I'm back with chapter four! The email issue is all solved and I can start updating again. Yay! Enjoy the chapter.
Lapis had followed Peridot to the cafeteria on the second floor. As they walked through the hallways she looked at way they were decorated, the carpet and walls were the same as the fourth floor but the walls were decorated with art that must have been made by the patients of that floor and many of the doors had stickers and other such decorations on them.
Noticing how Lapis was looking at everything, Peridot explained, "It's decorated much more kid friendly down here. Everyone is allowed to customise their doors but the younger kids go crazy for it, pun intended."
She and Lapis both quietly laughed at that. "Yeah, I noticed that some of the doors were decorated on the fourth floor, like yours."
"Yeah, you can probably tell but I like aliens. Sorry, if you don't think they exist but anyone who is close minded enough to believe that earth is the only planet that can sustain life when space is basically infinite, is just plain dumb."
"Yeah, aliens definitely exist." Lapis agreed.
"Hey Peridot, recruiting more people for your alien cult?" A voice half asked, half yelled from behind them.
"For your information, it's not a cult." Peridot pouted as she and Lapis turned towards the source of the voice. "It's just an club I've been trying to start."
The source of the voice was a short girl with long, lavender colored hair. Throwing her arm around Peridot's shoulder, she said, "Who's this?"
"This is Lapis, she's my new roommate. Lapis, this is Amethyst." Peridot introduced the two girls. "Amethyst is my cousin, Jasper's younger sister. Don't worry, though. She's much nicer than Jasper."
"You've got that right." Amethyst laughed. "But seriously, you know Jasper?"
"Yeah, we don't exactly have the best history though." Lapis said.
"That's okay. No one has a good history with Jasper." Amethyst joked. "Are you guys going down to the cafeteria?"
"Yup, it's Lapis' first day here so I'm showing her the way."
"Well then, welcome to the family."
"Thanks." I definitely like her better than Jasper. Lapis thought.
"Let's go. Everyone else is already there." Amethyst said.
"Everyone else?" Lapis asked.
"Yeah, there's three other girls, you'll meet them once we get there." Peridot answered.
Lapis trailed behind Peridot and Amethyst for the rest of the walk to the cafeteria, watching the two girls as they bantered with each other.
When they finally reached the cafeteria Amethyst held the door open for them. "M'ladies." She said, giggling.
"We always sit by the window." Peridot explained, leading Lapis to a table that was, in fact, by a window. "Hey, guys." She greeted the three girls that were already sitting at the table.
They all greeted Peridot and Amethyst, curiously watching Lapis as she sat down next to Peridot at the end of the table.
"This is Lapis, today's her first day at the hospital." Peridot introduced her, followed by a chorus of all the girls, except for Amethyst, saying hello. "Lapis, This is Pearl," Peridot pointed to a skinny girl with a strawberry blonde pixie cut. "Ruby," She pointed to a short girl with an afro. "And Sapphire." She pointed to the girl with long, pale blue hair and bangs that covered her eyes.
"It's nice to meet you guys." Lapis said.
"They'll call us up by our tables for food." Peridot explained. They're all assigned numbers. We're sitting at table three. The reason you're a patient here can also affect the food they give you. They have a list of people who need to be fed different foo-" She continued to explain, but was cut off when the door to the cafeteria opened and a tall, muscular girl walked in. "Crap, it's Jasper. Uh, Lapis, just don't make yourself too visible."
Deciding that she didn't want to confront Jasper, Lapis slouched in her seat, using Peridot as cover and they both watched as Jasper sat at a table on the other side of the room, not paying attention to either of them.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Peridot said, "She won't be able to see you from where she's sitting. You can sit up."
Sapphire spoke up, "She'll know you're here eventually, everyone has group therapy together at seven o'clock. Even before then, there's no guarantee she won't see you around."
"I know, but for now, I'm fine with prolonging the inevitable. I'm not gonna confront her unless I need to." Lapis said as she sat back up.
"Smart." Pearl commented.
"Table three, go up and get your food." A nurse that Lapis recognised as Petunia said as she walked by their table.
Lapis stood up and followed the other girls to the counter to get their food, still using Peridot as cover. Copying the others, Lapis took a tray from the stack of them and waited at the counter as their meals were placed on the trays. The food seemed fine, it was just a hamburger and fries, it didn't look much better than the food she was served at school but it didn't look much worse either.
