I towel off my hair and put on some loose pants and a baggy T-shirt. I make my way back into our room, where I see Emily laying on her back, listening to her iPod. "Hey."

She looks up, surprised, and says, "Hey. Look, about earlier-"

"No," I interrupt her, "It was all me. I was completely out of line. I'm just frustrated, you know? Being here sucks majorly. And it's just that, well, I'm a bitch to everyone. I mean look at Tom, I treat him like shit and he's been with me for almost two years."

"You don't have to be a bitch. I believe with all my heart that when you find the right person, you won't be a bitch to him or her. That person is not Tom."

I feel a surge of anger at her words, who is she to judge who is right for me? I force it down, though, because I've already hurt her enough for one day. "Tom could be it for me. Maybe I'm just damaged material, and I'll never find anyone, not truly."

Emily's eyes are filled with sadness. "Naomi, I really hope that you're not serious. I have only a slight chance of ever getting out of here, but I still have hope of finding someone and spending the rest of my life with her."

"I'm glad you're optimistic." She nods, then strips off her shirt and pants. Holy shit. My mouth grows dry. She has a really fit body for someone who presumably never gets to go to the gym. She follows my eyes.

"You like?" she asks cheekily.

"Um, um, what?" I ask stupidly. Damn, Naomi, you shouldn't be having these thoughts about her.

"I said-" she comes closer, leaning over my body, "-do you like what you see?"

I feel my head nod as my mind screams "hot girl, hot girl".

"Good," she says, her tone husky. "I'm just going to shower now."

I nod blankly as I try in vain not to stare at her tits. I fail. She grins at me, fully aware of what I'm doing and walks into the bathroom. I can hear the shower over my thundering heart. Jesus, what's wrong with me? I think she's hot? Definitely, my mind says, she's extremely sexy. Imagine her writhing underneath you, begging for release. Who am I to argue with my mind, so I do imagine it. I'm getting wet just thinking about it. Emily, topless and without cares, moaning beneath me, panting "Naomi". I slide my hand down into my pants, aching for some contact.

I'm almost there as I hear the shower turn off. Oh shit, this better be quick. I finish with a quietly moaned "Emily", and I pull my hand out of my knickers. Emily comes out of the door, dripping wet and wearing a skimpy towel. I swallow hard. She smiles as she turns to look at me, grinning even harder when she sees my wet, slick hand and labored breathing.

"Having some fun, Naomi?" she teases lightly as she walks over to my bed, where I'm paralyzed.

"Eurgh," I manage to say, because really, Emily's tits are far too distracting. Before I know what's happening, Emily grabs my hand and sucks on my fingers, moaning and rolling her eyes back into her head as she does so. I feel a gush of liquid in my panties at the sight.

"Mmm, delicious." I'm dumbstruck, left laying completely still as Emily walks towards to dresser. She pulls on some clothes, stealing glances of me watching her as she does so.

"Do you often do this with your roommates?" I say, slowly regaining control of my mind.

"Do what?" she asks playfully.

"You know what."

"Hmm, short answer is no." She looks suddenly nervous and scared and completely fucking adorable. "You're the first actually. I hope it's okay. I mean I thought you wanted me to do it, but if it wasn't cool with you, then just tell me." She looks so bewildered and scared that my heart melts.

"No, no. It was, um, very cool. I need another cold shower now." I joke. Jesus, that sounds like you're pervy. Well she did just lick my fingers dry, I really don't think I should be worried about being pervy.

"Well, guess I'd better get to bed then."

"Good night," I say, my mind racing.

She climbs into her bed, and before too long I can hear her breathing steady. Meanwhile I am in the midst of some sort of mental affliction. My thoughts are going so fast I can barely control them. Emily. Sex. Tom. Hate. Running away. Getting locked up.

My legs are jittery and I feel like going for a run. Jesus, I feel good. I stand up quickly, shaking my limbs. I lean over Emily.

"Emily. Emily. Emily!" I whisper with increasing volume.

"What the fuck are you doing Naomi?" she ask sleepily, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey, I've just got the most wonderful, fantastical idea. We should blow this popsicle stand and go and get some pizza. Jesus Christ, I'd like some pizza!"

"What was that? You were talking way too fast for me to keep up."

"You. Me. Pizza." I enunciate slowly.

"We can't go get pizza," she says. Christ she talks slow. I'm practically jumping up and down.

"But, Ems, I want pizza." My voice is getting louder and louder.

"Shh!" Her eyes are wide now, she's completely awake now.

I'm suddenly struck with a sexual urge towards her. I leap on top of her and begin to assault her neck with kisses. She moans but tries to push me off. "Naomi, stop. STOP!"

I pull back, confused. "What's wrong, Ems? You want this, I want this, what's the problem?"

"You're not being yourself. You're manic, Naomi. That's why you want this." She sounds resigned as she slips out of the bed.

"Nurse!" she calls out, "We need some help in here."

A night nurse comes in and looks between us. "What's happened then?"

"Naomi is acting bizarrely, I think she's manic."

"Alrighty, Naomi, come closer. I'm going to give you this, it's seroquel. It'll help you sleep, okay?"

