bit his lip. Nothing he said would change a thing. He was staying here, no matter what. He submissively concaved his chest and looked at his hands. He seemed to be doing it more and more. But it was natural. He only did it when he was upset. And there was no reason not to be upset.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Would you have still agreed to come?"

Joe bit his lip harder. He knew he wouldn't. He just took the bag from his mother, and turned, facing the large building. He averted his attention to the ground. He watched his feet hit the pavement. Each step brought him closer to his new home. He was amazed at himself that he was being to passive about all this. Normally he would assertively refuse to go into such a place, and angrily dismiss his mother and father for even thinking that they could convince him to try it out. But it wasn't that easy anymore. Nothing was right. He just wished he could wake up from this nightmare.

--------------

"Welcome to Sun Valley!"

Joe glared at the woman. It didn't seem to make any impact on her. As if she was used to it by now. He imagined all the Botox it must have taken to keep her smile that big, all the time. He was disgusted. How could anyone be so happy? He opened his mouth to say something rude and inconsiderate, but the lady interrupted his thoughts. All the nasty words and phrases he had in mind were swept away.

"Are you Joseph?"

"Yes..."

"This way."

She walked him into a door, leading to another hall. He looked down the narrow hall in horror. They made no attempt to do anything homely about the place. The walls were bare and sterile looking. The floors were cold and cement, and the fluorescent lights were covered in hard plastic covers. She took his suitcase, and placed it next to one of dozens of identical doors down the hallway. She unlocked the door, and swept him inside. There was a bed. That was it. It wasn't even off the floor. It wasn't a bed. It was a mattress. There were cubbies where he guessed he could put his 'shit' as he referred to it, in the corner. But it seemed as if it was already taken up by the space of clean, 'proper' clothes. Proper, meaning, a clean assortment of sweatpants in different colors, all tagged with a bland picture of a sun coming over a hill, and in fancy letters spelling out 'Sun Valley'. Simple tee-shirts and sweatshirts with the same unoriginal in sigma to them. Joe looked around. No one was there but the woman, and him.

"Where do I put my shit?"

"Joseph, you cannot keep your things. I hope you understand."

"What?"

"We need to create a safe environment for you, and your things hold potential-"

"Okay. I just need one thing."

She seemed suprised by his agreement, but her smile never moved from her face. He wondered what would happen if she tried to frown. The next apocalypse, maybe.

"What's that?"

Joe scurried out the door, and to his suitcase. He knew his mom packed it. She was insane if she hadn't. He pulled the silver zipper down, and watched the pieces of silver metal unlock from each other, like keys. He folded back the cover, and nodded, as he saw the teddy bear. It was the last gift she gave to him. The smiling lady, nodded politely.

"We'll get it inspected, and you may keep it."

"Thank you."

He said, and walked into his room. As he went to shut the door, the lady's hand blocked it. He stared at her cold, pink, manicured nails. She'd use them to tear out his soul, and he knew it.

"Yes?"

"You should say you're goodbyes now, and then we'll have you go through security and orientation, and that should leave you enough time to make it to lunch with the other patients."

Joe barely made it through security, more or less orientation. He had to remove everything from his pockets, get frisked, and then strip down to change into his 'proper' clothes. They all just made you out to be druggies and delinquents. Apparently this wasn't a place just for the 'chronically depressed', as the lady up front, or Janice, stated. (He'd thus far made a hypothesis that all secretaries were named Janice) It had been for the manic depressive, bipolar, suicidal, mentally unstable, substance abusers, alcoholics, and the 'esteem challenged' This included the cutters, bulimics, anorexics, and obese. It was a heaven for misfits. He felt like he was in a Tim Burton movie. Finally after orientation, where he found out that you had to be at breakfast at 7, and couldn't leave your room after 8, Joe felt like he was in kindergarten again. This was no institution. It was hell.

As he left the orientation room, he was escorted to the lunchroom. Everything had a place, and everything had a name. Absolutely everything. He stepped into the place, and was amazed. There must have been only about 40 kids, but they all looked normal. They weren't allowed to dye their hair, and only girls could let their hair grow out past their shoulders. It didn't matter to Joe. He was pretty annoyed with Hippie-guys. He looked around. There were five tables. There were half as many guys as girls, but he expected as much. Any guy with a brain would die before even getting past the chipper secretary. So, Joe observed that all of the guys here had fried their brains with cocaine, and meth. The girls were all so desperate to be noticed, they did everything to their hair. Half the girls looked like Scene Queens, the other half looked emo. Only one girl stood out, and it was because she didn't want to stand out. Her blonde hair fell down her shoulders in small, tight curls and her bangs swept over her forehead to one side. She pushed a carrot across her plate. Joe took a breath, and decided to make a friend.

"Hi, I'm Joe."

"Hey. I'm Peyton."