Once they were back at the table, Lapis watched as the others ate. Ruby and Sapphire were talking to each other more than they were actually eating. Amethyst was already almost done with her food, and Peridot was eating slowly. She noticed that Pearl had a smaller portion than the other and was only picking at her food. Noticing how Lapis was watching Pearl, Peridot whispered, "She gets smaller portions of food because she gets overwhelmed if a portion is too big."
"Oh. Does that have something to do with why she's here?" Lapis whispered back.
"It's not really my place to tell you, but yeah, it does. Listen though, since today is your first day, in group therapy Rose is going to have everyone who wants to, tell you about why they're here. It's not mandatory to talk about it but she encourages it so most people do. Also, make sure you eat most of your food, the nurses keep track of patients who don't eat enough."
"Thanks for the tip." Lapis said, eating a fry.
oOoOo
Lapis walked alongside Peridot as they made their way to the library where the group therapy would be taking place.
"Rose, will first have you introduce yourself and if you're comfortable with it she'll have you explain why you're here." Peridot explained as they walked. "She'll then have everyone else in the group introduce themselves and explain why they're here. It's a bit awkward but I recommend explaining. Almost everyone does and if people know why you're here then they'll be less likely to do something that might trigger a negative response from you."
"Okay then, I'll take your advice." Lapis complied.
Once they reached the library, Lapis held the door open for Peridot then followed her to the middle of the room where a circle of chairs was set up. Peridot sat down with Amethyst on her right so Lapis sat down on Peridot's left.
She watched silently as other patients made their way into the room and sat in the other chairs. She recognized some of them from lunch, others she didn't. There weren't enough patients to fill up the circle so some chairs were left empty. She waited anxiously for Jasper to walk into the room.
"She's here." Peridot mumbled.
Lapis looked back to the door to see Jasper walking in. She tried to turn back around before Jasper noticed it was her, but she could see her staring at her out of the corner of her eye. Trying to make it seem like she wasn't looking at her, Lapis continued to watch Jasper out of the corner of her eye, and a glance at Peridot showed Lapis that she was doing the same. They both watched as she sat at a chair across the circle from them.
"Should I just ignore her?" Lapis whispered to Peridot.
"I don't-" Peridot began to say, but was interrupted when Rose walked through the door.
"Hi, everyone." Rose said.
A chorus of teens saying, "Hi, Rose." Repeated after her as she sat in the chair to Lapis' left.
"You all have probably noticed but we have a new member." She gestured to Lapis, then quietly said, "Lapis, introduce yourself."
"I'm Lapis." she said.
"And what are you here for?" Rose asked her.
"Oh, um, I'm here because I have depression."
"Thank you. Now you all know how it works, Peridot, please start."
"Hi, you already know me, but I'm Peridot and I'm here because I have PTSD." Even though she encouraged it, Lapis noticed how nervous Peridot looked when telling her why she was here.
"Sup, I'm Amethyst and I have ADHD but I'm really here for my low self-esteem that's caused by it." She said, leaning back in her chair.
"We usually wouldn't admit someone just because the have ADHD," Rose began.
"But mental issues are very common in my family and because of my low self-esteem Rose thought it would be better to admit me to the hospital." Amethyst finished for her.
"Yes, exactly." Rose said. "Okay, Pearl?"
Pearl smiled at Rose. "Hi, Lapis. You know my name, but not what I'm here for. I'm here for OCD and anorexia, but mostly for the anorexia. Both are getting better though. I still find food disgusting but I've managed to gain weight since I've come here." Lapis noticed how Pearl looked at Rose, like she was awaiting praise of some sort, which she received.
"And you know that we are all very proud." Rose praised.
That explains her behavior in the cafeteria and why she's so skinny. Lapis thought.
"Hi, I'm Ruby and I'm here for separation anxiety and anger issues." Ruby said. "Don't worry though, my anger issues aren't that bad, I just...lose my temper sometimes."
"Especially if she's separated from Sapphire." Peridot mumbled. Although Lapis was pretty sure no one else heard her.
They are pretty cute together. Lapis thought.
"I'm here for separation anxiety and schizophrenia." Sapphire said, then she laughed, "In case you couldn't tell, Ruby and I have separation anxiety about each other.
"What can I say? We're inseparable." Ruby shrugged.
"Yes, and although both Ruby's anger issues and your schizophrenia are getting under control, you separation anxiety is not." Rose sighed. "Lars?"
"Hey, Lapis. I'm Lars and I'm here because my parents caught me doing drugs." He was leaning back in his chair, eyes closed and not bothering to open them.