I shake my head angrily. "I don't need sleep. I'm better than you. Better than all of you"! I spin wildly around as the nurse yells for help. Two burly men come in, and one pins me down while the other pushes a needle into me. My vision clouds, then it's darkness.

I awake to an immensely blinding headache. "Holy shit," I murmur as I practically fall out of bed. I look over to see Emily sitting on her bed, staring at me anxiously.

"Hi," she says apprehensively, "How are you doing?"

I take a few seconds to assess myself. Apart from the headache, I feel fucking amazing. Even though I'm in a mental institution, there's so much that can be done. I grin widely and tell her, "Fucking top notch. I'm excellent. You?"

"Excellent? What do you mean by excellent?" She sounds nervous.

"I mean top quality happiness." I leap up from the bed and yell at the top of my lungs, "I'm on top of the world!"

"Jesus, you're still manic, aren't you."

I feel a surge of of energy and anger at her words. "No, no, no! I am not manic. Just because I have the bestest happiness in all the planets does not mean that I'm manic! What the fuck is manic anyway. You, you're trying to steal my happiness away!" I realize with growing horror that Emily, sweet innocent Emily, has obviously been sent by someone to steal away this growing happiness that I have.

"I've got to escape!" I shout, running out of the room, thrusting my arms in the air.

"Wait!" Emily calls, "Be careful, your brain chip is malfunctioning! They could kill you at any time! If you run away, they'll get you!"

We're both running towards the exit by now, hurtling towards Effy and Freddie who are silently eating their breakfasts. A nurse shouts something, but I don't care. I slam into the door, desperately trying to open it, Emily hot on my heels.

"Shit! Fuck! Goddammit!" I swear angrily, seeing that it's locked.

Emily grabs my head and pulls me down to the ground. "Snap out of it, Naomi, the chip is causing you to think like this. Goddammit, please return to normal. It's all my fault, if I hadn't told you about the chip, they wouldn't have done this." She's straddling me now, and I'm turned on. I can't recall the last time I've ever felt so horny. Certainly not with Tom.

Tears are streaming down Emily's face as she moans, "The chip, the chip."

A nurse rushes over to us; she looks extremely concerned. "Emily, are you alright?"

Emily turns to her, a hateful scowl on her face. "What do you care, you put the chip in my brain, you bitch."

I struggle to release myself from Emily's vice grip. "Get off me! I need to escape!"

"No, they'll get you! I can't let them hurt you!"

We've attracted the attention of the other patients. Cook is hooting with laughter at our struggle, while Freddie and JJ look concerned. I manage to throw Emily off; she's lands with a resounding thwack on the floor, clawing at my ankles. I begin to pound at the door, yelling "Let me out!" over and over again. The nurses are shouting to each other, and Emily's a sobbing wreck on the floor. A burly male nurse walks over to me, shaking a bottle of pills in his hand.

"Naomi, I want to help you, yeah? Let me help you. Just take this pill alright? It'll make everything easier."

"Noooo" I howl as I ram my shoulder into the door. "You're trying to steal my happiness, you're trying to take it and manufacture it and give it to the masses, leaving me a complete mess. See, no one in the history of forever has been as happy as I am now. Jesus Christ, I'm special, aren't I. I'm meant to do something, spread this happiness, and you're not going to take it from me. Fuck off!"

He shakes his head and grabs me roughly, motioning for another nurse to come over. This one is holding a needle.

"What the fuck is that?" Emily cries out, throwing herself on top of me and the nurse with an 'oomph'. "Don't hurt her, she's my friend. I'm the one with a malfunctioning chip, I'm the one who is going to start the rebellion against the aliens and health care!"

I feel a protective surge go through my body, "No! Don't inject Emily, she's done nothing wrong. I'm the one who's happiness needs harvesting!"

Three more nurses come out of the nursing station and grab Emily, shoving her into a straight jacket. She begins to shriek loudly as she's dragged to one of the confinement rooms. I feel a sharp pinch in my shoulder, and then the world turns black.

I crack my eyes open, the bright lights overhead causing me to immediately close them again. I feel weird, light almost. Certainly not as euphoric as before, calmer. I sit up from the bed to see Dr. Phillips looking at me inquisitively. "Hello, Naomi. How are you?"

I think about it for a second, "Pretty good, not great. Why?"

"Why? Do you remember what happened earlier today?"

I wrack my brains and, oh God, what the fuck had I been thinking. "Er, yeah. About that. I really have no idea why I was acting that way." I'm flooded with embarrassment. Never have I ever acted that way before.

"So it seems that the addition of the sertraline caused you to get manic. We're going to reduce the dose for that and increase your lithium. If that doesn't stabilize your moods then we're going to try Depakote. Right, so I'm going to leave you to rest now. We'll discuss this further later." She makes to leave but I interrupt her.

"Where's Emily?"

She frowns, "Emily is seeing another doctor right now, but she'll be out soon. I'm a bit concerned that you two might be getting a little too close. This isn't summer camp, you know."

I nod and say gravely, "Oh yes, we're not too close. Not at all," because really, I don't want Effy for a roommate.

"Okay, so I'll talk to you later. Bye."

I shake my head and lean back on the bed. Jesus Christ, what the hell is wrong with me?