A/N: Ok, i was going to spread these out over the days I had internet, but I am way too excitable for that. So thank you guys for the amazing reviews and the follows and favorites I really appreciate it.
~ThatOneAnimeNut
"Maka! I'm supposed to get you for Group Therapy!" Tsubaki peers into my room. "I like your door by the way."
"Thanks." I stand up. I've put on a black hoodie since it was a little cold, it's comfortable and feels safe. I've also traded out my sneakers for a pair of black boots with white straps I found at the store this morning. It's a little silly how a change of clothes can make me feel safer. We meet up with Liz, Patti, and Kid on the way. Kid is arguing with Liz about something of Patti's, who is talking no one in particular about a drawing of a giraffe she did in Therapeutic Activities.
"Kid I don't know what your deal is. Her drawings are none of your damn business." Liz says, her tone bored.
"I just think that as her only guardian-" Kid stops talking when Liz stops and switches sides to me and Tsubaki.
"How's it going Maka?" She asks loudly. "I like your door. Not a lot of people paint all of theirs."
"Thanks. So what do we do in Group Therapy?" I ask. God, I hate my voice.
"We sit in a circle and talk about our feelings." Liz says in a mockingly cheerful tone.
Tsubaki cuts in. "Everyone on our floor goes, but sometimes they split up girls and boys."
"How long have you been here?"
Tsubaki volunteers first. "Two weeks."
Liz snorts. "Over a month. Me and Patti have been here longer than most, because our treatment is a little more long term."
Weeks? A month? I wonder how long I'll have to stay here before they let me out.
"Are you trying to get better?" I think out loud. Oh crap, maybe that was too personal.
Tsubaki nods.
"I wasn't at first, but after a while you start to see the councilors are working with you, not against you." Liz explains. "It's hard sometimes, and every day is different, but I feel really lucky to be here. They take care of us, they feed us. We're safe."
Where does Liz come from where she feels safe in a Psych Ward?
"OK, we have a new resident today. Maka, why don't you stand up." Marie asks me once everyone had sat down. I stand up. Marie prompts me again. "Would you like to introduce yourself?"
"I'm Maka Albarn. I'm from East Death City, I'm fifteen and a freshmen."
People leap into a bunch of questions.
"Why are you here?"
"Isn't your mom a lawyer?"
"You look normal! What did you do to get yourself here?"
I feel my palms get sweaty. Do I really have to answer their questions? I look at Marie for help, and she complies.
"All right, that's enough. Who would like to go first?"
Silence.
"How about we introduce ourselves to Maka. Tsubaki, would you like to go first?"
Tsubaki smiles. "We've already met, but I'm Tsubaki Nakatsukasa. My family moved to Death City from Japan when I was little. I had an older brother, but he died about a year ago. My anxiety developed around then." She is still smiling, but I have nothing to say. Her brother died? She moved from Japan? I don't have time before Patti stands up.
"I'm Patti! Me and Sis didn't have a home, but now we live here and we have food and beds and we're getting better!" She laughs, and Liz glares at her hands.
"I'm Elizabeth Thompson. We've already met." Liz says shortly. She smiles at me. Again, I can only stare.
"I'm Death the Kid. My father is Mayor of Death City, so I'm not the type of person one would expect to find in a Mental Hospital, but I'm here for my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I just want the world to be balanced and orderly. As well as my living space." Kid says formally.
Someone else rolls in the door on a desk chair. "I'm Dr. Stein and I'm late." It's a man in a white lab coat. His grey hair falls like a mop between his large glasses and his eyes are pale green. "Sorry Marie, but Soul and I had to go a little longer in our session." He gestures behind him, and the white haired boy follows him in. He turns to look at everyone, and I see now his eyes are dark red like the paint on his door.
"What's going on Marie?" He asks. His voice is low and bored.
"We're introducing ourselves to Maka, she's a new resident here." Marie explained.
"That's cool." The white haired kid grins at me. "I'm Soul. Welcome to the nuthouse."
I nod, and Soul sits down between Kid and Black Star.
Marie sighs. "OK, who's next?"
"I AM THE GREAT BLACK STAR! WOULD YOU LIKE MY AUTOGRAPH? HERE!"
I feel the intense desire to lean away from the blast of noise. A scribbled on piece of paper lands in front of me and I recognize it as the same signature on Black Star's door.
"Holy crap dude, do you want to give us all a headache?" Soul growls. "You're going to send Pigtails running straight back to the library."
Pigtails? Pigtails?
"Soul and Black Star, that's enough!" Marie says. "Anyone else?"
A girl with pink hair stands up. "I'm Kim."
Another girl with long black hair. "I'm Jacquelyn."
A boy with glasses, whose bald except for two pointy tufts on either side of his head. "I'm Ox, top student at South Death City High school."
I also meet Kilik, Hiro, Harvar, and Tsugumi. I notice how very few people say their conditions, and occasionally say a thing or two about themselves. When everyone finishes introductions Marie asks who would like to start. Kid volunteers.
"My mother died when I was very little. I think my OCD started when I went to school and noticed how every one else had a mom, but not me. Everyone had a balanced family, but it was just me and my father. Not only this, but my house was never very tidy. My father has a lot more to worry about than the dishes, naturally. I think that I started to assume that if everything was perfect my Mom would come back. I was a really silly child." He keeps his voice steady, and his golden eyes straight in front of him as though by letting any nervous motion interrupt his posture he would let in doubts.
"Of course it got worse as I entered middle school, with my classmates at all different heights, and the hallways..." He shivered. "Well, it was the epitome of disorder to say the least." I can't help but smile when I remember my middle school days, and how that would be a disaster for poor, symmetry obsessed, Kid.
"Of course there were bullies. I was such a weirdo after all, and I'd like to curse the genes that gave me my freakish hair."
Ox is nodding, and even Black Star is being quiet. Liz is watching Kid out of the corners of her dark blue eyes. Patti is staring round eyed at Kid, taking in everything with a calm expression.
"Why didn't you tell your dad? Or tell the bullies about your dad?" Kim asks.
"That wouldn't be fair. Throwing my weight around because of my father? This was a problem I felt like I needed to deal with, because It's one I'll have all my life. My father isn't always going to be there after all." Kid says. He isn't telling us about bullies as a plead for attention, he's telling us the facts. "Some of you here don't even have your fathers behind you now." His eyes flick to Liz so quickly I almost missed it. "Anyhow. By the time I was in freshmen year I was beginning to have breakdowns, depression, and I broke all the mirrors in the house because I hated to look at myself. My father isn't a fool, he was concerned. Finally my obsessive tantrums spread to my school life, and well." He spread his hands. "Here I am." He surveys us all with his face like a mask, eyelids partly covering the top of his iris's and mouth small and slightly turned down.
"You missed a part." Liz says very quietly.
"Yes, well. That's not really mine to tell." Kid allows a smile to cross his carefully expressionless features.
"How long have you been here Kid?" I surprise myself by talking.
"A little over a month, I think." Kid says.
Marie stands, "Well guys, Thats all we have time for today. Thank you Kid, for opening up today. That was very interesting."
Kid nods, and waits for the group to catch up to him. I watch as Liz and Patti, Tsubaki and Black Star, and even Soul join him. Then Liz turns around and waves to me.
"What are you waiting for? An invitation?" She asks, and Patti giggles.
I let out a smile. I would never admit it to anyone, but an invitation was exactly what I was looking for.