"Hello, I'm Jamie and I have MPD, or multiple personality disorder. Technically it's not curable but being here has helped me get it under control."
"Hey, babe. I'm Kevin and I'm here for alcoholism although some people say I'm here because I'm an 'asshole'."
"Kevin, Language." Rose said sternly.
The girls to Lapis' right giggled and Peridot whispered to Lapis, "He really is an asshole though, I would suggest keeping your distance from him."
Lapis was about to tell Peridot how she could tell he was an asshole when she realised Jasper was up next and she tensed up.
Jasper smiled at her, but Lapis didn't think it was meant as friendly. "Hi, Lapis. I'm Jasper. I'm here for anger issues too. You probably already know this but I don't exactly get along with others that well."
Before Jasper could say anything else, Rose began speaking again. "Thank you for sharing everyone. I know that none of like it very much. Now, moving on, let share a bit more. Has anyone had any issues today that they would like to share?"
For a few moments, they all stayed quiet, until Sapphire raised her hand, "I had a vision earlier this morning but I was able to stay calm. It was bad but I remembered that it wasn't real."
"That's great, Sapphire. Remember to tell a nurse if you have a vision, and Ruby, remember to try and get a nurse as soon as you can tell that she's having a vision." Looking around the room, Rose added, "That goes for anyone who notices she's having one. Anyone else?"
When no one else said anything Rose called on Lapis. "So Lapis, how are you you feeling about being here?"
"I don't know," she shrugged. "It's fine. Most of the people I've met so far are nice."
"Well I'm glad you think it's fine." Rose smiled as she looked at the clock, "Introductions ran a bit longer than I thought so as long as you all go back to your rooms, you can leave."
Another chorus of unenthusiastic 'yay' rang through the group of patients as they began to stand up from the chairs.
"Lapis." Said a gruff voice from behind Lapis.
"Oh, shoot." Peridot said.
Lapis turned around to see Jasper only a few feet away from her. "Hi, Jasper." Was all she said.
"Funny seeing you here. Are you surprised to see me here?" Jasper asked as she put her hands in her pockets, but leaving her thumbs sticking out.
Surprised is an understatement. Lapis thought. "Yeah, although I guess I now know why you weren't in school anymore." She said.
"Classes are easier here, I will admit. The downside is that everyone here is fucking weak. Although I guess that explains why you're here." She laughed.
"What? That's not-"
"Jasper, I think it's time for you to go back to your room." Rose said as she walked up to the two girls.
"Yes, ma'am." Jasper muttered as she walked away.
Once Jasper had left the room Lapis relaxed. "Thank you, Rose."
"Don't mention it. What I do want you to mention, though, is when she's bothering you."
"I don't think she even noticed me!" Peridot laughed triumphantly as she walked out of what appeared to have been her hiding place behind a rather large stack of books. "At least there's a few advantages that make being short worth it."
"Well, as someone with an average height I can't make use of hiding behind a stack of books." Lapis sulked.
Chuckling, Rose said, "All jokes aside, I'll always be able to help you if have issues with another patient."
"Rose!" Called Pearl from the other side of the room. "I'm going to borrow these books." She gestured to a stack of books on the ground.
"I'm going to go bring those to the desk to check them out for her. I'm certain she's going over the five-book limit, but I know she'll manage to carry those out of here. She may seem frail but she's strong." Rose laughed as she walked over to Pearl.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go back to our room. Coming, Lapis?" Peridot asked.
"Yeah, I'll go back too." Lapis agreed. Once they were walking down the hall, Lapis said " Oh my god, I never want to talk to Jasper again, I mean, I've always felt that way but she kept talking about how she's stronger than everyone here. She wasn't even trying to hide how confident she was."
"Yeah," Peridot groaned. "She's always like that. Except for when she's near Rose. She views herself as stronger and more capable as everyone here besides Rose. She doesn't view Rose as stronger than her though, she views her as an equal."
"All bark and no bite?" Lapis asked. "She has changed a bit I guess."
"No, she's had her fair share of fights." Peridot shook her head. "She hasn't really changed. She's smart though, she knows when the fight isn't worth the consequences. She'll follow the rules but only if it will benefit her in some way. She's a huge suck-up. Most of the nurses know that it's an act but some love her."
"Yeah, that sounds like her." Lapis said as they reached their room. "She was always like that at school."
"Yeah, she acted like that at home too." Peridot mumbled.
"Sorry, I didn't catch that. What'd you say?"
"Nothin'."
